Long before radio became mainstream entertainment, Edgar Allen Poe was already writing for the airwaves. Throughout the last decade of his life, his poetry and prose bristled with words and phrasing ...

What is a “jumpscare”? Well, if you live in a home without teenagers to explain it to you, it’s the thing that happens when you’re watching a horror movie and some abrupt sound, image, or other bump ...

I was recently watching a scene from the 2025 film Weapons for a monograph I’m writing and noticed a familiar sound: a low, unsettling drone as a character walks down a hallway. It’s the same kind of ...

An aural history of scary movies, and the Foley art and design that make them great. By Jordan Crucchiola vulture animal bureau Fear the Chamois It’s arguably the most versatile object in the Foley ...

The world is full of sounds, and sound can affect us greatly. Some sounds are pleasant, like the laughter of a small child or a babbling brook in a peaceful forest. Other sounds are unpleasant, like ...

A defining component of the cinematic horror experience is the immediate, heart-pounding fright that only a great jump scare can provide. The abrupt onslaught on the senses can sometimes be viewed as ...