Sound in the American Horror Film

<p> The crack of thunder a blood-curdling scream creaking doors or maybe complete silence. Sounds such as these have helped frighten and startle horror movie audiences for close to a century. Listen to a Universal classic like <I>Dracula</I> or <I>Frankenstein</I> and you will hear a very different soundtrack from contemporary horror films. So how did we get from there to here? What scared audiences then compared to now? </p><p> This examination of the horror film's soundtrack builds on film sound and genre scholarship to demonstrate how horror perhaps more than any other genre utilizes sound to manipulate audience response. Beginning with the Universal pictures of the early 1930s and moving through the next nine decades it explores connections and contrasts throughout the genre's technical and creative evolution. New enthusiasts or veteran fans of such varied films as <I>The Mummy Cat People The Day the Earth Stood Still Psycho Halloween A Nightmare on Elm Street Scream The Conjuring Paranormal Activity</I> and <I>A Quiet Place</I> will find plenty to explore and perhaps a new sonic appreciation within these pages.</p>