Asbjoern Andersen

Posted by Asbjoern Andersen in New sound effects libraries


Halloween is just around the corner, and the days are getting colder and darker here in Denmark.

So I dimmed the lights, sat down with a cup of the blackest coffee we have in the studio and picked out some of the libraries that would work particularly well for horror projects.

They’re great for those of you working on projects where you want to give your audience the chills – and perhaps make them jump a bit.

Oh, and at the end of this guide, I’ll tell you how you can make eight creepy horror sound effects yourself. But let’s start out with the 13 libraries first – here we go:

Eerie atmospheres
 
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    Drones & Moods Drones Play Track 40 sounds included $30 $20

    40 Two Minute Long Drones

    Drones are essential for every sound designer and composer. Combine and layer Drones to add more depth, tension, and suspense to your track. Drones can act as a great background to any sci-fi scene and make your music more interesting.

    Bonus:
    This library includes the Suburb Rain SFX collection at no extra cost - featuring almost 50 minutes of rain recordings
    33 %
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When you want to create an unsettling atmosphere, this library of 40 2-minute drones will come in handy – check out the demo and hear for yourself.

 

Shock Effects
 
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    Destruction & Impact Impact Collection Play Track 304 sounds included $40

    The Impact Collection is a library of 304 impacts, whooshes, swells, static, rises and zaps all designed with Trailers and Promos in mind.

    These sounds were designed using anything I could hit, bang, rumble and smash. In the process I destroyed a couple tools and put a healthy dent in a spare refrigerator, not to mention the smashing of dozens of plates as well as my neighbor’s leftover ceramic tiles.

    After recording all of my source material I got to work on building pre-made impacts in various ways as well as adding a healthy dose of plug-in abuse. My Genelecs may never be the same! Thanks for listening.

    Add to cart
Want to shock your audience? This collection features more than 300 sounds that will help you do just that.

 

Creatures
 

When you need some otherworldly creature sounds, Russell Gorsky’s aptly titled ‘Creatures’ library could be just the ticket. It features a total of 242 growls, hisses, roars, screeches.

 

Gore
 
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    Destruction & Impact Gore Toolkit HD Play Track 798 sounds included $95 $66.50

    A collection of over 530 96k/24bit HD Gore sound effects that comes with an additional 262 48k/24bit sounds FREE!  Come and get your body damage galore.  Punches, bone, blood, intestines, goops, splats, flesh movement, chewing, tearing, snapping, breaking, blade sounds… It’s BLOODY CARNAGE!

    30 %
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Need blood-dripping sounds? The Gore Toolkit HD gives you almost 800 sounds total to work with – including sounds of punches, bone, blood, intestines, goops, splats, flesh movement, chewing, tearing, snapping and breaking.

 

Strange sounds
 
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    Drones & Moods LiquidMetal – Waterphone Play Track 263 sounds included
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $71 $42.60

    The LiquidMetal – Waterphone SFX pack contains a lot of great material for your next deep impact horror project, when you need eerie, suspenseful and deep sounds that bring the fear out in you and your audience.

    We hit, rattled, bowed, snaped and swashed the real Waterphone – a unique instrument – for really formidable sounds.

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The Waterphone is a unique instrument – and it emits some very eerie and unsettling sounds. The Soundcatcher managed to record the original Waterphone in this library featuring 263 sounds.

 

Alone in the dark
 
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    Drones & Moods Kyma Ambiences – vol.1 Play Track 56 sounds included, 112 mins total From: $49

    Kyma Ambiences [USO003] is the third sound effects bundle created by Matteo Milani.

    The generation of these “Artificial Reality Ambiences” starts entirely in Symbolic Sound Kyma from the processing of white and pink noise by filtering – in the time/spectral domains – and convolving these sources with custom FM, additive, formant and granular synthesis.

 The composition’s resource of sound material is drawn solely from these processed stochastic sound elements: coloured noise is a raw material already full of life and can be sculpted into a variety of temporal forms, movements and textures.

    The interaction with Kyma was typical of a composer who explored a device’s potential for sound transformation like a musical instrument. The goal was to obtain an organic and acoustic quality using only a restricted sound source, in order to evoke real spatial characteristics attached to each invented sound.

    The “Kyma Ambiences vol.1” sound effects collection is published @ 96kHz (native) – and is also available as dual-layer separated “Elements”, suitable for recombinant stratification, varispeed and spatial positioning in the surround field (for a total of 112 files @ 96kHz).

    Select options
If you’re looking to instill a feeling of desolation and loneliness, Matteo Milani has generated some truly strange soundscapes for you in his Kyma Ambiences library – check out the demo.

 

Screams
 
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    Horror Scream Collection Play Track 441 sounds included $25

    Introducing the Scream Collection (A Tribute To Wilhelm). This library pays homage to the infamous Wilhelm Scream first heard in the film Distant Drums as well as dozens, if not hundreds, of other films. This compilation includes 441 vocal effects ranging from startled gasps to all out screams.

    Add to cart
Blood-curdling screams are of course a vital part of any horror project.

And in Bruce Bueckert’s Scream library, you get no fewer than 441 vocal sound recordings (screams + many other strange vocal sounds) to work with.

 

Blades
 
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    Destruction & Impact Blades Play Track 260 sounds included $30 $22.50

    Blades is a collection of 54 audio files containing a whopping 260 individual audio clips. This collection gives you sheath sounds, blade scrapes, clanks, hits, schings, and yes, even scissors snipping. Best of all, if you need 10 sword hits in the scene, you only have to import one or two tracks.

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When your project calls for a bit of knife-wielding, David Fienup’s library has you covered.
His Blades library gives you sheath sounds, blade scrapes, clanks, hits, schings, and yes, even scissors snipping (!). A total of 260 sounds are included.

 

Smashing and breaking
 
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    Destruction & Impact The Abandoned School Play Track 172 sounds included $52 $31.20

    We recorded an old abandoned school and gained a lot of nice and very unique sound fx for your next sounddesign project. You’ll get up to 1.26 GB / 172 mono & stereo files, tagged (for trouble free use in your loved data base program) and carefully mastered in 24Bit/96kHz.

    40 %
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Chances are that there’ll be some destruction going on in your project – and this library features 172 audio recordings of things breaking, recorded with natural ambiences at an abandoned school.

 

Odd strings
 
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    Drones & Moods Desolated Strings & Wood Play Track 272 sounds included $79 $47.40

    The Soundcatcher is proud to announce a new sound design library called “Desolated Strings & Wood“. The found Markneunkirchen Zither from Wernitzgruen was in a very poor condition. I collected it and wrecked it like there was no tomorrow.

    You´ll get 272 stereo files (1.48GB total), tagged for trouble-free use in your favorite database program and carefully mastered in 24Bit/96kHz.

    40 %
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The zither is capable of making some really odd noises – and this library features 800+ sounds in 88 files of stringy weirdness. Hear some of the examples in the demo above.

 

Creepy resonances
 
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    Horror The Metal Shelf Play Track 134 sounds included $20 $10

    This library features recordings of a metal shelf being shaken, slammed, scraped, and other torturous things.

    In this library, you’ll find metal slams, moans, squeals, shakes, taps, and sounds of rocks being poured over it.

    There are lots of nice resonant sounds filled clangorous textures. Great for creating creepy tones for suspense and tension.

    This library was recorded with a Barcus Berry Contact Mic going into a Barcus Berry 4000 preamp and a Sound Devices 702.

    Bonus:
    This library includes the Suburb Rain SFX collection at no extra cost - featuring almost 50 minutes of rain recordings
    50 %
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Sound designer Russell Gorsky managed to get a surprising number of creepy, resonant noises out of an old metal shelf. It sounds a lot scarier than it looks!

 

Scary squeals
 
  • Pig sound effects
    Pig sound effects
    Animals & Creatures Pigs FX Play Track 246 sounds included $54

    Terrifying squeals, grunts, barks, and sneeze from adult pigs weighing up to 400 lbs, and ambiences from the stables. The second part is recordings of smaller pigs (80 lbs) on the day they were picked up by truck to go you know where! The pigs knew exactly what was going on, which is represented in the sounds recorded.

    Needless to say, this library has been ear wrecking to put together, but the reward is 246 single files of pure pigs.

    Add to cart
Ah, pigs – these creatures can emit some pretty horrific sounds indeed. Sound designer Mikkel Nielsen spent days on a farm recording terrifying squeals and grunts + ambience from the stables. Check out the demo to hear what he brought back with him.

Need more sounds?

If you need more sounds for your project, be sure to check out the many other sound libraries on A Sound Effect – click below to continue exploring:

View all libraries

 

Hope you found something useful above! If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also create your own horrifying sound effects from scratch. Here are some ideas for doing just that, courtesy of David Filskov’s great list of sound effect ideas, and some clever sound designers:

How to create your own horror sounds

Bats flying

I used an umbrella opening and closing rapidly for the sound of bats flying one time… turned out great. I think I had to filter out some of the low frequency material, though.
-Tim Clarke

A pair of leather gloves flapped about is a good substitute for wings flapping when a bat takes off.
– Garry Taylor

Blood and guts being torn out

I know how to make a nice sound of blood and guts being torn out. Just make a milk pulp, put it into your mouth, and then try to say “Ghhhh”. Mix it with the end section of any water splash sample or add a sample where you’re moving out your hand from a bucket of water.
– Adam

Gore and squidge

Wet wash leather – fantastic for gore and squidge.
– Mark Estdale

Fruits! Especially tomatoes (for splatters) and potatoes (for wet crunchy sounds). Another classic is making a goo with eggs and dip rags and paper towels into them and play.
– Gustaf Grefberg

Rat shrieks

Pitched-up chickens.
– Ben Burtt

Up-pitched kittens. Especially the screechy ones.
– Gustaf Grefberg

Stone coffin opening

Slide off the top of a toilet tank.
– Ben Burtt

Spirits screaming

Dolphin and sea-lion cries, other animal screams and human vocalizations.
– Ben Burtt

Tentacles, sliding

Get a few day’s worth of stubble on your face. Go somewhere real quiet and record running your hand and arm under your chin – it mixes in nice with the hairs on your arm. Or as I just found out, get a mouse mat with a rubberized or cloth surface and rub that under your chin :-) To further this idea maybe put some shaving gel on and take a credit card and lightly rub it across? That way you get bristly with a bit of slime.
– Dave Sullivan

Having just eaten a bowl of macaroni and cheese shells, I have to say it’s the most convincing tentacle sound I’ve ever heard. It also made the bowl harder to finish :-)
– Jay Semerad

Vocalization of monster

Metal pressed against dry ice.
– Paul Arnold

Slide a straw up or down in a McDonald’s large drink plastic lid. Try pitching it down and stretching it – and voilá! McZilla.
– Max Hodges

 

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THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:
 
A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:
 
 
  • Fire Fire, Sizzles & Ignites Play Track 68+ sounds included $40 $20

    Need the sound of burning fire, flames, fizzles, ignites, melting, crackling, rumbling, fire popping, or flame hissing?

    This library is hot stuff in every sense of the word, delivering a range of burning sounds from a wide range of sources, including branches, black powder, burning bags, butane torches, celluloid, deep-frying batter, flares, gas stoves, frying pans, matches, sparkling candles, boiling water, huge torches and much more.

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  • Drones & Moods Singing Bowls Play Track 151 sounds included $10 $7.50

    Rich tonal singing bowls played, sustained, and hit. Two octaves of an A Bowl and a D Bowl. Recorded and edited at 96kHz.

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  • Weather Wind Elements – Interior Play Track 90 sounds included $38 $34

    Wind Elements – Interior is 75 minutes/2.43 Gb of howling, blasting and fluttering wind, recorded from inside various buildings. 90 separate files – recorded in 24bit/96kHz using Sennheiser MKH & Primo EM172 microphones, and mastered in X/Y stereo.
    This collection is the bigger, badder sequel to bestseller Howling Winds – Interior, with more of everything: fresh recordings, more types of wind, more locations and just more variation.

    Everything from violent blasting and howling, to gentle, caressing wind. Some with sleet and rain, cracking and creaking of window frames and roof materials, others with faint sound of rustling leaves or urban buzz.

    You get both long ambiances from various locations, as well as plenty of short files to sweeten up your mix.
    Some sounds have been eq'ed aggressively to enhance the feeling of being indoors, but very little processing has been applied otherwise. You'll hear a bit of hiss here and there; I left it in because I felt noise reduction would take away too much character in those specific cases.

    You get:

    • Indoor wind sounds
    • Howling, blasting, fluttering – a bit of sleet & rain too
    • Lots of variations of each sound
    • Searchable file names
    • BWF Metadata embedded – with more included in CSV and ODS (OpenOffice) formats

     

    11 %
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    Ends 1542409200
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Explore the full, unique collection here
Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • Environments Summer Mountains Play Track 37+ sounds included, 127 mins total $30 $21

    Summer Mountains is a collection of nature sounds captured during several trips in 2017 and 2018.

    This library has been fully recorded at high altitude (over 2000m and more) in the heart of the French Alps in places such as the Vanoise National Park and the Natural Reserves of Aiguilles Rouges, Passy, ​​Carlaveyron and Vallon de Bérard.

    This collection provides more than 2 hours of high quality recordings such as alpines pastures ambiences, forests, wind, streams and waterfalls as well as herds of sheep or cows, birds and distant marmots, all without any human sounds.

    All recorded in 24 bit / 96 kHz and fully tagged with metadatas, Summer Mountains should provide you the essentials of a mountain journey.

    Gear Used: DPA4060 stereo set powered by a Sound Devices 702

    Summer Mountains Photo Cover Copyright © Mathilde Leroy
    30 %
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    Ends 1542668400
  • Ships PWC – Jet Ski – Sea Doo | Volume 2 Play Track 54+ sounds included From: $35

    Ultra-high resolution Sea Doo recordings utilizing on-board microphone techniques, from multiple perspectives (driver perspective (mid-side) exhaust perspective & engine perspective).

    This library provides perfectly seamless loops at every 500RPM interval from IDLE to MAX speed, giving you insanely detailed control for interactive dynamics in game audio, or film sync. Not only that but also start-ups, shut-offs, revs, both dry and wet.

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    Environments Outdoor Ambience Play Track 200+ sounds included $50 $25

    Outdoor Ambience features 200 ambience length sound effects.  Featured in this collection are crowds, cities, forests, jungles, parks, streets, parades, water and more!  All sound effects have been hand-picked from the Sound Ideas HD – Atmospheres & Environments library.

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  • Animals & Creatures Western Play Track 200+ sounds included $50 $25

    The Audio Hero Western collection features 200 professionally recorded sound effects, ready for use in your productions.  Included in this library are guns and pistols, horses, stagecoaches, steam trains, jail cell doors and much more!  These sounds are all hand-picked from the Hollywood Edge Burtis Bills' Sounds of the American West sound effects collection.

    50 %
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    Drones & Moods Infiltration Play Track 161 sounds included, 39 mins total $30 $20

    Welcome to “INFILTRATION”, a collection of 161 sound effects aimed to be used in modern espionage/infiltration productions.

    From intense low frequency atmospheric elements to powerful synth movements this 1.4 GB pack can be your secret tool to enhance trailers, movies, games or musical compositions. See it as a powerful kit to create a modern espionage feel in your production.

    As a bonus I included the sources (24 sfx) used to create some of the sounds in the library.

    Sounds included:
    Atmospheric element_Low • Fx_Alert • Fx_Synth_Drop • Drone_Pulse • Fx_Snare_Synth_Tension • Fx_Transition • Fx_Movement • Fx_Distant_Atmospheric • And More

    33 %
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    Ends 1543532400
 
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