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 $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
    Add to cart
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

    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!

    Add to cart
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.

    40 %
    OFF
    Add to cart
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

    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.

    Add to cart
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 %
    OFF
    Add to cart
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 %
    OFF
    Add to cart
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

    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
    Add to cart
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:
 
 
  • Bicycles Retro Bicycle Play Track 29 sounds included, 12 mins total $19

    A 1960’s styled bicycle riding around at a leisurely pace, wobbling to stay straight, walking along the sidewalk or being handled and chucked to the curb. Squeaky brakes, loud gears, and clumsy metal give this bike nostalgic character.

    Add to cart
  • Drones & Moods Tibetan Crystal Singing Bowls Play Track 93 sounds included, 43 mins total $20

    Tibetan Singing Bowls – The ancient brain entrainment methodology for healing and meditation. Tibetan Singing Bowls have been used for centuries for healing and meditation purposes. They create a range of sounds to restore the normal vibratory frequencies of diseased and out-of-harmony parts of the body, mind and soul. They are also used for sound baths, which is when participants lay on the floor and let the waves of sound from the Tibetan Singing Bowls wash over them.

    9 total bowls were recorded. Notes C, D, D#, E, F, G, A, A one octave up and B. A variety of bowl sizes were used from 8 to 12 inches.

    Add to cart
  • toons cartoon sound effects library
    toons cartoon sound effects library
    Funny / Comedy / Cartoon Toons! Play Track 3000+ sounds included $249

    Want some excellent cartoony sound effects? BOOM to the rescue!

    We sought out and recorded the most obscure toys, instruments and, uhm – for the lack of a better word – “objects” to give you more than 3.000 boings, bleeps, farts, thwacks, squishes and squeaks in over 500 files, in short: we recorded any sound your animated-character-loving-heart could ever desire. All files contain extensive metadata to provide you with the fastest and easiest workflow possible. Each file contains multiple variations of a sound to guarantee you and your audience a non-repetitive SFX experience.

    Want to have an old-timer car honk its horn sternly at passers-by, before the tires screech off into the horizon? Your protagonist jumps off of a cliff by the sea and – suddenly in the air – we hear the tide roll back and she smacks on to the ground? Or your hero slips on a banana, swoops into a kitchen, metal crashes, bins rattle bins and, epic climax-style, the stove explodes! Don't worry about how that sounds. BOOM TOONS! SFX are here. We've got you covered.

    BOOM TOONS! SFX is the complete package so that you can focus on your stories and characters. You have all the sounds you could possibly need at your fingertips, ready for you to use whenever you want that spark, that glitter or that long arm fart which transforms your visually appealing cartoon into a complete and fun experience.

    Add to cart
 
Explore the full, unique collection here
Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • World Sounds Airport Soundscapes Play Track 100+ sounds included, 386 mins total $50 $29

    Welcome to A Sound Effect where you can find the largest and most diverse airport sound effects library in the world! This constantly updated library has nearly 6 hours of high-quality recorded sounds from 15 different airports. With over 24GB of professionally edited audio, you'll have the best sounds to work with for your project.

    Featured airports in this library:

    • Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, Greece
    • Changi Airport Singapore
    • Chiang Mai International Airport, Thailand
    • George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston, USA
    • Hamad International Airport, Qatar
    • Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
    • Incheon International Airport Seoul, South Korea
    • John F. Kennedy Airport New York City, USA
    • Larnaca International Airport, Cyprus
    • Ngurah Rai International Airport Denpasar, Indonesia
    • Noi Bai International Airport Hanoi, Vietnam
    • Penang International Airport, Malaysia
    • Roberts International Airport Liberia, Costa Rica
    • Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok, Thailand
    • Tom Bradley International Airport Los Angeles, USA

    Our library has lush sounds from bustling international airports with thousands of passengers to smaller regional airports with less activity.

    We've captured audio from all areas of these airports. You'll hear sounds from departure halls, arrival halls, inside private lounges, bathrooms, security check with rolling suitcases, beeping sounds from the security scanners, announcements in different languages and passengers waiting at the gates to board the aircraft.

    42 %
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    Ends 1560981600
  • City Life Sounds & Ambiences Of London Vol 2 Play Track 101 sounds included, 330 mins total $60 $45

    Following the success of WW Audio's, 'Sound & Ambiences Of London' – here is Volume 2, with even more interesting and useable files for your theatre or film projects.

    Consisting of 101 great, and sometime eclectic recordings from the English capital, and over 10GB in size, this is a library every sound designer needs in their arsenal. It comes with detailed file names plus Soundminer, ID3 v2.3.0 and RIFF INFO metadata embedded.

    In total, this library gets you  5.5 hours of atmospheric London sounds!

    Sounds captured at famous London locations and landmarks, including:

    Bow Bells – Two amazing, over 10 minute recordings from the belfry at St Mary Le Bow Church  • The famous crossing outside Abbey Road Studios, made famous by The Beatles • Stunning overhead plane recordings coming into land at Heathrow airport • Christmas Markets • Crowds outside Buckingham Palace before and after the changing of the guard • Various emergency vehicle sirens • Various markets both internal and external, quiet and busy • Tube train journeys • London Underground ambiences • Various Parks • Great sounding famous London pub ambiences • Train stations • Room tones, including the infamous possible Newgate Prison Cell in the cellar of the Viaduct Tavern Pub • Churches • Crowds in some of London's most popular and obscure streets • General traffic sounds • North, South, East and West London locations • Hotels • London Aquatic Centre • The Royal Exchange • St Bartholomew's Hospital Grounds • Scrooge's Counting House Location • The Tower of London • The River Thames from Execution Dock • Pudding Lane – the location of the start of the Great Fire of London • Various Gardens • Underground car park • Tower Bridge • And much more – check out the complete file list below

    25 %
    OFF
    Ends 1559253600
  • Environments Singapore City Soundscapes Play Track 122 sounds included, 327 mins total From: $20

    Welcome to A Sound Effect's first ever Singapore Sound Effects library!

    Explore Singapore as you've never heard it before! This massive library includes ambisonic sounds recorded with the new Zoom H3 VR, binaural recordings with the Soundman OKM II Rock Studio and stereo soundscapes recorded with the Zoom F8n, DPA 4060 and several LOM microphones.

    The diversity of Singapore makes this library unique with lush sounds from busy highways, crowded food markets/ hawker centers in many different languages, neighborhood basketball games at night, skateparks, horse races, city rain sounds, the countries super efficient underground train station (MRT), and even loud military fighter jets and helicopters.

    Perhaps you're wanting nature sounds? No problem! This library features sounds from a variety of cicadas recorded at night and birds from the famous Javan Mynah near Mount Faber.

    With nearly six hours of recordings throughout Singapore, we suggest reviewing the metadata and discovering sounds you may not have expected!

    The library is available in 3 variations: A Stereo, AmbiX and special bundle featuring both Stereo and AmbiX files at a big discount.

  • Counting numbers sound effects
    Counting numbers sound effects
    Human The Counting Voice Play Track 167 sounds included $30

    A man with a neutral English accent counts from zero to one hundred. Then counts in hundreds to one thousand. Then counts in thousands to ten thousand. Using the various files you can concatenate the files to read any number between 0-10,999 (and beyond if you fancy some creative editing).

    Useful for all sorts of games, apps and many other projects.

  •
    Animals & Creatures Complete Audio Hero Sound Packs Play Track 6,314+ sounds included $750

    The Complete Audio Hero Sound Packs bundle features all 35 of our popular sound packs.  In total this collection features an astounding 6,314 professionally recorded sound effects from a wide variety of categories.   This bundle consists of the following packs:

    Animals Volume 1
    Animals Volume 2
    Animals Volume 3
    Animals Volume 4
    Cartoon Volume 1
    Cartoon Volume 2
    Cartoon Volume 3
    Cartoon Volume 4
    Classic TV
    Crowds
    Fantasy
    Foley
    Horses & More
    Human
    Mechanicals
    Monkeys
    Outdoor Ambience
    Rodents & Reptiles
    Sci Fi
    Sirens
    Space Whooshes & Winds
    Sports
    Abbot FV433 Tank
    Chieftain FV4201 Tank
    FV432 APC Tank
    M4 Sherman Easy 8 Tank
    Soviet T-54 Tank
    Military Hummer H1 (Humvee)
    Underwater
    Video Game
    Walla Volume 1
    Walla Volume 2
    Walla Volume 3
    Western
    Wolves & Coyotes

 
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