Huge Halloween Horror Highlight!

- Happy Halloween from all of us at A Sound Effect!

Want to learn how to design creature vocalizations? Chase Steele is back with a new in-depth tutorial, covering everything from sourcing and layering creature source material to editing, processing and transforming those recordings into some mean creature vocals.
 

Interested in learning how to design horror sound effects – particularly targeted towards horror-type interfaces? Check out this exclusive, in-depth A Sound Effect tutorial by Chase Steele:
 

Dehumaniser 2 by Krotos is an excellent vocal sound design system – and Michał Pukała from Krotos just provided this helpful guide featuring 5 tips on how you can make the most of it:
 

How do you create your own horror and gore sound effects? Saro Sahihi from SoundBits has a lot of experience with that, having done both a full-on gore sound library, as well as some SFX libraries with really creepy, ghostly sounds and shocking transitions. And in this special A Sound Effect guide, he shares his tips on how to make those horrific sounds. Here’s Saro with his tips for horror sound effects creation:
 

Writer/director Mike Flanagan brings back his composing and post sound team for his second Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor. Here, The Newton Brothers composing duo, supervising sound editor Trevor Gates, and re-recording mixer Jonathan Wales discuss the sonic differences between Hill House and Bly Manor and how they helped support this slow-burn story through sound:
 

HBO Max’s new limited series The Third Day — starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris — is a feast of sound that adds a sense of unease and uncertainty to mirror the characters’ experiences. Oscar-winning supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Niv Adiri talks about his cinematic approach to designing and mixing the disturbing sound of the show:
 

HBO’s Lovecraft Country series is an interesting mix of historical-drama and horror elements that have given the sound team lots of avenues to explore. Here, sound supervisor Tim Kimmel and sound designer Paula Fairfield talk about their approach to world-building and monster making.
 

The original Halloween is one of my favorite horror movies, and the 2018 version of Halloween (a direct sequel to the original movie) just premiered to great reviews, and is number one at the US box office right now.

This interview gets you the story on how sound supervisors Will Files and P.K. Hooker found brutal sonic inspiration in Michael Myers’ no-frills method of murder – and used that to create a soundscape that’s equally simple yet savage.
 

Audience reactions to Netflix’ new horror series The Haunting of Hill House have been strong, with horror legend Stephen King hailing it as close to a work of genius.

Many reviewers are particularly praising the sound design for the series – and it’s a great pleasure to present this interview on how its powerful sound was made, as told by Emmy-award winning supervising sound editor/sound designer Trevor Gates.

Hereditary is being hailed as one of the best horror movies in recent years, and it sounds fantastic.

Here’s the in-depth story on how the sound team at Parabolic NY carefully controlled the tension in Hereditary with sound.

They also discuss the finer points of the sounds of gore, how you make a room tone sound evil – and a sinister sonic element heard throughout the film that you probably haven’t noticed.

The Nun is the latest installment in The Conjuring’s horror universe, and it was a huge hit at the box office.

In this exclusive interview, supervising sound editors Bill R. Dean and Ron Eng tell the story about its scary sound – covering everything from recording bells and homemade crosses, designing demon vocals, how they used the Dolby Atmos surround field, to how the jump-scare scenes never got old (especially for one re-recording mixer).

Sound and silence are key elements in A Quiet Place, and for sound designers Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl it was an incredibly thrilling – and challenging – project to work on. Here’s how they created the crucial sound of A Quiet Place:

It’s a great pleasure to share the story behind the sound for Annabelle: Creation, which went straight to the top at the US box office.

In this in-depth interview, supervising sound editor/sound designer Bill R. Dean shares how they used sound to really ramp up the fear factor in the movie – and what it took to create that sound.

You also get an exclusive video clip with Bill R. Dean, on a rather novel sound design approach for the movie (involving light bulbs, filament and synth sounds).

Psychological horror movie It Comes at Night is proving very popular with both critics and moviegoers – and below, supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Damian Volpe and re-recording mixer Robert Fernandez share the full story behind the film’s tense and unnerving sound:

Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant is the latest installment in the legendary, genre-defining sci-fi franchise.
And this interview gets you the inside-story behind the sound for the much-awaited movie, as told by Oscar-nominated supervising sound editor/sound designer Oliver Tarney and sound designer Michael Fentum.

Here, they discuss their approach to sound design on Alien: Covenant, from building on original Alien sound concepts to creating new sounds for the Neomorph, the Covenant ship, the radio transmissions from the Prometheus, and more.

The original Blair Witch Project movie made a huge splash when it premiered back in 1999, and now there’s a sequel out, simply entitled Blair Witch.

I’m very excited to be able to share the inside-story behind the sound for the new film – and without further ado, here’s the interview with Blair Witch supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Andy Hay:

Lights Out by David F. Sandberg has received lots of praise for its great scares – and a truly unsettling story, too. Here, Jennifer Walden speaks with Lights Out’s award-winning sound designer and supervising sound editor Bill R. Dean. He shares the team’s approach to horror sound, how they used dynamics to create some very effective scares, the surprising sources for some of the movie’s signature sounds – and much more:

James Wan’s spine-chilling horror movie The Conjuring 2 went straight to number 1 at the box office. And here, supervising sound editor/sound designer Joe Dzuban shares the story behind the creative sound work, the value of temp mixes – and how the right talents (and tools) can take horror sound to the next level:

• How Jeff Schmidt created the terrifying sound for hit podcast series Inside The Exorcist
• Why Game Audio is Vital in Through The Woods from Antagonist
• Sound for Scarehouses – A Q&A with Marc Straight
• Video: Creating the chilling sound for Colina: Legacy

If you want to have a go at creating your horror sounds, here are some DIY ideas from sound designer David Filskov’s excellent Guide to Sound Effects:

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