As any true horror fan knows, a scary movie lives or dies by its soundtrack. And by soundtrack, I don’t just mean its traditional musical score, although that counts too. After all, Halloween would ...

From the double-bass pulse that signals the presence of the giant shark in "Jaws," to the shrieking strings that slice along with Norman Bates' knife in "Psycho's" famous shower scene, horror films ...

It’s eerie and echoing, and it makes the little hairs on your arms stand up immediately. So many horror movies use it to create a chilling atmosphere, and even some reality shows have implemented it ...

Truly new musical instruments don’t come along every day; much of the low hanging fruit has already been taken. [Simon the Magpie] has been working on something that’s just a little innovative, and ...

Researchers have shown that humans perceive approaching sounds differently than we perceive receding sounds. We overestimate how quickly the sound approaching us is moving (Neuhoff, 2001). There is ...

This article was featured in One Great Story, New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. Horror movies are a tennis match between the haunting absence of sound and ...