Trim Size: 170mm x 244mm Benshoff c10.tex V1 - 04/02/2014 10:58 A.M. Page 168 10 Horror Sound Design William Whittington Division of Critical Studies, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, USA Every good horror story has its secrets. In fact, the uncanny has been described as “something that ought to have remained secret and hidden but has come to light” (Cherry, 2009: 126). e film sound track is no different. In creating the innova- tive sound effects for horror cinema, contemporary sound designers strategically embrace a measure of deception, especially when naming audio effects. During the process of postproduction, traditional mixing cue sheets (which list dialogue, music, and sound effects) have been replaced by computer soſtware like Pro Tools, and as a result, mix “sessions” now detail every aspect of a sound from its location on the editorial timeline down to its waveform. ese “sessions” include the names of the various effects, which generally evoke a sense of poetic onomatopoeia in the way that they describe sound— whoosh, rip, stab, moan, and drip. ese descriptions chart not only the thematic breadth of a story, but also the overall architecture of a film’s sound design. However, in the process of labeling effects, sound designers never reveal the primary sources or “roots” of the recordings. Instead, they remain conspicuously silent about the methods by which these sounds are captured and constructed. e rationale is simple. Root effects are oſten drawn from mundane sources ranging from animal noises like dog growls or pig squeals to the manipulation of foodstuffs during the Foley process. 1 For instance, the sound associated with the crack of a bone beneath the skin can be achieved by wrapping a celery stalk in chamois and breaking it in half (Hoen, 2012: 1). is is not to suggest that these “ready made” sounds are by any means without complexity or stylistic design. ey are embedded with ideological concerns, historical allusions, and even visceral intents, which will be explored throughout this chapter. Nonetheless, these root effects serve as the foundation for creating entirely new and “refined” sound effects, which are meant to shock or jolt filmgoers. When a description such as “moan A Companion to the Horror Film, First Edition. Edited by Harry M. Benshoff. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.