"DID YOU HEAR THAT?" HORROR AND THE SONIC

A BAFTSS Horror Studies SIG Weekday Night Bite
Wednesday 15 May 2024
From the live music played alongside silent cinema, to the stingers accompanying the iconic murder of Marion Crane in Psycho (Hitchcock 1960), to Kayako’s death rattle in Ju On (Takashi 2003), to the remix of ‘I Got 5 On It’ (Luniz 1995) in the trailer for Us (Peele 2019), the soundscape is a fundamental component of horror. Yet, framed as a body genre whose horrality has developed in horror film (Brophy 1986), the rise of hard-edged cinematic television horror (Platt 2020), and the advancement of photorealism in horror videogames (Perron 2018), the genre’s audio qualities have often been muted in favour of discussions about the visual. Addressing this, join us for a roundtable that explores the sounds, scores, and screams of horror media, where we discuss audio’s affective power, the role of the sonic on subgenres and cycles, and the significance of soundtracks for horror fans.
CHAIRED BY: JAMES RENDELL, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES
WITH:
STEVE HALFYARD, ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND
THOMAS JOSEPH WATSON, TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY
LEANNE WESTON, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK