![]() Joseph could hear her whimpering quietly, as though she were mumbling under her breath… Suddenly she gave a strange strangled yelp that almost sounded like a human scream of panic. Does the reader register these impressions as she reads? Not consciously perhaps – she is following the story of Joseph investigating the tree, but these impressions are registering subconsciously and the reader is forming the impression that this place is dangerous yet somehow compelling.Īt other points in a story, the reader’s attention will be focused completely on sound: There’s an echo of snakes in the sound – a hint of evil, of sin, especially, which is quite appropriate given the similarities the garden has to the Garden of Eden. Priestly could have as easily described the crickets as chirping or chirruping, a more usual noise associated with crickets, but that would not be half as creepy. First through onomatopoeia – ‘hissing’ being a word that sounds like the noise it describes. Still, the ‘hissing’ noise helps to build atmosphere. In the passage above, they are one of a few details, a part of a longer description of the pasture where the elm stands. Sometimes the noises in a story will not be particularly drawn to our attention. Towering up above it all was the mighty elm. It was long and blond, hissing with crickets and spattered with blood red poppies. The grass in the pasture had yet to be cut. Some noises are there merely to unsettes, as in this passage from Chris Priestley’s Climb Not: Horror films and novels exploit the frightening power of sound all the time, so much so that many – the creaking door, for example – have become clichés, though even clichés can be scary. ![]() That’s why of all the senses, except perhaps sight, sound seems to be the one most likely to cause fear (try to think of a scary smell or texture). This hyper-awareness of sounds is a leftover of our primeval past, when humans were the prey of natural predators and the keenness of your hearing might make the difference between life and death. It could be an owl’s hoot, or the heavy tread of boots on your gravel drive, or your garden gate creaking in the wind. You hear them, your chest tightens, you become conscious of your own breathing it’s quiet again, but you’re still on edge and your ears are pricked, and you hear it again, closer this time. When you’re alone and it’s night, noises tend to be scary. ![]() Don’t watch it, just listen and then answer this: which noises in particular are scary?įor me, they’re all scary. Listen to the following excerpt from the gothic horror film The Woman in Black. ![]()
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