The Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies

Inhuman Sound - Synthesized Sound As Weapon, Antagonist And Supernatural Presence In Horror Cinema.

Electronic music and sound started to appear on science fiction and horror soundtracks in the 1950s, and by the 1970s were increasingly commonplace, used to denote alien life-forms, demonic realms and psychic ruptures.

By the 1980s, the synth scores of director/composer John Carpenter were synonymous with modern American horror. But how have electronic music and sound become an agent of horror, as well as an accompaniment to it?

This talk looks beyond the soundtrack at the role of composers, instruments, computers and other sound-making devices in horror films, revealing that the relationship between alien sounds and inhuman activity is not always as straightforward as one might expect.

Instructor
Frances Morgan

Frances Morgan is a music and film critic based in London. A former deputy editor of The Wire, she has written regularly for Sight and Sound about sound and music in cinema. She is currently researching electronic music histories at the Royal College of Art and the Science Museum.

Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a non-profit, community-based organization that started in Canada, founded by Kier-La Janisse in March of 2010. The school currently has branches in Montreal and London, with Miskatonic London operating under the co-direction of Kier-La Janisse and Electric Sheep Founder/Editor Virginie Sélavy.

All classes take place at the historic Horse Hospital, the heart of the city’s underground culture.