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Music in Horror Film is a collection of essays that examine the effects of music and its ability to provoke or intensify fear in this particular genre of film. Frightening images and ideas can be made even more intense when accompanied with frightening musical sounds, and music in horror film frequently makes its audience feel threatened and uncomfortable through its sudden stinger chords and other shock effects. The essays in this collection address the presence of music in horror films and their potency within them. With contributions from scholars across the disciplines of music and film studies, these essays delve into blockbusters like The Exorcist, The Shining, and The Sixth Sense together with lesser known but still important films like Carnival of Souls and The Last House on the Left. By leading us with the ear to hear these films in new ways, these essays allow us to see horror films with fresh eyes.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Series Foreword(p. vii)
• Perface: Listening to Fear/Listening with Fear(p. viii)
• Acknowledgment(p. xii)
• 1 Carnival of Souls and the Organs of Horror(p. 1)
• 2 Mischief Afoot: Supernatural Horror-comedies and the Diabolus in Musica(p. 21)
• 3 The Monster and the Music Box: Children and the Soundtrack of Horror(p. 38)
• 4 The Strange Case of Rouben Mamoulian's Sound Stew: The Uncanny Soundtrack in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)(p. 55)
• 5 Voice That Lie Within: The Heard and Unheard in Psycho(p. 80)
• 6 Pop Goes the Horror Score: Left Alone in The Last House on the Left(p. 98)
• 7 Ramblin' Men and Piano Men: Crises of Music and Masculinity in The Exorcist(p. 114)
• 8 Rehearing The Shining: Musical Undercurrents in the Overlook Hotel(p. 133)
• 9 Hearing Deep Seated Fears: John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)(p. 152)
• 10 Music and the Adult Ideal in A Nightmare on Elm Street(p. 168)
• 11 The Beauty of Horror: Kilar, Coppola, and Dracula(p. 187)
• 12 Quieting the Ghosts in The Sixth Sense and The Others(p. 206)
• List of Contributors(p. 225)
• Index(p. 228)

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CHOICE Review

The 12 essays in this inaugural volume in the "Routledge Music and Screen Media Series" explore music in American horror films from 1931 to 2001. Lerner (music, Davidson College)--who is also the series editor--and the other contributors employ numerous critical approaches in studying film music. Some of contributors address the rhetorical or narrative roles for particular musical devices, styles, instruments, or instrumental timbres across several movies; others assess the contribution an individual musical score makes to the meaning of its film. A few expand their focus, using music in horror films as a window onto larger sociocultural concerns. All the essays are well argued, but some are more nuanced than others. (Essays by Stan Link, David Code, and Lloyd Whitesell are excellent.) Because the collection emphasizes music, the authors understandably chose films with scores that are musically significant or raise compelling theoretical or analytical issues. However, the majority of the movies discussed were produced before most current college students were born. This may limit the volume's usefulness. Nevertheless, the overall quality and the diversity of approaches make the collection an excellent model for students of film music. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. S. C. Pelkey Western Michigan University

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Neil Lerner is Associate Professor of Music at Davidson Collage where he teaches courses in music as well as film and media studies. His work on film music has been published in numerous journals, essay collections, and encyclopedias. He is co-editor of sounding off: Theorizing Disability in music (Routledge, 2006)