Did You Hear That? Nightmare on Elm Street Foley Artist Gary Hecker Reveals How Horror Movies’ Scariest Sound Effects Are Made

Ear-splitting screams. Ominous silence. The howling wind. The telltale creak of the stairs. It’s hard to imagine horror films without these heart-pounding audio elements, but they wouldn’t exist without the talented foley artists who use everything from celery stalks to leather belts to create aural terror.

As Halloween approaches, we thought we’d check in with industry vet Gary Hecker, who’s been honing his craft for 30 years and now works as the supervising foley artist at Todd-AO.