Whether it’s the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious, or The Conjuring, the scares in horror movies almost always begin with sounds: rustling in the darkness, whispering voices, moaning and clanking noises. As we sit in the comfort of movie theaters or living rooms—feeling our blood pressure rising—we too listen intently to these sounds, trying to understand them, and imagining how we would respond if we were in similar situations.

Horror screenwriters use sounds to trigger fear because they know the powerful role that listening plays in our lives. But what the writers, and we, often forget is that listening is a complex process. Specifically, listening involves receiving, attending to, understanding, responding to, and recalling sounds and visual images (Wolvin & Coakley, 1996). When you’re listening to someone, you draw on both auditory and visual cues. In addition to spoken messages, behaviors such as head nodding, smiling, gestures, and eye contact affect how you listen to others and interpret their communication. The process of listening also unfolds over time, rather than instantaneously, through the five steps discussed here.