Scary background music — drones, tension, sudden bursts. Detuned piano and bowed strings hold the dread underneath. Sub-bass pulses below the frequency you notice. Sudden percussive stingers punch through whenever the camera cuts. Tempos sit between 30 and 80 BPM, with long ostinatos and phrygian or locrian modes for ritual menace. Field recordings of breath, metal, and wood are layered in for texture.
Indie horror filmmakers use it under their establishing shots. YouTube creators sync stingers into urban-legend breakdowns and true-crime reveals. Creepypasta narrators bed it under their voiceovers. Escape-room and Halloween haunted-house designers loop it through their corridors. Also works for trailer cuts, game jams, and tabletop horror campaigns. See also tension or paranormal.