Scariest sound?

After seeing Neil's post in the "Sound quality" thread about what he feels is the "scariest sound" he's heard in any game, I thought I'd offer my thoughts on the subject, but pertaining specifically to Doom. Anyone who wants to add their two cents can include sounds from the PSX/N64 versions, but preferably not any user-made wads or mods. Anyway, the spider mastermind's sound in the PSX version always sends a chill down my spine, as it's such a wretched squeal. I also felt the "awakening" sound of the pain elemental is particularly disturbing, especially when facing a Doom 64 PE. Perhaps the creepiest sound, though, is the PSX arachnotron's buzzsaw sounding background sound, which eventually let me to having a rather tramautic "waking nightmare" experience involving the sound when I was about 12 (I swore I heard archnotrons all around me, even though I was fully awake, around three in the morning). I know it might seem lame to you that I have a bias and haven't mentioned any of the original PC sounds, but I've never been particularly scared of them, except perhaps of the revenant, of course.

The Archvile is EASILY the scariest monster in any game, and the sound is the scariest sound, that laugh he does.

Even though it's not that scary, the Archvile's active sound would probably be the most scary if I heard it in like real life and there was actually was one after me. Hear the Cyber's hooves but not knowing where it's at is also creepy.

any ambient sound or noise can be nerve racking. most though would be loud monster alert noises when you least expect them.

Maybe the teleport sound.

That is, when you hear multiple and simultaneous teleports around you. Sure, it could be just Imps... but it could be much, much worse.

Hearing a Cacodemon hiss can make me jump, namey if I have it blasting through headphones. The Arch-Vile freaks me out, too, but not necessarily because it's a scary noise, rather because the Arch-Vile is a tough bastard at times.

my very first doom was on psx, and when i heard and saw the cyberdemon apper outta no where i jumped. then there was the cyberdemon in the marshes that iheard of the constant thumping noise that made my heart a pounding. lol

I have to agree on the Archvile. It's scream is startling and the louder it is, the less time you have to find cover.

The archvile's sound isnt very "scary" as a sound, but its scary in context, especially if you cannot actually see it in a tight area with a lot of pillars or boxes, are you in his line of sight or not? will 'hiding' behind that crate put you in harm's way? Also if you are fighting a lot of other monsters and have killed a fair few when you hear the sound, it means they are coming back to get you again!

The Cyberdemon's hooves, hands down.

When your fighting a badly placed cyber and your hiding behind some corner and the hooves get louder and louder.

I dunno about you guys, but I still go into "Oh Shit" mode whenever I hear the Arch-vile activate sound. Especially if it's a map i've never played before.

Gotta kill that fucker fast >_>

Archvile sounds scary and an bunch of revenants in an monster teleport room close to the playing area.
And the sounds that the cyber hooves make when playing psx doom.

The revenant wake up scream
The Cyberdemon hoof
The Cacodemon hiss


Personally, I've always found the Arch-vile sounds a bit cheesy and comical - especially if you listen to them just as extracted WAVs or something. The wakeup sound is just an odd burbling bleep and the laugh is 1950's B movie standard. They are only scary "in context" (as deathbringer said). When you hear them in game, it means there's an Archie nearby. Unfortunately, for me, that evokes less of an "I'm scared" response and more of an "oh no, not again - yawn" reaction because I find them annoying and over used (often in poorly thought through situations) and as a result often dull and level spoiling.

Well, if I had to choose a Doom sound effect that's scary out of "context", it would be the Baron of Hell's shriek. When I used to play Ultimate Doom a lot, it used to make me jump slightly.

Does anybody know where I can find these sounds from the PSX Doom?

Yes, i dread that cyberdemon hoofs.
And yes, the second scariest sound is the scream of 50 (or more) revenants waking up next to you.

Damn, i hate those kinds of maps.

It would be better if the cyberdemon hoof wasnt set to "bossman", so its always the same volume, and you could hear him getting closer. Of course your imagination always makes the sound louder the longer you are waiting for him to appear. Though i think the cyberdemon's wakeup sound could be a lot better, i've got a big animalistic roar in mind. There's probably some fancy sound software that could create such a roaring sound from a dog growling by passing it through a million filters, and my brother probably has a warezed copy of it, but i cant be bothered.

deathbringer said:
It would be better if the cyberdemon hoof wasnt set to "bossman", so its always the same volume, and you could hear him getting closer. Of course your imagination always makes the sound louder the longer you are waiting for him to appear.

The walking sound is affected by distance just like any other normal sound. Only the death and wake-up sounds are ubiquitous.

The reason the archvile is scary is because id had just played DarkStalkers as Rikuo and riped them off err i mean got inspiration lol

Seriously they sound similar!

Arch vile laugh hands down for me. Funny thing is, the archvile was pretty much the only demon that had a scary sound imo from Doom 3.

Revenants!! :/

The laugh of the archvile when you have no idea where it's at (see Plutonia: Hunted)
The sound of multiple revenants screaming at you simultaneously.
Cacodemons' hisses, up close.

Hearing 20+ cybies wake up at once. Unless it's a joke wad. Unfortunately, in most instances it is.

Nice to know there's a secret level in the master levels that isn't.

Back in mid-90s the active imp sound was scary. Now none of them is really scary, but archies and cybers can be annoying: *sigh* Not again! >=(

The sounds that fills me with dread is definitely the Cyberdemon sound. But the Baron's wakeup sound can actually make me jump if I'm not expecting it.

DSPDIEHI often creeps me out, especially since it's so unexpected (except in DM of course).

For those who have no idea what DSPDIEHI is, it's the high-pitched death scream of the marine.

Jodwin said:

Back in mid-90s the active imp sound was scary. Now none of them is really scary, but archies and cybers can be annoying: *sigh* Not again! >=(

yeah, especially on e1m2, in the dark part, in stereo. i spent a lot of time cowering.

It's also the one i sometimes hear in Real-Life TM, when i've played doom too much and i'm half asleep, seems my brain extracts it from white noise far too easily.

Kristian Ronge said:

DSPDIEHI often creeps me out, especially since it's so unexpected (except in DM of course).

For those who have no idea what DSPDIEHI is, it's the high-pitched death scream of the marine.

Are you kidding? That's a pretty hilarious sound imo

i hate the hissing sound of roaming zombies. especialy if I can hear it but have no idea where it is!