Silence and sound as immersive agents in horror videogames: the Outlast and Layers of Fear case

Alessandra Maia, Beatriz Medeiros

Abstract

Soundtrack is an important of part videogames. It tends to be more or less elaborate depending

on the narrative of the game. This paper proposes the analysis of “silence” as a soundtrack piece,
as a tool and a playful strategy of the narrative in electronic horror games. Silence acts both in the
perspective of the player and of the character, which conducts the plot, mediating diegetic, non-
diegetic, and even transdiegetic spaces. We understand that horror plots as Outlast and Layers of
Fear – that aim to cause fear and scare –, give important advantage to think the importance of
sound and silence as strategy of immersion. This work has the goal to map notions of immersion
and discuss the relation between sound and silence present in horror productions. Therefore, we
understand fear as a feeling or a sensation that has an imaginative dimension possible to measure
physically.

Keywords

Horror videogames, sound, silence, transdiegetic spaces, immersion

Introduction
Soundtrack is an essential part of videogames. Its composition depends of the complexity of a game’s
narrative (Murray, 2003). Sound carries relevant parameters for the gameplay and the interaction between
player and the fictional universe, understood as a practical and intense participatory experience that
facilitates game’s immersion – an important feature in the theoretical construction on videogames (Ermi
and Mäyrä, 2011). In this paper, we analyze the sound development in Outlast (2013) and Layers of Fear
(2016), considering the compositions present in these games as important factors for the player’s sensory
stimulation (Ermi and Mäyrä, 2011). We focus our attention on the silence created inside the game’s
soundtrack composition, which we understand as a relevant immersion tool, as it works together with the
game’s sound experience.

We consider the presence of silence as an artifice used to maximize the tension built in horror games.
Therefore, we discuss the notion of silence from the perspective of sound design, understanding that one
cannot exist without the other. Other types of sound, such as footsteps, wind, breathing, etc., usually
occupy silent intervals, or the non-use of soundtrack, that blend and mix with existing sound from off the
screen (Murray, 2003). Silence acts both in the player’s perspective and in the character’s one, that conducts
the plot, mediating diegetic and non-diegetic spaces (Jorgensen, 2011). Using the neologism created by
Kristeva Jorgensen, we discuss the concept of sound in a transdiegetic perspective. Jorgensen proposes the
term to study the sound aspects in the interaction player-game. She tries to transcend the traditional
borders amid diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, as both play an important part in games. They work as link
connecting player and game to provide feedback and grasp the player’s attention (Jorgensen, 2011),
converging the universe of both game and player.

We also briefly map the discussions about immersion, followed by a discussion about the horror genre
(Carroll, 1990). This allows us to understand the construction of fear of the unknown (Lovecraft, 2007), as
this is a relevant affection for horror games immersion, having silence as an inducement. The affections that
horror productions seeks, such as revulsion, fright, and bewilderment, seem to represent restored behaviors
(Schechner, 2006), acquired through everyday sounds and redefined to the perspective of fear in horror.

Psychological horror games, as Outlast and Layers of Fear, are special cases that help us think about silence
as an immersion strategy so they can bring the sense of fear and anxiety. The interactions with the games
allowed us to observe and connect the immersion concept with the sounds and the construction of fear that
supports this immersion. We chose these games specifically because of our own experience with them
before starting to look into the definitions of immersion and start our investigation on the issue of sound
and videogames. Our motivation, therefore, comes from our own perception of the immersive ability of
both games. On this, it has grown to us the curiosity to look at sound and silence as important elements to
the immersion factor. Silence, as it shows, is more than absence of sound. In fact, much like sound itself,
silence possess subjectivity and performative dimensions. Silence, when applied on different parts of sound
spectrum, works strategically – directing the attention of the player in a game towards multiple parts of the
narrative.

Immersion as spaces for player-game interaction

Electronic games can be understood as a way to perform actions. According to Alexander Galloway (2006),
“without the active participation, videogames exist only as static computer code. Videogames come into
being when the machine is powered up and the software is executed; they exist when enacted” (Galloway,
2006). This statement helps illustrate the discussion about the notion of immersion and agency in electronic
games. Galloway also emphasizes that the idea of existence inside a game, happening only when the player
presses the start button, brings a second point: in videogames there are diegetic and non-diegetic actions,
the first being directly connected with actions that influence the narrative and the second connected with
operations away from the narrative universe, as the pause button.

Laura Ermi and Frans Mäyrä state that there is no game without a player because the essence of the game
anchors in its interactive nature (Ermi and Mäyrä, 2011). The authors explore immersion as an important
component for the game’s experience. For this reason, they argue that the interaction within electronic
games can be classified as an escapist experience because, besides active participation, immersion plays a
key role (Ermi and Mäyrä, 2011). The authors define three forms of immersion: sensory, based on challenges
and imaginative. The first consists on “silencing” the environment stimuli, on which the player is playing and
that are away from the game. The immersion based on challenges succeeds when there is a balance
between the game challenge and the player’s motor or mental skills. The imaginative immersion explores
the player opportunities of attachment to the character and to the use the imagination. Ermi and Mäyrä
(2011) claim that the immersion and the sensorial are combined at the absorption of the majority of
entertainment products, but the one based on challenges are indispensable for games, because it depends
on player interaction.

Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (2004) work with the notion of double state of consciousness to discuss
immersion since the player choses to disregard the difference between actions made with the videogame
control, to the ones that are made by the character on the screen. The authors consider the idea of
suspension of disbelief [1] as a fallacy, because – from that perspective – it seems that the pleasure only
exists if the player is transported entirely to the fictional universe. Janet Murray (2003) also does not agree
with the suspension idea. She rather prefers to work with immersion as a creation of belief as she states that
the player desires to enjoy the immersion as if the fictional universe was life itself. This is why “we focus our
attention on the world that surrounds us and we use our intellect to reinforce rather than questioning the
truth of the experience” [2] (Murray, 2003).

Jane McGonical (2014) also disagrees with the concept of suspension and names immersion as belief
simulation. McGonical states that the players seek the acting and the beliefs to enlarge and increase their
experience in the game. The author reinforces that the act of pretending to believe relates with the desire of
seize the moment. Jesper Juul (2005) does not use the same term but supports ideas similar to Janet
Murray’s about the player’s experience in the fictional world constructed for some videogames. The player
is willing to accept its contradictions and inconsistences, since the rules offer a way to be followed by them.
In this way, Juul (2005) considers that the game is something the player choses to immerse.

Rules are part of all types of games. As Johan Huizinga (2007) states, “these [rules] determine what is
‘worth’ inside a temporary world constituted by it”. He enforces the idea that the act of playing is a
voluntary activity. Juul (2007) also reassures that rules need to be well defined so that the player can be
programed and, then, these rules will not need to be discussed before every match.

Marie-Laure Ryan (2001) demonstrates that immersion can easily occur when a text brings culture
assumptions to which the player relates, but does not stop the process of conflict and discovery. However,
this demands certain level of focus. Ryan (2001) distinguishes two types of immersion, the playful and the
narrative. According to the author, the playful immersion relates to the player’s corporeal and active
participation, while the other type of immersion requires only the imaginative activity, excluding physical
activities (Ryan, 2001). Michael Mateas departs from the categories proposed by Murray (2003) to define
immersion as a sensation of being present in another place and be engaged in the actions needed in the said
place.
Our discussion will not explore the notions of magical circle (Huizinga, 2007; Salen and Zimmerman, 2004;
Juul, 2005), which includes the immersive relation between player and game, because we discard the
existence of it. To act on or to be inside a fictional universe may require an identification with the character
and its plot (narrative); on videogames case, it also requires playful elements (like agency, rules, sounds,
development, etc.). We observe that usually the immersion on horror games is achieved via the interaction
with the playful elements rather than with the player’s identification with the character that controls the
plot. However, the definition of immersion, developed by authors that privilege the narrative, is left out of
this paper, because we consider that there is an interaction between the playful elements and the game’s
narrative.

Fear in game
Noël Carroll (1990) suggests that horror, born in the XVIII century, is the first of modern genres coming from
both gothic English and German romance and from the French noir romance. The author starts his
discussion by trying to answer, “What is horror”. He presents two different etymologies for the word usage.
The first meaning comes from the semantics of horror-art and its adequacy when is used to relate to
literature and audiovisual culture. The second, natural horror connects with human’s own natural affections,
as everyday fear and the repulse sensation towards real facts. In this paper, we resort to Carroll’s first
conception, even though we understand both types of horror have being used – and existing – on horror
videogames. We note that the players may be in the midst of a “restored behavior” process, as introduced
by Richard Schechner “physical, verbal, or virtual actions that are not-for-the-first time; that are prepared or
rehearsed. A person may not be aware that she is performing a strip of restored behavior. Also referred to
as twice-behaved behavior” (Schechner, 2006, p. 28).

Roux-Girard (2011) comprehends videogames as a type of audiovisual production, close to movies, differing
only by the interactive logic and the participations one may induce. We agree with this allegation, because
the category of psychological horror seems correct when horror is concerned. The games selected for this
investigation are understood as part of horror-art, or simply horror, and as “a product of a crystalized genre”
(Roux-Girard, 2011) of the XIX century and that reverberates until today. Returning to Carroll, horror differs
from other genres like romance because it connects fundamentally with the sensation that names it. The
horror affection – or disgust, dread, fear –often involves the presence of monsters inside the narrative.
These strange and grotesque beings are “recognized as outside the natural order of things as set down by
our conceptual schema” (Carroll, 1990, p. 189).Therefore, they are impure beings that are only capable of
existence inside the horror narrative universe. Within a contemporary logic, the closer to humanity they get,
the more these monsters leadoff to negative affections or more specifically, fear (Paffenroth, 2011).

Still, there is a conception that fear is something much more complex to be understood, or even begotten.
Lovecraft (2007) defines fear as “the oldest and strongest emotion of humankind (…), and the oldest and
strongest type of fear is the fear of the unknown”. It is possible to observe that the structure of many
entertainment products explores this premise by working on the fear that can be generated by the thriller of
something unpredictable, the unknown, and the unexplainable. However, the author points out that there
are restrictions for the consumption of these products (literature, in Lovecraft’s case), because they demand
a certain degree of imagination and the capacity of detachment from everyday life (Lovecraft, 2007).
According to the author, without imagination and distance from the everyday life rules, it would be too
complicated to immerge in the horror universe and to be scared by it. Therefore, the stimuli of fear are not
necessarily linked to a monster only, but very likely to the imaginary construction remote from what is
known as the current moral common sense.

Several factors can affect the capacity to get scared, such as age. In his work of literature A Hunger Artist
(1922), Franz Kafka briefly explores the differences between action and questioning that the character has
before the “unknown”. In his younger age he was “more curious than frightened”, but, by getting older he
questions himself about the lack of sense in constructing a safer existence and now he finds “new
restlessness instead of peacefulness” (Kafka, 1998). A similar concept, applied to horror productions, can be
found on Stephen King’s Dance Macabre (2012, original publication 1981). While watching a movie, “time,
age, and experiences leave their trace” because “to disbelieve, that mental ‘weight lifting’, gets harder”
(King, 2012). Long before the existence of a horror entertainment industry, common sense imposes that the
younger and “inexperienced” the person, the immersion process in constructed universe will happen easily.
Therefore, it is also easier to indulge fear in the said person, even if the fear engages because of curiosity
and not fear itself.

Freud’s Uncanny (from the original Das unheimlich, 1919) verifies this argument by saying: “the uncanny
from experiences is produced when the repressed children’s complexes are revived, or when surpassed
primitive beliefs seem to be embedded again” (Freud, 2010). The uncanny in fiction, according to the
psychoanalyst, is “above all, much broader than the uncanny of experiences”, because it “encases all of this
and yet other things, that don’t befall in the experiences conditions” (Freud, 2010). Considering that, the
author has the freedom to create a universe “in a way that this coexists with the reality in which is familiar
to us or that detach us in some way” (Freud, 2010).

We return to Stephen King to understand the reason why the audience is attracted to works that explore
the horror/terror universe, and to better define the account in which exists a tendency to follow the way
that the human character reacts to the narrative. To King, this occurs because these works can make clear
“in a symbolic way, things that we are afraid to speak openly (…) [they give us] the chance of exercise (…)
emotions that society requires us to keep under control” (King, 2012). The sense of fear is also considered as
a major attractive to horror entertainment productions. Together with this, there is the notion that the
horror fiction “serves as a test for our own death” (King, 2008). King (2008) explains the reason why the
character in A Hunger Artist (1922) is frightened in a passage he says, “when we realize our unavoidable
end, we also realize the emotion of fear”. In other words, when we are young the impendence of death is
barely noticed, but through the years, as Kafka himself attests over his text, the proximity of the end is a
constant worry.
Nevertheless, this emotion can be evoked by the idea of pulverized information. The more pieces of
information are given; fewer are the chances to feel fear. This association is proportional, since the whole is
unknown, that is, “fear is the emotion that makes us blind” (King, 2003). This illustrates the old fable in
King’s Night Shift (2003) about seven blind men that played seven different parts of an elephant. Hence, it is
possible to understand that this momentary blindness, as well as the impendence of death, can be
understood as the factor that stimulates the consumption of horror genre. Using Stephen King’s logic, fear
and death always have been important themes – attesting Lovecraft’s thesis – because “they are two
constants of human being. But only the horror and supernatural writer can give the reader the opportunity
to complete identification and catharsis” (King, 2003) –it is evident for us that there is no need to limit these
experiences in the literature field. However, this emotional relation is tenuous specifically from what
Lovecraft exposes as the imaginative request and the distance of daily rules, important factors for
consumption of horror genre. Therefore, we can conclude that “fear leaves us blind, and we touch every
fear with the avid curiosity of our own interest, trying to construct a whole from a hundred parts of it, as the
blind men and their elephant” (King, 2003).

Sound also seems to be an important element for the task of stimulating sensations of revulsion and fear as
seen on horror productions, specially the audiovisual ones such as movies or, in this specific case,
videogames. The sound factor is understood as an assistant to the player’s immersion, because it is like an
exponent of configuration to cause fear in the game (Roux-Girard, 2011). This component is demonstrated
in horror games by the choice of a soundtrack by the developers – including the use of silence.

Tia DeNora delves into the issue of music as a tool to provoke movement. In her words, “music is a cultural
vehicle” (2004, p. 07) in the sense that it works many times, throughout everyday life, as a push to action
and dynamism. This function of sound happens mainly because of the human subjectivity, which DeNora
makes clear by treating music as a socially learned knowledge, for example “waltz music for dancing, march
music for marching and so on” (2004, p. 11). These conventional sounds provide a type of structural security
on the moment they can be recognized by a person – and not only music themes or soundtracks, but also
everyday life sounds such as rain falling and wind, an often-used sound effect in the games of the present
analysis.

In psychological horror games, the “common” sounds, or the easily recognized ones, show extreme
importance. These sounds are advocates of already consolidated expectations inside the social constructed
imaginary; therefore, the player can give them meaning (Roux-Girard, 2011). Thus, “the horizon of
expectations gamers have of the games is probably the first thing that influences the production of meaning
towards a sound” (Roux-Girard, 2011, p. 194). This horizon can be reached by previous knowledge of
audiovisual material consumption from the horror genre, such as movies and videogames (Roux-Girard,
2011). In this way, we can conclude that there is the expectation – or, even, wish –, by the part of the end
user, to feel fear and/or anxiety.
Sound shows itself, in this case, as an essential factor to construct a game environment, but alone it is not
capable to create the stimuli to provoke the horror affection. To create such a space, image and sound shall
be connected. Roux-Girard (2011), quoting Michel Chion (2004), states that the added value of image and
sound conjunction basically dictates the relation between them both as an association of numerous levels.
While listening to a specific sound, the player projects a specific image related to an occurrence that can
happen or not inside the game. Again, the imaginary works with the production of expectation.

“Fear of the unknown”: horror, immersion and sound in videogames

Sound and silence

In its Practical manual of acoustics, Solon do Valle (2009) describes “sound” as the form in which audio
waves spread through the air. The other two forms of audio are: vibration, when the waves are conducted
by a solid item, and the “audio signal” when conducted by electric circuits (do Valle, 2009). The vibrations
caused by sound waves can be translated physiologically by the human hearing system which is why we are
able to listen and interpret produced sounds.

While sound can be understood as an action and materiality, be it in form of vibration, repercussion, or
noise, silence represents the “non-action”. Silence is something that does not happen, or that is on
intermission, usually in a moment that precedes sound and/or an action. In music, the figures of silence
represent pauses in musical notation. To understand the difference between sound and silence
representation, it is interesting to bring as reference Han Feizi’s Chinese fable The ghosts painter. The author
presents a conversation in which a prince asks a painter about what is easier to paint “dogs and horses” or
“ghosts and monsters”. The painter answers that ghosts and monsters are easier subjects because they “lack
a defined form and no one has ever seen them” (Feizi, 2012). We can relate this answer with the perception
of silence. Silence exists in relation to sounds and spaces. In music, it is represented by a pause or an
interlude. By using common sense, however, silence can be related to the environment and actions. For
example, when someone asks another person to be silent, it is desired that this person stops talking or
making any noise whatsoever. A silent place can be one that is able to isolate external noises, even if other
forms of sounds are produced within the specific environment. That is why to define silence is to take part in
a dispute amid different actors, being they human or not.

According to Murray (2003), the soundtrack composes the technical part of computer games: it can provide
clues of what the player can expect when he or she moves or clicks with the computer mouse in the right
direction. The author understands music as a factor to define experience inside the dramatic scene. Sound is
set up as one central element to induce immersion as it complements the sensation in the narrative visual
dimension, working in sort of a mechanical way to create a mood. The relation between what happens in a
diegetic space and the sound infuses with synchrony. When a character walks, it is possible to hear the
sound of footsteps; when it opens a door, it is possible to hear the noise of the knob and the creaking of the
hinges – these are mechanical uses of sound. Music creates the suspense mood and starts precisely when
the player is about to confront the enemy, which means it acts in the diegetic as well as in non-diegetic
space, working with the idea of ambience and environment. The sounds present on videogame are
previously composed and inserted later in order to complement the meaning and use of that work. Zach
Whalen (2004), researcher associated to the Games Studies, describes two specifics circumstances in which
sounds are part of games: a) to expand the concept of fictional world; and b) to invite the player to enter the
sequence of the game.

Sound allows the increase of the notion of space. While the range of human visual abilities is a maximum of
180 degrees, the hearing range can catch sound stimuli on an “omnidirectional” way of 360 degrees. In the
case of human vision, the perception of space comes with binocular distinction; for the hearing, the
perception of space comes by the catch of different sound sources and its reverberation in the environment
(do Valle, 2009). Sound creates a sense of real physical space (Morris, 2002 apud Whalen, 2004) because it is
not restricted to the screen. Sound is present in diegetic spaces as a narrative resource, but also pass into
the non-diegetic spaces. It can be heard with the apparatus of headphones and/or speakers, transforming
this hearing in more or less individualized. The player needs to be in visual contact with the screen so the
sound he or she is listening to makes sense.

To Michel Chion (2004), the main function of sound in audiovisual narratives is to aid the audience’s
perception of a space diegesis. By constructing a virtual landscape, the sound designer reproduces and
systematizes codes of the “real world”, the ambiences, the sound of the wind, of the cars, of the rain,
sounds present on corridors of an old house, and so forth. These sounds represent the relation between
time and space, as well as in a way compared to the universe in and outside the narrative. This system is the
fruit of an interpretation and a re-appropriation of sounds that are usually heard.

According to Schafer (1977), the human hearing is capable of mediating the space zone created by the
imagination and the other zone, created by the world around. The sound fills the environment, resulting on
reverberations, dynamics and acoustics levels. On videogames, sounds are applied accordingly with the
physical and cultural conditions. The same happens with the use of silence in these spaces. Silence, inside
and outside the narratives of horror digital games, marks moments of tension, pause or suspension, because
silence does not belong in a human natural order. Experimentations in an anechoic chamber[3], capable of
absorbing more than 90% of noises, shows that in conditions of “absolute silence” a common person suffers
from hallucination in a short period of time[4].

As it happens with sound, silence “invades” the diegetic and non-diegetic spaces, but while the player can
control sound, silence tends to “impose” itself while in the narrative. Players commonly report the action of
lowering the volume of videogames with the purpose of “feeling less fear” or “be less scared off”, and there
are those whose increase the volume to increase these same reactions. However, the music – on the
soundtrack level – sometimes stops almost completely, so it is only possible to hear the character’s
breathing and footsteps. The absence of music or the minimal action of the soundtrack, in these cases, tends
to engender anxiety because it is understood that something is coming, but the player cannot be sure from
where. In horror videogames, the idea of ambience is cardinal to the somber mood and part of this tension
comes from the silent times, or silent spaces inside the narrative. The sudden sound of a door slamming or
someone screaming can make the player as much adrift as the character. Usually the actor succeeds on
identifying the sound from a certain source, but on videogames – mainly the horror ones – the non-
identification of these sources is a resort to create fear and anxiety. Sound and silence start to appear in the
narrative as an apparatus to indulge immersion and sensations, working from the socially constructed logic
of the horror genre.

Typically, researches on videogames appropriate concepts and methods from other study areas. It is
common to find investigations that depart from elements that divide spaces from movies and electronic
games. There is nothing wrong with that, the field of game studies is still under development, but some
concepts are not sufficient because they ignore the interactive nature of the field, as Kristine Jorgensen
(2011) states. The studies of sound in digital games belong to these cases; because the concept of diegetic
and non-diegetic spaces mainly consider sounds that are part of narratives (as the sound of nature, beings
that live in certain spaces, noise, and so forth) and sounds that do not belong in the narrative (such as the
soundtrack). By transporting these concepts to the digital games studies, we can use them to investigate
sounds that originate from fictional games and sounds outside the fictional world. Jorgensen (2011) points
out Galloway’s perspective about the notion of diegetic and non-diegetic actions and it is important to the
discussion that the author wishes to make regarding the necessity of another terminology for the study of
sounds in videogames. Therefore, to discuss the effects of sound in videogames, Galloway creates the
neologism of transdiegesis. Jorgensen, however, makes clear that some aspects of diegetic and non-diegetic
can be profitable. For example, the comparison between videogames and other media or, using the logic
employed by the author on her work, to demonstrate how it is problematic to explore sounds on games.

Milena Droumeva (2011) explicit and reinforces Kristine Jorgensen’s critique on the asset of investigating
sounds in games by the means of diegesis. In videogames, sound works on different levels. Besides the
descriptive/immersive, those levels can be non-diegetic – following the cinema field concept – and still work
besides diegetic clues inside the game’s soundtrack (Droumeva, 2011). Therefore, according to Droumeva,
there is still another restraint to the term, since it does not consider external sounds beyond the game – and
that can be part of the experience of the player, such as the acoustic sound landscape of a multiplayer
game.

Silence and horror

Noël Carroll, much like King, thinks the producers of horror genre have as a goal to engender a great number
of emotions on the audience. For the author:

The word “emotion” comes from the Latin “emovere” which combines the notion of “to move” with the
prefix for “out.” An emotion originally was a moving out. To be in an emotional state involves the experience
of a transition or migration—a change of state, a moving out of a normal physical state to an agitated one,
one marked by inner moving (Carroll, 1990, p. 24)

The relation amid the idea of get emotional and move match the idea of immersion and the traffic among
the transdiegetic spaces. The moment of tension created by the soundtrack, allows the perception of
ambiences and environment. The somber atmosphere brought out by the image follows the effects of echo,
scratching violins and noise dissonant explosions of symphonic noise that gives away the “scare” sensation.
The silence, on constructed places like the described, engender the tension, because it forces the hearing to
stay alert for disturbing sounds and interference in the environment.

These emotional effects of horror have a physical dimension, of material order, and a performance
dimension that can be looked upon as the restored behavior (Schechner, 2006) – as previously mentioned.
The way in which sound attaches artificially to videogames comes from the reflection of the “real” world and
the reactions people have towards the genre. “In general survival horror games rely on conventions of
horror film sound to effectively create the mood of horror required for the game” (Whalen, 2004), as it also
happens on psychological horror games.

In horror genre, monsters are creatures seen as atypical in comparison with humans and represent
disturbances on the natural order. Creatures that violate the rules of ontological propriety presumed by the
human characters in the narrative. Monsters are extraordinary characters existing in a common world. This
logic differs from the dragon in a fantasy tale, for example, which means it is a common creature inside an
extraordinary world (Freud, 2010).

It is interesting to notice that, on extreme conditions, silence can also represent a fracture of human natural
order. Altogether, silence shapes an atmosphere and creates the thriller sensation, the moment of tension,
which inside a horror narrative can represent the rise of an attack or a change of perspective, no matter the
media in which this occurs. Because of this, the figure of the monster and the strange are not always
constant on these narratives; nevertheless, the sense of apprehension towards the unknown still exists, as
we can see in Layers of Fear. The game works its way around the overlap of sound and image to preserve
the player’s attention to the changes around the game’s ambience, sustaining the tension. Outlast, on the
other hand, uses the figure of the monster as the advocate of fear.

The games we chose are labeled as psychological horror, but they present different game mechanics and
goals. Outlast values the player’s capacity of stealth, because the character needs to collect documents and
information without being caught. There is no way to confront the villain – or the monsters, in this specific
case – and this is why, in case of being discovered, it is necessary to run and hide. Layers of Fear stimulates
the player-character to walk around the old mansion to find pieces of information, but with every new clue
found, the story changes and gets close to its conclusion. That means the player cannot run from the things
that stimulates the sensation of fear, it is important to explore every door and drawer, especially the ones
that instigate scare – since the greater is the chance of finding some clues on the most suspicious ones.

As discussed earlier, the construction of transdiegetic sounds shows as central for the understanding of
videogame’s immersion. However, as we can see by analyzing the sound composition on Outlast and Layers
of Fear, silence proves to be an important element of strategy to enhance – if not create – the fear
sensation. We understand, therefore, that the connection between sound and silence shows itself as
fundamental in psychological horror games, since the similarity of the sounds in this type of game with
“natural” sounds of everyday life is important to create the sensation of familiarity. The horror is instigate as
long as the familiarity of occasions, triggered by different elements (such as the sound), suffers a rift by
unknown or uncommon situations provoked by different reasons or actors.

The moment all sounds halt (including the familiar ones), the tendency is to focus on what happens next –
drawing the player’s attention to every single detail, including other sounds. At this moment, we believe
that some questions come forth, such as “Can I hear something behind this silence?”, or “Does this silence
mean something is approaching?” and so forth. This type of questioning is social and culturally created,
because the use of silence as a tension-enhancing factor is a common recurrence in audiovisual culture. This
process engenders the essential affection to affect the consumer of this genre.

Suspense in Layers of Fear and Outlast

In the beginning of Layers of Fear, the player – from the character’s point of view – sees him or herself in an
entering hall of what seems to be an abandoned house. Everything one can hear is the storm pouring
outside and a soft soundtrack, played in a piano and an eventual mellow vocalization. The melody very much
resembles the song played by a music box, with the aspect of an old lullaby that, inside the logic of horror
productions, can be an indication of danger or that the character is inside a dangerous place. This is the first
moment that the restored behavior, as Schechner (2006) introduces, can influence the player. When the
sceneries are first explored, the soundtrack vanishes gradually, reappearing only in strategic points – of total
silence break – such as entering in some room, playing with the idea that something might be wrong. The
soundtrack present in these cycles develops in a crescendo or make sudden appearances, conveying the
idea of impact, followed by the introduction of string instruments’ sound, mainly in a sharp tone. These
details on the melody composition refer to classic horror movies and thrillers, which induces the player to
tension and the expectation that something scary is about to happen. However, silence not only ends with
the soundtrack, but also with noises and “booming” sounds that, technically, are caused by other people
with the aid of inanimate objects.

Since it is possible to deduce the character is alone in the house, having to solve puzzles and find new spaces
– aiming to figure out the mystery of a disturbing narrative –, the idea of another person in the same space
can mean danger. The solitude is questioned by the sound of impact, a heavy object falling, footsteps, doors
and windows opening and closing, crying, barking of an apparent trapped dog; with this the player starts to
think what it is inside the house with the character. Understanding that the narrative does not follow a
mundane logic, to question what, instead of whom, makes complete sense. The narrative allows such
weighting – is it alive? Is it real? Can it hurt the character (myself)? At this moment, the fear caused by the
break of silence and the wondering if the player-character is alone, induces the immersion. After all, why
fear, be scared and yearn something that is not part of the everyday life?

The silence in Layers of Fear presents another important function: its existence maximizes everyday sounds.
The rain, a constant source of noise, it’s not always present; the wind that slams windows, and that
resembles the sound of melancholic voices whispering; the sound of creaking doors; the electric sound of
static – all of these regular daily noises are redefined. They help in the construction of tension, as well as in
incorporating the narrative to create a problematic environment. It also helps with the immersion of the
player who knows these noises by heart and does not notice the first time they shush. When, at last, the
player realizes a chamber or a corridor is too silent, there is the creation of expectation of fear. At this
moment, the hearing sense seems to enhance and accentuate the player’s curiosity to know what it is about
to come.

The first minutes of Outlast looks like an audiovisual cliché. The character drives by a dirt road to arrive at an
old building, away from the city, located on a somber and what seems to be desert region. Apart from what
the player-character can see, the sounds confirm these facts, as it is possible to hear car wheels running on
the road and other “nature” noises coming from the fields surrounding the region. The radio does not
necessarily tell the story of the location the character is heading, but the static coming from it when it is
arriving at the building is an indication that this place is of difficult to access. Such effect is common in
audiovisual horror productions to betoken a problem, usually with a place or a situation[5]. At this moment,
the soundtrack makes itself present. A low music, that does not conceal other sounds (among them the
constant wind that reminiscent whispers) and wolf howls – an indication that, wherever the player-
character is heading to, it is far away from urban centers. In Outlast the breathing of the character and its
footsteps are easily heard. It is possible to perceive the difference between walking and running or walking
over gravel or a wood floor. These differences seem to maximize the immersion factor to the player because
it brings closer player and character.

The soundtrack only stops when the player-character manages to enter the “private” domain of the building
– at this point, it is possible to know that this is an asylum[6] (as if the fact of being isolated was not
prerogative enough to prompt fear on the player). The music gains space in moments that indicate tension,
such as the entrance of a dark room, or when the monster is approaching the player-character (and vice-
versa). On these occasions, there is the use of cord instruments that emit the high-pitched sound, giving
away the sensation of tension to the player – this sensation is, once again, enhanced by the heavy breathing
of the character, indicating fear of what is approaching. The soundtrack also returns in moments without
action, such as when the player-character is reading a document or seeing a clue. This gimmick aids the
maintenance of expectations, tension and suspension, collaborating with the immersion sensation. The
composition, in these cases specifically, is low and tense, bringing back the idea of restored behavior and
allowing the player to keep a sense of playful dissociation provided by the narrative.

Silence in Outlast strategically maximizes the sounds fabricated by the character itself, as well as the sounds
coming from moving objects and beings existing in the environment of the game. The silence, for example,
enhances the sound of the character’s footsteps over a wooden floor that creaks every time a step is given;
it also enhances the noise produced by the character crawling inside the air tubing, producing echo that give
the sensation of being followed. The anxiety and expectation of an eminent attack (unlike than Layers of
Fear, in Outlast the character can get hurt and even die, if it meets an antagonist NPC) cause the player to
pay attention to where it walks, or if the noises come only from the character. While in constant
concentration, the immersion is eminent.

The lack of sound can also indicate danger. As in Layers of Fear, at first it is not possible to know what exists
inside the building in which the player-character is. However, differently from the first game, in Outlast the
player finds out the monster (or monsters) in fact exists and that it also can hurt and kill the character. The
apprehension of the player becomes in meet with the dangerous creature, and the sound gives clues of
when the player-character gets closer to it. One of these clues, and maybe the most efficient one, is the lack
of music. The character’s fear can be deduced by the way it breaths – fast and choppy – evidencing the
moment in which the player itself should be alert. These situations usually happen on badly lighted and
silent rooms and corridors. The player must enhance its hearing to find out what exists in those places. It is,
invariably, while these cycles occur that the scare and/or revulsion takes place.

Final considerations
This paper sought to carry out a discussion about the immersion issue related to the consumption of horror
digital games by reflecting on the relation between sound and silence in the moments of tension
construction and ambience, from the notion of transdiegesis (Jorgensen, 2011). The interaction with Outlast
and Layers of Fear was fundamental to observe the concepts presented and provide us the basis to produce
a more detailed analysis on the matter. We point, throughout the text, to the importance of sound and
silence as a factor that induces immersion on horror games, expanding the dialogue of silence as a strategy
and immersive tool. Silence, therefore, is as performatic as sound, because it contributes to provoke
moments of suspense and tension, mainly in psychological horror productions as the chosen games.

The transposition of diegetic and non-diegetic spaces is more characteristic than the images. Sound and
silence, equally, exceed the two-dimension of the screen, however they work together to construct
conditions for a more immersive experience. By combining images and movements, sounds and actions,
videogames gather transdiegetic characteristics that make possible to think games as complex and
simultaneous dimensions. Nevertheless, we believe it is important to highlight that the act of playing the
selected games together with the bibliographical references allowed comprehending multiple sensorial
elements – components of the relation between player and game. We suggest that future analysis should
develop protocols of evaluation to guide the data collection that can explore even further the effects of
sound and silence in the player’s perspective.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Notes

1. To deepen the discussion, we suggest checking Fragoso (2014).

2. All the translations on the present paper are responsibility of the authors.
3. Place projected to absorb the maximum number of sound propagation as possible, creating the sensation of “absolute silence”.

4. In 2004, the anechoic chamber of Orfield laboratory in Minnesota, USA, joined the Guinness Book as the most silent place in the
world. The person that remained inside there for the longest period endured 45 minutes. In short period of time the perception of
spatiality and sounds of the person’s own body became ghastly. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2124581/The-worlds-quietest-place-chamber-Orfield-Laboratories.html.

5. See for example the psychological horror movie Shortwave. Source: http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3465616/first-shortwave-
clip-delivers-static-charged-horror-exclusive/.

6. Locations such as asylums and hospitals usually, on horror and thrillers narratives, present a stigma. The likelihood to find in these
places hateful and repulsive beings and, therefore, the imminent danger, is great.

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