How To Prepare For A Horror Movie Experience You’ll Never Forget – In Your Living Room

You have a fright movie night planned with your friends but your home theater is not up to the standard to really spook everyone out. When it comes to watching horror movies, there is just something spooky when you have the extra bass and the right aesthetics. Not only does it add extra suspense and get your heart pounding, it provides an experience your friends will want more and more of.

It all starts with the sound

When it comes to building suspense in horror movies, movies rely heavily on the film’s audio. When done properly, the audio can have viewers ready to jump out of their seats. So it is important you have the right sound system to ensure that the impact of the audio reaches everyone in the room.

You want to start off by installing a 7.1 surround system, a 5.1 system can also work. When it comes to output of the sound, there are two aspects you need to consider: placement of the speakers and direction. You want the movie audio coming to you from all directions so you should have a minimum of two speakers in the back, two on the side, and the front speakers. Make sure the speakers are facing towards the seats and away from the wall. Also, the speakers should not be directly against the wall.

The sound doesn’t just stop at the speakers, in order to ensure you get optimal performance you should consider the following:

• Select a room with no windows: Windows allow the sound to bounce off causing distortion.
• Carpet your floor: Hard flooring also reflects sound which once again distorts it.
• Do not overcrowd the room with furniture: not only will this crowd the room but also distort sound.

The picture must be crystal clear

Whether you decide to use a screen and projector or a television, you need to make sure the picture quality is perfect. Horror movies typically have a “dark” theme meaning a lot of the scenes are either night based. If your screen doesn’t produce crisp images then viewers will not have a good experience. Thanks to technology, we now have both televisions and projectors that can output up to 4K resolution. We highly recommend you upgrade your screen to 4K resolution, it really revolutionizes your viewing experience. Pair the 4K screen with a Blu-ray player and you are pretty much set for crystal clear resolution.

Select a movie that will scare your socks off

There is a great variety of horror movies out there. However, not every horror movie will scare your socks off. There are plenty that are more hysterical than scary. So if you are really looking to scare yourself and guests with a movie we recommend the following:

Classics

• Exorcist (1973)
• The Shining (1980)
• Psycho (1960)
• Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Poltergeist (1982)
• Nightmare on Elms Street (1984)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Recent Movies

• It Follows (2015)
• The Babadook (2014)
• Saw (2004)
• The Conjuring (2013)
• Don’t Breathe (2016)
• Paranormal Activity (2007)
• The Witch (2015)

Those are enough movies to keep you and your friends frightened for quite sometime. We recommend not watching more than one at a time. Ah, no need for a disclaimer. We are certain after watching anyone of these, you would be too scared to put another one on.

Enjoy your movie with a snack

You just have to love the smell of freshly popped popcorn drenched in butter. Your taste buds start tantalizing as soon as you walk in to the theater. Why not bring that same feeling to your home theater? You can stock your favorite theater snacks at home. Not sure what to get? We recommend you get the following:

Chocolate/Candy

• Milk Duds
• Malteasers
• Sour Patch Kids
• Raisinets
• M&M’s
• Sno-Caps
• Twizzlers

Food

• Popcorn
• Hot Dog
• Nachos
• Chips

Following our tips will help you turn your home theater to the ultimate horror film destination. You have to be wary though. There is a great chance that once your friends get a taste of your new home theater, there is a chance they will prefer your home over a movie theater. After all, no movie theater would provide them with free candies and snacks.

About the author

Katie Porter is an aspiring writer, movie lover, and part of the team at Seatup. In her free time, she enjoys exploring her home state Colorado and plays in women’s amateur rugby league.