What, you might ask, is a “waterphone”? Is it something you use to talk to mermaids? No, actually, it’s a musical instrument, and though you’ve probably never heard of it, its sound will be instantly recognizable to you if you’re a horror movie fan. The waterphone was invented by - wait for it! - Richard Waters, somewhere in the late 1960s. He has a whole website for it here, so why not order one in time for your Halloween party?
Movies that use the waterphone for other-worldly soundtracks and sound effects include Poltergeist, Let the Right One In, Dark Water, and Aliens. In these videos, you can see the wide ranges of sounds possible from this one instrument, and all of them deliver spine-shivering tones.