Surrounded by terror

I’ve written before about binaural stereo – the technique that gives a surround sound experience through an ordinary pair of headphones.

I must admit that when I’ve tried to explain this to people in the past, I’ve been met with a certain degree of incredulity at how this can work, but it does, and it’s all perfectly sound science. So if you too are sceptical, or simply like a good horror story, it’s time to get the headphones out again and experience is for yourself.

On Hallowe’en BBC Radio 4 is hosting Fright Night, which includes two new productions of classic horror scripts.

One of those is a production of Japanese horror The Ring, with Eve Myles (Torchwood, etc), and the second is a play called The Stone Tape, written by Nigel Kneale, creator of Quatermass.

You’ll be able to hear the binaural mixes online from Hallowe’en, at www.bbc.co.uk/frightnight, and there’s more about how to do it on this page. You will also, apparently, be able to download the binaural versions in the BBC iPlayer Radio app on Android and Apple devices.