The V/H/S anthology series returns with another collection of horror stories. This time, it is centered around music and sound.
The directors behind V/H/S Mixtape found inspiration for their horror shorts in unexpected places, from the cosmic dread of H.P. Lovecraft to children’s television and the unsettling experience of hearing the human body’s internal sounds. Each filmmaker developed a distinct concept, using atmosphere, practical effects and unconventional storytelling to explore different sources of fear
Ernest Dickerson turned to cosmic horror, a genre built around forces beyond human understanding. Rather than starting from scratch, he combined elements from two of H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories and relocated them to a modern setting. The approach allowed him to draw on the author’s established mythology while developing a story suited to V/H/S Mixtape.
“To me, my favorite branch of horror is cosmic horror, because to me, there’s nothing scarier than the unknown,” Dickerson said.
Renee Zhan found her inspiration in the world of children’s entertainment, building a story around puppets whose television show faces an attempted reboot. When studio executives propose replacing the original puppets with computer generated imagery, the characters rebel against the decision, turning the production into a violent revenge story.
Music plays a central role in the short. Zhan focused on the catchy, repetitive theme songs associated with children’s television, using the melody as the trigger that brings the puppets to life and sets their rampage in motion. The contrast between familiar entertainment and escalating violence gives the story its unsettling quality.
The puppets themselves came from a collaborative effort involving multiple puppeteers, many of whom contributed their own creations. Juergen, the production’s puppet master, brought in a black dog puppet with milky white eyes that he had made as an homage to his blind child’s dog. The collection brought together designs from different sources, giving the characters a distinctive, handmade appearance.
“We really just recruited every single puppet we could find,” Zhan said.
David Moreau took a different route, centering his short on an acoustic chamber designed to make the human body’s internal sounds audible. When a producer invited him to join the anthology, the creative brief emphasized that sound needed to be the source of fear. The assignment gave Moreau an opportunity to revisit an idea he had previously been unable to produce because of financing constraints.
The chamber’s premise offered a way to make an ordinary human experience feel unfamiliar. Sounds that usually go unnoticed could become impossible to ignore, transforming the body itself into a source of suspense.
To recreate the environment, the production built a cube covered in thousands of pyramid shaped acoustic structures across its walls, floor and ceiling. Moreau estimated that the set required approximately 6,000 pieces. Although filming took place in a studio rather than an underground location capable of producing near perfect silence, the construction still created an unusual atmosphere for the cast and crew.
“I always wanted to tell the story inside this chamber, because I thought it was so cool to be able to hear the sound and the music of your own body,” Moreau said.
Together, the three filmmakers demonstrate the creative range of V/H/S Mixtape. Dickerson draws on literary cosmic horror, Zhan transforms children’s television into a story of puppet rebellion, and Moreau explores the disturbing potential of sound. Their shorts find different ways to unsettle audiences, turning familiar references and everyday experiences into sources of fear.
