University composer’s film score receives UK premiere at FrightFest Halloween
28 October 2026
The music of a University of Aberdeen composer will feature in a new horror film which will receive its UK premiere at FrightFest Halloween in London.
Dr John De Simone has composed the music for The Dark Gets In, a new horror feature film written and directed by Sean Hogan.
The mock true-crime supernatural horror film follows a documentary crew investigating a teenager’s unexplained disappearance.
The film had its world premiere at Beyond Fest on October 2 in Los Angeles, will be shown at the Irish Film Institute’s Horrorthon in Dublin on October 26 and will then receive its UK premiere as part of FrightFest Halloween on October 31 at Leicester Square Odeon.
Dr De Simone is a Senior Lecturer in Composition at the University of Aberdeen and former teacher at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, alongside serving as Artistic Director of Ensemble Thing..
His previous work spans theatre, technology and multimedia performance, and has been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles and performers including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Edinburgh Quartet and the New Juilliard Ensemble, but this is his first full film.
Dr De Simone said he was delighted to be commissioned to write for the genre.
“Music is fundamental to the storytelling in film, and particularly in horror, where sound and atmosphere can be as significant as the images on screen,” he said.
“As a composer, you’re not simply writing music to accompany a scene, you’re helping to shape how the audience experiences it – building tension, creating unease and drawing them deeper into the story.”
The Dark Gets Inis the latest work by filmmaker and writerSean Hogan, known for The Devil’s Business (2011), the horror anthology segment House & Home in Little Deaths (2011), and the comic-book documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD.
Dr De Simone added: “I’m delighted that the film is reaching audiences at three well-regarded festivals in Los Angeles, Dublin and London.
“Writing music for film is a collaborative process and it’s great to be able to bring my experiences of scoring a feature film into the classroom and to share it with students.
“It gives us the opportunity to explore the creative challenges of writing for screen, discuss how music works alongside film, and connect what we do in teaching with the realities of professional practice.”
