Not suitable for the easily disturbed: Sonic nonlinearity and disruptive horror in Doki Doki Literature Club!

Abstract

The extent to which disturbing video games incite real-world violence has been a source of intense debate since the late 1990s following school shootings across the United States. In 2017, the release of Team Salvato’s Doki Doki Literature Club! (DDLC!) signified a major shift in independent game developers’ approaches to creating a violent horror gaming experience: the developers include the use of nonlinear sound (e.g. frequency jumps, non-standard harmony, noise/chaos) and local-level melodic transformations to complicate player immersion. In this article, I argue that the game’s music is one of the greatest sources of horror. The game music in DDLC! works as both an immersive and a disruptive agent that shapes the player’s gaming experience. Though the game is a work of fiction, the emotions and reflections of the player prompted by the violent acts within are real – the player’s experiences of horror, fear and terror are visceral.