A shotgun is an excellent home defense weapon. You can usually get a perps attention with the sound of a slide jacking a shell into the pipe.
"...You can usually get a perp's attention with the sound of a slide jacking a shell into the pipe..."
Racking the slide to "frighten" a criminal is an urban legend and is amateurish firearm handling. If one doesn't store the shotgun with a round already chambered, it should be quietly loaded without providing additional warning to the criminal. One can choose to "challenge" the criminal if desired, or they can wisely shoot them where they stand. A person who enters a home via the roof or window in the middle of the night isn't visiting to have tea and butterscotch krimpets.
Research on this topic will quickly show you that respected firearms experts universally recommend against the "Hollywood" technique of loudly racking the slide in the presence of the criminal.
~ Blue Jays ~
Getting his attention is usually a bad idea.
There's a reason that you're in bed with a good woman and he's breaking into houses. That reason gives him a major advantage in a violent confrontation.
Your advantages are surprise and lethality.
Don't surrender your surprise because you think you're in a movie. If he hears you loading your shotgun, he has a chance to kill you before you can pull the trigger.
That's stupid.
I love that sound - definitely in my Top Ten Sounds.