Creepy TV:  Theme Songs & Composers

Hemlock Grove. American Horror Story. Dexter. Sleepy Hollow. All great shows, all with awesome themes and title motion graphics. I’ve always loved dark themes when it comes to television and movies. The moods of the music moves throughout these types of shows and echo into the far-reaching, deep-seated psyches of its characters. Below is a list of songs worth adding to your writing playlist*.

Hemlock Grove (Netflix) – by Nathan Barr

Netflix has definitely stepped up with their content. The background images of Hemlock Grove‘s opening theme reminds me of the opening of the show House, but HG‘s are more sinister – a brain engulfed in bloody smoke;  a disturbing diagram of a monster baby in a womb. Either way, it makes you wonder…what is this show about anyway? I won’t give it away (because that’s part of the mystery of the show), but let’s just say that baby isn’t human.

Want more of Nathan Barr? Here’s an awesome interview on this Emmy-nominated composer and his wonderful (and successful) relationship with FX shows like The Americans, True Blood, as well as other projects.

American Horror Story (FX) – by César Dávila-Irizarry and Charlie Clouser

Don’t block my blog, but I don’t – can’t – watch AHS. I can’t even get through the opening credits. I messes with me. But if I just use my ears instead of my eyes, I get a feel for what the show is like. It’s like watching Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, and War of the Worlds. There’s a steady beat to it. You hear a TV buzzing, crashing sounds, a couple of drops for the scare effect, fires burning, and an incessant “oooh-EE-errh”, three-beat sound. Each season’s theme seems to sound different, like they tweaked some things here and there, which I like. In the background of each opening, there’s a calm tempo playing.

Charlie Clouser, former Nine Inch Nails bandmate, had apparently been brought on board to compose music for the second season, but all homage goes to the “spontaneous magic” of the original track created by César Dávila-Irizarry. Dávila-Irizarry had composed the title song in 1998, long before AHS came to fruition. Clouser had to recreate the song by giving each sound its own track. Contrary to what I thought were the sounds featured in the song, there is “clattering metal hangers, dripping water and white noise” – all the small things that make AHS’s theme intriguing and unique. For more info on how the title sequence and music was created, click here.

Dexter (Showtime) – by Daniel Licht

In Dexter, the main character, by day, is a blood splatter expert for the Miami Police Department. However, by night, he is a serial killer who kills bad people who do bad things. His friends and family don’t know this, and eventually his philosophy wavers throughout the show as he becomes emotionally involved (for some reason, his sister always gets in the middle of things).

It is a great show with a great concept, and with it, you need a great opening. The opening however was a bit quirky and humorous for this post, so I included the end credits theme instead. What (arguably) gets at the true character development and feel of the show is this theme composed by Daniel Licht, entitled “Blood Theme”. It rolls into a luring piano, and then adds creeping, jagged echoes and what sounds like violins, zigzagging and rolling over each other quite sadly. The piano returns in a slurred kind of way, and then a rumbling beat and crashing waves of voices end as the eerie piano finishes it off. It’s creepy, but in a good way, telling the story of a man with a secret affliction that is, in some way, a form of sanity to him. It is his curse, but it is also his power.

Daniel Licht has a plethora of work on his website (as every composer should). Take a listen here.

Sleepy Hollow (Fox) – by Bryan Tyler and Robert Grant LyDecker

So, if you don’t know by now, Sleepy Hollow, the television show, is a revamped version of the original tale by Washington Irving and stars a really pissed off Headless Horseman looking for its too main characters (The Two Witnesses in the Bible’s book of Revelations) to kill them and have this evil beast named Moloch take over the world and bring about pain and suffering and so forth.

The best parts are heard in the actual show’s opening on primetime, but this version (above) is cooler because it’s longer and it builds. The exciting, suspenseful violins really work because there’s a mystery in the show around every corner, and the theme climaxes to a rather perilous sound. The town of Sleepy Hollow – and the world – are in trouble if Moloch reaches the world outside of Purgatory, and Lt. Abigail Mills and resurrected soldier Ichabod Crane must do everything in their power to stop him.

Brownie Points:  Bryan Tyler‘s portfolio also includes music for major blockbusters such as:  Avengers:  Age of Ultron, the recent remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Iron Man 3, Thor:  The Dark World, and Fast Five. LyDecker has teamed up with Tyler for the TMNT remake, Iron Man 3, and Now You See Me, an impressive resume for a young composer. Both are Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated composers.

I love the music that goes into television shows because they are supposed to encompass the show and really bring home the underlying mood of its characters, the sets, the themes, and the major conflicts in the show. To the composers, I dedicate this post to you.

BONUS:  There’s another folklore artist/composer I want you to know about. His name is Ben Michel. His song (below) resonated with me, especially for shows like American Horror Story:  Freak Show because it’s entitled “Bread and Circuses Are Back”. It has a really creepy fizzling out of the violin at the end, and an unexpected moment of banjo that WORKS. Take a listen. His full album, Realtime, is available for free (or with tip) on Noisetrade.com.

*I’ll be posting a follow-up list for FILM SCORES with the kind of same themes.

I hope you found your new music fix.