How Suspense Music Works in Horror Films and Thrillers

Love horror film music and want to know more about how it’s composed? In this article, I’m going to discuss three types of suspenseful, tension-building styles that are the cornerstone of many-a scary movie, and then give you ten examples of stellar horror soundtracks. In the second half, I’ll share a few writing tips for aspiring horror/thriller film composers. And don’t worry, there are no jumpscares!

The Three Types of Scary Music

Since horror movies usually don’t have the same level of box-office potential as mainstream classics like the Star Wars, ET, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter films, their soundtracks are nowhere near as well-known, let alone loved. Horror scores can be roughly divided into three subgenres: the old-fashioned, cheesy low-brow stuff, the minimalistic soundscapes, and the ambient-and-memorable classics.

The Cheesy Stuff

If you’ve ever watched an old, low-budget horror film that was soundtracked with fat synth-pop, then you’ve definitely heard the cheesy stuff before. You may have even wondered what was more hair-raising: the actual movie or the fact that the composer used the Fantasia preset loaded into their Roland D-50 to soundtrack the aciton. In any case, this style has very few, if any fans.

The Minimalistic Soundscapes

Minimalistic soundscapes have been commonly used for decades now. Think diffuse clusters of sound; a quiet piano backed by a ton of reverb; and loud effects following a spell of stillness and the sudden appearance of a nightmarish figure that’s been subtly making its presence known. These soundtracks are properly produced and highly effective within the context of the film itself, but aren’t necessarily interesting to listen to on their own.

The Classics

The third category is home to the more ambient, memorable and expertly arranged-and-orchestrated score, which can even be worth listening to outside of the film they soundtrack. Compared to the other two categories, this style most closely resembles classic film score.

How Suspense Music Works in Horror Films and Thrillers

The Clichés

Chaotic, intense and atonal — that’s what a lot of people will say when asked to describe horror film music. In reality, good horror films are defined by what actually could be described as a lack of music during the scary bits. When horror is done well, you don’t need any chaotic music to make your creepy antagonist extra chilling. There’s a good reason why there isn’t a conductor on set instructing the orchestra to wave a melody while the body parts are flying. Can you imagine?

It’s All About Timing

Ever noticed how the victim is usually all alone or has just been abandoned by the group when something terrible happens? This kind of scene taps directly into one of our primal fears: getting into trouble with no one around to call out to for help. Screenwriters use this to their advantage, and it also explains why the music in these scenes is typically minimalistic, monotone and diffuse: it helps create distance and disorientation. Just before the victim opens that door in the abandoned mansion they’re exploring, that’s the moment when you clench your buttocks and brace for sonic impact. In a lot of cases, it’s the sound that really scares the living daylights out of you, not the actual monster.

Less Jumpscares, More Focus on the Story

The quiet-before-the-storm approach is commonly used, but there’s also a more traditional approach that focuses less on jumpscares and more on the narrative. Horror flicks that feature a traditional approach are generally higher quality films as far as the soundtrack goes. The more conventional-composed tracks are often worth listening to outside of the film and aren’t just doom-and-gloom. After all, there needs to be some level of contrast. This is why there’s a bit of humour in Poltergeist (1982), which helps it slightly transcend the horror genre. Lulling the audience into a false sense of security or adding a little humour also helps intensify the scary parts. Jaws (1975) is a great example. Remember the part where Brody snappily goes “Come on down and chum some of this shit!”, promptly followed by the surfacing of a large white shark? That’s fear, wit and a sense of adventure all wrapped into one scene, encapsulating what the film is all about too.

10 Great Horror/Thriller Soundtracks

Here’s a selection of ten thriller and horror film soundtracks in no particular order that I think are excellent.

The Descent – David Julyan

A real creature-feature; extremely eerie and claustrophobic. Featuring a lot of strings and brass, the soundtrack is clearly constructed out of drawn-out, mysterious notes and sinister tonal clusters. That said, besides scarily effective sounds, the soundtrack is also impressive during the final escape and the aerial shots of the woods.

Alien – Jerry Goldsmith

This is an undisputed classic and some of Jerry Goldsmith’s best work. What sets the score apart are the beautiful lyrical bits, which help create that all-important contrast. Ultimately, Goldsmith was pretty frustrated with the final product because director Ridley Scott replaced a large part of the original score with other music. For Goldsmith’s fans, Alien nevertheless represents some of the composer’s best work.

Hellraiser – Christopher Young

The original Hellraiser film is, soundtrack-wise, a definitive highlight in horror score history. It not only put composer Chris Young on the map, but led to him being typecast for similar films quite a few times since. Young’s music is loud, features gothic elements and is very enjoyable to listen to outside of the film. One of the tracks, ‘Resurrection’, is one of the best pieces Young ever penned, and a great example of a tune that was inspired by a classic fairground ride: the roundabout. This style (3/4 time signature and organ sounds) was also used in the mini-series IT (1990), where it lent itself perfectly to the clown-esque elements and plays on the fear of clowns: coulrophobia — a fear that’s not to be underestimated.

Hellraiser II: Hellbound – Christopher Young

I figured I might as well chuck in part two while we’re at it. Hellraiser 2 kicks off with a musical avalanche that even makes the well-known Carmina Burana sound like it was written by a five-year-old. Sometimes, the situation simply calls for a wall of sound, I guess. Everything about the Hellraiser franchise is absolutely over-the-top, so a soundtrack that’s as outspoken and impressive as Young’s is a great match, even if it never gets truly unnerving.

Bless the Child – Christopher Young

This is the last Christopher Young soundtrack in this list, I promise. For Bless the Child (2000), Young wrote atonal clusters that included piano, orchestral sounds and a choir, resulting in more traditional arrangements when compared to his work on the Hellraiser films. Again, there are various impressive and uplifting moments to be enjoyed so, while the film didn’t exactly deliver, at least the soundtrack is great.

The Sixth Sense – James Newton Howard

One of the best supernatural thrillers ever made and M. Night Shyamalan’s definitive breakthrough as a director. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful and atmospheric, especially when the film arrives at the denouement. Of course, there’s also plenty of that spooky atonality, which is where strings play a huge role , as they very often do.

The Others – Alejandro Amenábar

The ultra-creative Alejandro Amenábar not only soundtracked The Others (2001), but directed it. Because it was so effective, the music was extremely well received at the time of release. The film doesn’t even include any shocking scenes, but the nauseating, unnerving vibe of the otherworldly soundtrack definitely compensates for the lack of disturbing images.

The Ring – Hans Zimmer

What’s a selection of scores without some of Hans Zimmer’s work? The Ring (2002) features every classic horror score element in the book. The reverb-enriched piano parts sound like they were lightly inspired by the piano pieces from The Exorcist (Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield), while the strings get particularly creepy in the higher registers. Clusters of diffused sounds, including low-frequency noise, complete the highly effective, albeit not exactly revolutionary horror score here.

The Fly – Howard Shore

Long before Howard Shore garnered fame with his LOTR soundtrack, he wrote the now-classic score for The Fly (1986). The music is similar to Chris Young’s Hallraiser score: it’s big, features gothic elements and atonal clusters, and is well worth a casual listen. It’s a solid example of a ‘complete’ film, with beautifully framed creepy sound effects.

It (2017) – Benjamin Wallfisch

Just like the film, most of the soundtrack is pretty spooky. The opener, ‘Every 27 Years’, features distinct elements that serve to disorient the viewer (more on this in a minute), like the child’s voice and the nursery rhyme. This is a classic horror film ingredient that creates the stark contrast between pure horror and pure innocence. A piano playing a simple, piano lesson-style tune that’s supposed to evoke a sense of feeling safe in your home followed by chords that are all over the place and make it difficult for the listener to hear the key the music is in — Wallfisch is throwing us off on purpose.

Tips for Writing Your Own Scary Music

While it’s not easy to explain how you can ‘easily’ write your own horror score, I’m going to give it a try by building on and referring to things I’ve already mentioned.

Contrast

Contrast is a key concept here and doesn’t just make for a better film overall, but a better narrative and better soundtrack. Alternating scary bits and visually impressive scenes along with scary music and atmospheric, ambient or calming soundtracks is no problem. Horror films usually feature a supernatural theme, so feel free to use your imagination. Classic horror locations, like remote places, castles, abandoned buildings, mansions, caves and churches deserve to be coloured in with solid soundtracks (e.g. the forest and mountainous scenes in The Descent are stunning, and the soundtrack perfectly captures that vibe). To create contrast between good and evil or sinful and innocent, you can use clusters of strings and choirs with a music box playing in the background to create a tonal tapestry. Nursery rhymes and children’s voices also work really well since there’s nothing that better represents innocence than a child (see Poltergeist and It).

How Suspense Music Works in Horror Films and Thrillers

No Handrails or Footholds

When you’re climbing a mountain or even a staircase, having something you can hold on to so you don’t fall provides a feeling of safety and comfort. When it comes to music, those handrails and footholds are just as important. To steady yourself, you can use either tonal or modal grips.

Modal Footing

A distinct chord in a specific key provides a modal foothold since, if you know the chord and key, you also know the other chords in that same key, which gives you a feeling of being in control. When this modal grip isn’t there, the listener misses out on that feeling of comfort and control. Horror score composers like to use this trick to their advantage. In the example below, every bar is in a different key, with the bass in the lowest stave creating a kind of reversal effect from the second bar onwards. If that bass note isn’t the tonic, it’ll feel off or unresolved, which creates the kind of disorientation that’s particularly useful for horror score. In general, the more note changes per chord transition, the more intense the disorientation.

How Suspense Music Works in Horror Films and Thrillers
There’s a lack of modal footing in these bars.

Tonal Footing

Tonal footing relates to the sound, the way certain instruments are played, and what listeners traditionally expect to hear from those instruments. The less conventional it gets, the more disorienting it’ll sound. Strings, for example, are a staple of horror score. Unlike in Tchaikovsky’s work where the entire string section plays the same note, in horror score, composers often use clusters to build tension. With clusters, every musician plays at their own pitch within the confines of the cluster. In the example below, you can see how the average pitch of each cluster goes up — a classic way to increase the tension.

How Suspense Music Works in Horror Films and Thrillers
Clusters going up in pitch

You can also use wind instruments to create disorientating effects. Overblowing, excessive loudness and flutter-tongueing are effective ways to achieve great results. One of the most brilliant creators of bizarre effects is Elliot Goldenthal, whose most renowned (and controversial) soundtrack is Alien 3 (1992). Fans of the film laud the soundtrack, while critics lose their minds over what Goldenthal had the wind section do. Either way, it’s a great example of tonal disorientation in horror score. The downside of these highly unconventional sound effects is that you can’t get them from standard virtual instruments, so if you’re a producer or composer that works exclusively in-the-box, you’re always going to need a special sample library. Another, more attainable way to create a lack of tonal footholds is going for a piano with intense reverb. This is pretty much already a classic horror score sound that fully owes its disorientating potential to the immense reverb. While everyone knows what a piano sounds like, almost no one is used to that mystifying, cathedral-style reverb.

Pulse

Pulse is a simple but risky way to mimic a heartbeat. It’s simple because you don’t need to come up with a melody, arrange or orchestrate much, and it’s an easy ‘filler’. In The Thing (1982), Ennio Morricone supported the relatively minimalistic soundtrack with basic synthetic basses, which worked exceptionally well. What’s also great about a simple pulse is that it’s completely unpretentious, which is typically what you want when you’re writing film music. After all, not every scene needs its own melody. Sometimes, less is simply more. The drawback of a pulse is that, as a composer, it’s easy to get stuck in it and overdo it. It’s something you need to have experience with to really understand, but trust me, it can be a real pitfall.

Ambient

Lastly, there’s the ambient, which doesn’t require a proper background in music composition and orchestration. Horror-based ambient music can be easily produced using DAW software and synthesizers, and is more about timbre than harmony. The clip below is a good example. Darker timbres are highly effective in horror, but also do well as background music at a Halloween bash. While creating lengthy soundtracks generally requires a fair bit of experience, you can get away with a lot even if you don’t have much experience, skill or talent when writing lengthy-and-creepy ambient music because it’s more about the sound than compositional technicalities.

MIDI

One MIDI-based solution is to use a large fistful of arpeggiators that are set to operate slowly, combined with a virtual instrument that generates sounds based on various different notes. The idea here is to have the arpeggiators create a large structure based on the pattern they create. Don’t forget to really pour on the reverb here.

Audio

One audio-based solution is creating a normal or spooky piece of music that’s roughly five minutes long, and then time-stretching it to ten times the duration. This not only covers a lot of ground without forcing you to think about structure, but automatically gives you a mysterious and diffused sound. Another trick is to significantly lower the pitch of a sound without pitch-shifting or time-stretching. This way, the sound is slowed and loses its original and recognisable character, which really darkens the timbre. What also works really well is reversing sounds. Reverse is a standard function in most DAWs and audio software and creates a highly unnatural effect that can really throw people off.

What’s your favourite horror film? And what is it you love about the soundtrack?