Killer Soundtracks: Sonic Excess in Ryan Murphy’s Horror Shows

Ryan Murphy is one of contemporary television’s most distinctive creative voices. Across series including American Horror Story, Scream Queens, Ratched, and Dahmer, his work is instantly recognisable for its visual spectacle, dramatic storytelling, and embrace of excess. While these qualities have earned both critical acclaim and devoted audiences, they have also prompted questions about taste, value, and what counts as ‘quality’ television.

This talk explores the role of music and sound in Murphy’s horror shows. While discussion of his work often focuses on visual style, the soundtracks are equally striking. Combining horror scoring, popular tracks, musical performances, and appearances by crossover stars, they create dense sonic worlds designed to command attention.

These soundtracks exemplify the aesthetics of excess that run throughout Murphy’s work. They are also closely connected to the queer sensibilities associated with his productions, which celebrate diversity, performance, and self-expression while often attracting criticism for being 'too much'. By examining sound and music across Murphy’s horror TV, this talk considers how ideas about excess intersect with assumptions about queerness, creativity, and quality, asking whether 'too much' might itself be a form of artistic value.

This talk can be joined in person or online via Teams.