Chris Miller
Come September, kids are back in school, the weather is getting cooler, pumpkin spiced everything begins appearing and classics such as Hocus Pocus and The Exorcist begin being shown on repeat. For Halloween fanatics, these are the signs that spooky season has begun. While Danny Elfman’s Nightmare Before Christmas score might be a “go-to” about now, there is another new Halloween album out titled Purgatio by composer Chris Thomas that’s worth giving a listening to. So what makes Chris an expert on Halloween music you might ask? On top of being fasicinated with all things spooky his entire life, Chris has created original compositions for horror films such as Don’t Look Back directed by Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick, ghost-themed video games such as Smol Games/Daedalic Entertainment’s Hyde’s Haunt & Seek and Halloween attractions such as Knott’s Scary Farm, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Creep (LA), Queen Mary Chill in Long Beach, CA and Haunted Soiree (Glendale, CA). Basically, what Mariah Carey is to Christmas music, Chris is equal to Halloween music. In the below interview, we spoke to Chris about everything from his love for horror to what fans can expect from Hyde’s Haunt & Seek. You can listen to Purgatio here.
You have scored a lot of projects in the horror genre ranging from feature films like Don’t Look Back to Halloween attractions such as Knott’s Scary Farm. What is it about the horror genre that keeps attracting you to it?
Chris Thomas: I’ve had a life-long relationship with horror and all things spooky. It started when I was very small. My mom and grandma seemed to really enjoy spooky movies, and they would regularly watch them with me. It wasn’t uncommon that we would watch scary movies way beyond what would have been age-appropriate. Even then, I was never scared away. I think the reason was mom and grandma would roar with laughter, thoroughly enjoying the absurdity of the most violent and frightening things that came across the screen. From an early age, I was inadvertently trained to experience horror movies with joy!
You have a horror video game coming out soon titled Hyde’s Haunt & Seek. Can you talk about the music you created for that?
Chris Thomas: Indeed I can! The creators decided they wanted to lean into the nostalgia of classic haunted house music. You know, the pipe organ and harpsichords kind of thing. One thing we shared in common, aside from our life-long love of all things Halloween, was our love of the Disney Haunted Mansion. That tone was the guiding light for this soundtrack. While the music takes a lot of new twists and turns that reflect who we are, the playful Haunted Mansion score was the example we are trying to live up to.
For Hyde’s Haunt & Seek did you lean towards one instrument more than the others?
Chris Thomas: While we were influenced by the classic Haunted Mansion sound, the game is also very unique in its many ways. We needed a different kind of playfulness aside from just the pipe organ and harpsichord stuff. When the music took a more waltzy turn, we discovered the theme played great with strings. In addition, the orchestra parts, there is also a lot of solo violin and cello. I also love kitschy stuff like science lab noises, theremin, and anything else that might be reminiscent of a 1950’s sci-fi movie.
Musically, what makes a horror video game score sound scary? When you want to make it creepier, what do you add?
Chris Thomas: Well, in cases where you want to create fear and unease, you need more than just a spooky tune. I take great pride in my use of mixed environments, making sure every recording sounds as if it was recorded in a place where the sound doesn’t completely make sense to your ears. This means adding strange sound textures or distortions that haunt the space around the music. The more you can’t make sense of these sonic specters the better. I’ll even have different elements very dry in one part of a space, some very echoey in another corner, and some that seem to slowly chance position through a song. When the environment itself is unstable, you can elicit a deep sense of unease in a person. That’s the secret sauce of how I work.
Is your approach to a video game like Hyde’s Haunt & Seek a lot different than a feature film like Don’t Look Back?
Chris Thomas: Oh, it’s a whole lot different! With Don’t Look Back, the goal was creating unease and terror. I wanted to get under your skin and shiver your spine with unsettling textures and noises. Hyde’s is all about creating whimsy and fun, spooky nostalgia. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got some good scares awaiting you throughout the game! That said, the aim of Hyde’s was creating something more musical and playful. This is what I love about the spooky genre, it’s infinitely variable and broad. There’s always something new to discover!
You recently released a Halloween-themed album, Purgatio. Can you talk about how this album came about?
Chris Thomas: Purgatio is very much a Halloween-themed album. That’s because everything on this album was written for Halloween theme park events and various haunt attractions across the US, Canada, and Europe. Every year or two, I’ll put out a compilation album like with featuring some of my favorite tracks from all these haunt shows. The 32 tracks of Purgatio were chosen to represent a cross-section of every horror genre one can imagine, from classic haunted houses, to maniac clowns, to 80’s-themed horror club music. It’s a big scary mess!
On the album there are a lot of “Bonus” tracks. Were those not supposed to be on the album originally and you just wanted to include them?
Chris Thomas: Good observation! The truth is I sometimes get a kick out of confusing my distributor by abusing the “bonus track” privilege. It made me laugh to consider having ten bonus tracks on an album. Those ten tracks were written for a short film series of ghost stories, all part of the Dent Schoolhouse haunted attraction. They were all so quirky and silly I just had to add them to the album.
You have provided music for Halloween attractions such as Knott’s Scary Farm, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Creep (LA), Queen Mary Chill in Long Beach, CA and Haunted Soiree (Glendale, CA). Is it challenging coming up with music for these because you don’t have visuals? What do the organizers send you to work off of?
Chris Thomas: For me, everything is easier with picture. You have a complete sense of the characters, color themes, depth of shot, and the pace of the edit. Those things tell you a whole lot about what you’re writing. That said, attractions aren’t so different. There are scenes, characters, scenic themes, and timings. Those tell you a whole lot about the dimensions you need to fill, and the kind of music you’re writing. The one advantage to attractions is you aren’t chasing microscopic synch points (like hitting 1/24th of a second). You can approximate things within a second or two. The lack of meter and tempo changes make for slightly smoother writing for me, and easier listening for the audience.
Are there any horror films that you have seen recently that you would like to recommend?
Chris Thomas: In the past three months, I’ve been so immersed in my own writing I haven’t been able to leave the studio. Also, a recent spine injury has prevented me from sitting in theaters and concert halls. While I’m awaiting new releases I can see at home, I’ve been re-watching films like A Quiet Place and IT (the original and the latest iteration). What I love so much about these films is how expressive and character-driven they are. Scary, yes! Dramatic, yes they are in equal measure. I’m of the mind that character depth always makes for the more lasting experience for the viewer. No moral judgement about the Saw franchise, but shallow characters make for unforgettable movies (and second-rate soundtracks).
