Mac Quayle, the composer behind the Netflix drama series "Monster: The Ed Gein Story," has created a haunting musical approach to true crime storytelling. Rather than leaning into conventional horror instrumentation, Quayle transformed the series' central theme into something resembling a funeral dirge, lending the work a mournful gravity that reflects the darkness of its subject matter.
The composer discussed his compositional choices during an appearance on IndieWire's Craft Roundtables, where he explored how he approached scoring a series about one of America's most disturbing criminal cases. Quayle's decision to strip the horror theme of jump-scare aesthetics and replace it with elegiac, funeral-like qualities speaks to a broader trend in prestige true crime television. Rather than sensationalizing tragedy, the music grounds viewers in the weight of real suffering and real victims.
This approach mirrors the methodical, documentary-style presentation that has defined recent high-profile Netflix crime dramas. Where lesser productions might exploit such material for cheap thrills, Quayle's composition demands that audiences sit with discomfort rather than be jolted by it. The funeral song becomes an act of respect, a musical acknowledgment that the crimes depicted left profound damage.
Quayle's previous work includes scoring Ryan Murphy's "Halston" and "The Politician," establishing him as a composer comfortable navigating the psychological terrain of character-driven prestige television. His work on "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" continues this trajectory, treating the source material with the gravity it deserves while creating a sonic landscape that unsettles through restraint rather than excess.
The shift in his approach reveals how television composers increasingly shape viewer perception through subtlety. The funeral theme becomes the emotional spine of the series, signaling to audiences that what they're about to witness carries real consequences and real stakes.