The Best Thing About Every Season of American Horror Story Isn’t Up for Debate

Considered one of the best genre shows by some fans, American Horror Story quickly became a defining title in modern horror when it premiered in 2011. With an anthology format that captured the audience’s attention for being innovative at the time, it maintained on audiences for a while. But realistically, over the course of 12 seasons (with another one in the works), it was only natural that the show would eventually start to lose its way. There are several reasons that help explain this, but there’s one thing that almost every fan can agree on, one aspect that American Horror Story has consistently gotten right. We mean of course, each season’s opening credits.

The show’s intro sequences have received widespread praise for how effectively they set the dark, unsettling tone for each season. They’re often considered by fans – and even critics – as one of the strongest elements of the series as a whole. Each introduction is thoughtfully designed to reflect the themes of that season’s story, blending disturbing imagery with, perhaps most importantly, a haunting soundtrack. And what’s especially interesting is that, even though the core track remains the same, it’s subtly altered each season to better match the theme. What many people don’t realize, however, is that despite its eerie atmosphere, this original track wasn’t actually created with the intention of being scary.

César Dávila-Irizarry was a music student back in 1998 at the University of Puerto Rico when he created an experimental mix of random digital noises and slowed-down versions of everyday household sounds, using Cool Edit 96 on a Windows 98 computer. Nowadays, that kind of experimentation doesn’t seem all that unusual – many musicians use similar techniques to create songs that sometimes even go viral. But it’s fascinating to think that something featured in a horror series was actually made using completely ordinary objects. For example, that crackling sound you hear at the very beginning? It’s literally just metal hangers falling on the floor. In other parts of the song it’s the sound of rain hitting a window – just turned up significantly to give it more impact.

Dávila-Irizarry mentioned that he never intended to create something frightening. So how did this strange little experiment end up becoming the signature sound of the show’s iconic opening? According to certain studies, some types of sounds – called “non-linear” – can evoke discomfort in people without them even realizing it. David Holmes, a psychology lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, explained in an interview with The Huffington Post that these sounds “rely on a principle we’ve got embedded in us, which is an evolutionary response to bits of grit being caught in your teeth and scraping down the side.” In short, our brains react strongly to specific noises because they tap into ancient survival instincts – like the fear of ingesting something dangerous.

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Years later, the track was passed on to video editor Gabriel Diaz, who used it for the Murder House opening credits – initially just as a temporary choice. Surprisingly, though, it worked so well that Nine Inch Nails composer Charlie Clouser was brought in to recreate and finalize it, allowing the piece to be used consistently throughout the show. Over time, new versions were developed to better align with the different themes.

Fans were hooked, and honestly, a big part of what still makes watching the show so enjoyable comes down to those credits. In a time when most people skip intros without a second thought, American Horror Story stands out as one of the few series that actually makes viewers want to watch every moment – they crave that eerie, spine-tingling experience right from the start. But it’s not just the sound that creates the effect: the visuals play a crucial role too, especially since each intro is unique and packed with clues and symbols connected to the storyline.

It’s pretty cool that they chose to use this specific part of each episode to fully draw the audience in, as every detail encourages viewers to pay close attention and search for hidden meanings. Kyle Cooper, the designer behind the credits, even noted that while some of the imagery is simply meant to be unsettling, other elements are intentionally placed to offer subtle insights. In an interview with Decider, he talked about how he developed the disjointed editing, fast cuts, and eerie symmetry for Season 1, for example.

“Ryan Murphy invited me to the set where they were shooting Murder House in the first season… He was thinking about what great music would go with the title, and then we walked around inside the house, and he was telling me about all the things that, in the story, happened in that house,” Cooper said. “I began to think about all the little kids on the walls. All the little pictures or portraits of little family members that have sat idly by and watched all this chaos that’s gone on, you know? So that’s where the idea for the first one was from. I had all these antique photographs of kids watching, as if their eyes were pinned open, just watching the madness that takes place in the house.”

As the seasons went on, American Horror Story‘s opening became almost a ritual – a sensory warm-up for what’s coming next. Even when the show itself splits opinions, the credits are always a win – a distinct element with a style and atmosphere entirely its own. They squeeze all the show’s creepy, twisted, mysterious essence into just a few seconds. And maybe that’s why so many fans say, without hesitation, that the best part of American Horror Story starts even before the episode does. And that says a lot.

All seasons of American Horror Story are available to stream on Hulu.