SyFy's SurrealEstate follows real estate agent Luke Roman (Tim Rozon) and an elite team of specialists that handle the haunted and possessed houses that scare away would-be buyers. By researching, investigating and fixing problems, the team works to create closure — and facilitate closings — while struggling with demons of their own.
Season 1 debuted in July 2021, followed by Season 2 in the fall of 2023. Season 3 is set three years after the events of Season 2, and follows the team as they continue to help clients buy and sell “metaphysically engaged” properties.
Spencer Creaghan (pictured) is an award-winning composer whose credits include Spaceman, Motherly, Quickening and I Don't Know Who You Are. He scored all three seasons of SurrealEstate, and took time to share with Post his creative process.
Spencer, how has the music evolved while still maintaining the core identity of the show?
“Great question! With much planning and exploration! (laughs) What’s so fun about SurrealEstate is early on we decided that each house should get its own unique musical identity. Knowing this could cause the score to feel disjointed between the episodes, I established some recurring themes early on to help reinforce the overall themes our show often touches upon: letting go, family, life’s regrets, investigation, a Roman agency theme, and character themes for our main cast.
“This season we’ve introduced three new (themes): a theme for our big, bad Tyler McNeil; a theme for the grim reaper; and a poignant, hopeful theme for the concept of carpe diem. With these new additions and a general sound palette to work with, I’m able to dive into different musical landscapes and blend them with the established cinematic gothic/rock and Celtic influences that fans are used to. It’s always a balancing act, and I’m really proud of where we’ve landed this season! Both new and old fans will be in for a treat!”
Is it tough avoiding cliches when dealing with something as dramatic as the grim reaper or a haunted house?
“Honestly, the grim reaper has been a creative dream for this season. I’ve always wanted to write music for such a universally known character. Death is actually one of my favorite figures to see pop up in fiction, being a huge fan of Discworld, Sandman and Dead Like Me. So, I was pretty giddy when I found out they’d be featured!
“I took inspiration from the idea of death as an angel and the old folk concept of leaving a window open for death to collect the soul of the dying. From this, death’s theme is surprisingly comforting: warm strings, harp, celeste, light organ and piano create her theme, which is more textural than melodic, as no melody seemed fitting for such a weighty character. The music aims to evoke the image of a window opening with a gust of wind and the blowing out of a candle, as shadowed wings envelop you in their comforting embrace.
“To help convey this, my team and I built a soundscape using a mix of wing flaps, thunder claps, wind gusts, and deep exhale breaths. I’m extremely proud of this theme. Our established ‘letting go’ theme is adapted into it as well, since it had been tied to characters passing on in past seasons, but I like to think of it more as an accompaniment, with death’s theme being the ‘big show,’ so to speak.”
Can you talk about working with unconventional sound sources?
“I love this question, as I often go quite wild in this department! It always comes back to the story and finding a way to bring life to elements that might otherwise seem lifeless. Perhaps it’s my love of mythology and folklore, but I’ve always been drawn to anthropomorphism, animism and the Shinto belief that everything has a soul. So, the sound sources are inspired by whatever new house we’re exploring each week.
“For example, last season, we had humans possessed by dogs, so I used dog barks, grunts and panting as percussive instruments in the score. This season, there’s an episode with a supernatural toaster, so my team recorded various toaster sounds for its theme. These create atmospheric, ethereal backgrounds that really enhance the world-building, adding layers that otherwise might have been missing. Another episode features a cowboy, so his theme incorporates train whistles, horse stomps, metal chains and whistling. Every creative decision comes from trying to figure out how to bring these houses to life through music in a way we haven’t done before. Sometimes it’s through orchestration or synths, other times it’s folk instruments from around the world, and sometimes it’s whatever household appliance we can record this week!”
What’s your approach when a scene requires both the eerie and lighthearted?
This is honestly the definition of my job for this show. George Olson, our showrunner, always says our show has the three H’s: horror, humor and heart. My job is to figure out the balance for each scene. The themes and unique sound palette have been essential in this, as sometimes, when we have an intense scene, adding elements like Theremin, Ukelin or Irish Low Whistle can enhance a moment of humor without causing tonal whiplash. Other times, we’ll have a heartfelt scene with an underlying pain, so I’ve developed tricks using oscillating drones and atmospheric sounds to add darkness while the orchestra and piano carry a poignant, lovely melody. I think we’ve made great progress in this with each season, discovering new ways to juggle these emotions. It’s part of what makes this show so rewarding as a composer.”
What are you most excited about for the latest season?
“We’re really focusing this season on carpe diem and seizing the day. That life’s regrets are but a moment in time and we can always make life what we wanted it to be, so use the time wisely and embrace every wonder and joy of it!
“I’m hoping the music helps amplify this theme for the audience to feel. It’s a powerful season and really puts our characters through the ringer, so I hope audiences connect with it the way we have and, maybe even laugh, cry, and jump when we did!”