“I Want to Do Bad Things with You”: The Television Horror Title Sequence

Abstract

An extreme close-up of a mosquito perched on a human arm followed by a jump cut to a close-up of the arm as a hand comes down and swats the mosquito; red splatters of blood twist and swirl in fluid patterns against a pristine white background; an underwater close-up of a catfish as the camera cranes up above the water to reveal a swamp, accompanied by the opening guitar riffs to J ace Everitt’s now iconic “I Want to Do Bad Things”. These are the distinct and gripping opening images in the title sequences for Dexter (2006–2013), Hannibal (2013-present) and True Blood (2008–2014). Completely different in tone and style, each of these shots, along with their distinct musical accompaniments, is designed to hook the audience and draw them into the television series, whether through the shock of Dexter’s mosquito swat, the hypnotic quality of the blood red swirls or the seductiveness of Everitt’s unsettling musical rhythms. These three sequences also introduce the audience to three completely different approaches to television horror. The opening title sequence, an area that has only recently come under scholarly scrutiny, serves as an entryway into the narrative. For such examples of television horror, however, it also serves to establish a series of expectations about the programme’s approach to the genre. The aim of this chapter is therefore to consider the role of the title sequence within contemporary television production contexts, but more importantly to examine how it serves to establish generic expectations for each series’ new aesthetic approach to the construction of horror.