Insidious Soundtrack: Joseph Bishara's Score and Songs

Joseph Bishara scored every Insidious film, from Insidious (2011), directed by James Wan, to Insidious: Out of the Further (2026), directed by Jacob Chase. He is the only composer credited on the franchise, and each of the six films has its own score album.

The run, film by film, goes like this. Insidious (2011) has a 26 track album, "Insidious", released by Void Recordings on October 11, 2011. Its best known cues are "The Insidious Plane", "Hooves for Feet", "Hallway Twins" and "The Further". Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), also directed by Wan, has a 26 track "Insidious: Chapter 2" album from Void Recordings, released on September 10, 2013, with cues such as "Ghost Photographs", "Inside Your Dream" and "The Flickering Entity".

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), directed by Leigh Whannell, has a 22 track "Insidious: Chapter 3" album from Void Records, released on June 5, 2015. Look for "Insidious Flare", "Psychic Visit" and "Upside Down". Insidious: The Last Key (2018), directed by Adam Robitel, has a 19 track album, "Insidious: The Last Key (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", on Madison Gate Records, released on July 7, 2023. Its standout cues are "The Last Key", "Key Fingers" and "Book of Seeing".

Insidious: The Red Door (2023), directed by Patrick Wilson, has a 24 track album, "Insidious: The Red Door (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", also on Madison Gate Records and released on July 7, 2023. The cues people search for are "The Insidious Shine", "Door Memories" and "Further Calling". Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) has a 29 track album, "Insidious: Out of the Further (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", from Milan Records, released on August 21, 2026. Its titles include "emerging Further", "pillow fort" and "rot mouth". Film Music Reporter covered Bishara's work on that film.

Having one composer matters because the saga changes directors so often, and the story jumps backward when Chapter 3 and The Last Key sit before the first film. If you follow the Insidious movies in order, the score is the thread that holds the Further together.

Bishara also appears on screen, playing the Lipstick-Face Demon in Insidious (2011) and Insidious: Chapter 3, and the Lipstick Demon in Insidious: The Red Door.

The best known song in the Insidious films is "Stay", performed by Ghost with Patrick Wilson, which plays over the end credits of Insidious: The Red Door (2023). The saga is otherwise carried by Joseph Bishara's score, and only two of the six films have documented licensed songs at all.

Start with Insidious (2011), directed by James Wan. Its one documented song is "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim. A record starts playing on its own while Renai unpacks boxes in the house, and she then goes upstairs and glimpses a boy dancing and running through the rooms. It is a cheerful old recording used as a warning that the house is not empty, and the contrast does most of the work. The same Tiny Tim performance returns in The Red Door under the title "Tip Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me", which makes it the only song to appear in more than one film.

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), Insidious: The Last Key (2018) and Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) have no documented songs. Their music is Bishara's score, and the track titles on the albums are the best guide to what to listen for.

The Red Door, directed by Patrick Wilson, has the most music of the series. Its documented songs are:

• "Stay" by Ghost and Patrick Wilson, a cover of the Shakespears Sister song. Wilson sings the opening verses over the end credits before Ghost's lead singer joins in.
• "Roll with the Changes" by Kevin Cronin and REO Speedwagon.
• "Tip Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me" by Tiny Tim.

No source gives a scene for "Roll with the Changes" or for the Tiny Tim track in The Red Door, so their placement is left out rather than guessed. Wilson plays Josh Lambert and directed the film, so singing on the end credits gives him a third job on it.

For the film by film breakdown of who scored what, see the Insidious cast and crew page. To hear any of this in context, where to watch Insidious covers the services in the US, UK and Australia.

These are my picks, and they are opinion. Songs and score cues are taken from the albums and film credits.

• "Tiptoe Through the Tulips": a record playing by itself while Renai unpacks is one of the most effective quiet scares in the saga, in my opinion, because nothing on screen is violent.
• "Stay": hearing the film's own star and director sing the opening verses is an unusual way to end a horror film, and it suits the father and son story of The Red Door.
• "Key Fingers": the title points straight at the demon with keys for fingers in The Last Key, and a cue named after the threat is a good way to find it on the album.
• "The Further": the title names the realm the whole series is built around, and it is the cue I would play first for anyone new to Bishara's score for the 2011 film.
• "Door Memories": a fitting cue for The Red Door, where Dalton paints the red door that leads into the Further.
• "Ghost Photographs": the opening cue of Chapter 2 sets up a sequel that begins right after the first film, and the title promises a haunting in the same house.

Perhaps the ranking would change if more songs were documented, but as it stands, "Stay" and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" are the two songs worth remembering.