Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas: Blood On Black Wax - Horror Soundtracks on Vinyl
Blood On Black Wax: Horror Soundtracks on Vinyl
Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas
1984 Publishing
If you’re a fan of horror films at all that probably means you’re a fan of horror movie soundtracks. They are such a crucial element – the mood-maker, the world-builder, they are in fact a character in the film in so many cases. We think instantly of the music when we think of things like Jaws and Psycho and The Exorcist and The Omen. It’s not far behind the first thought in so many other classics within this genre. The Shining, say, or Alien or The Fly. Then there’s the haunting motifs and iconic scores that power the slashers – Halloween, Friday The 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The lead characters having their own ‘jingle’ or theme, the mood of the film built up around key musical refrains.
Admittedly not ever horror movie junkie is a soundtrack junkie – and there are some film score aficionados that care for more for the music than the movie. But this beautifully produced volume should sort out the movie/movie-music/horror buff in your life. The authors, long-serving writers at Rue Morgue magazine, have taken care to focus on the music as prop, as character, as conveyer – they never get too technical, but at the same time there’s plenty of interesting information that goes deep, particularly via interviews with some of the legendary names including Christopher Young (Hellraiser, Elm Street), John Harrison (Day of The Dead, Creepshow) and of course John Carpenter.
Arranged by theme (slashers, music-related horrors, creature features, etc) we get movie score masters (Morricone, Pino Donaggio) rubbing shoulders with first-timers, we get serious musicians (Philip Glass) that only ever dabbled in horror films and we get eventual legends of the movie score game that cut their teeth via the horror genre (Howard Shore).
It's such a beautiful page-turner of a book that it’s initially deceptive how much reading, how much information, how much care and love and grit and soul, is hiding there in plain sight within each and every page.
But of course it’s for and about horror and its music. So that’s the catch. If you’re a horror movie junkie you’ll love this. If you’re interested in soundtrack music you will be, at the very least, interested in this. If neither is really your bag then it is bizarre to think you read this far.
Blood On Black Wax was my favourite summer holiday read. I carried it with me to many places, like a trophy. And now it sits alongside my growing collection of horror movie soundtracks (on vinyl). It’s a crucial part of the puzzle. A must for me. Maybe it’s a must for you too? I certainly couldn’t say enough great things about it nor recommend it much more than I have. I’ll be re-reading this a bunch of times I’m sure.
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