BLOOD ON BLACK WAX: HORROR SOUNDTRACKS ON VINYL / AUTHOR: AARON LUPTON / LABEL: 1984 PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Rue Morgue magazine’s Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas came together to curate Blood on Black Wax, a celebration of horror soundtracks on vinyl, recently released as a collaboration between Rue Morgue and 1984 Publishing. The idea, as Lupton states in his introduction, was to create something “like those album cover books that have been popping up since the ’60s,” but “one that dealt specifically with horror soundtracks.”
It’s a lovely concept, but the execution doesn’t quite hit the heights of what it could’ve been. If a book is going to be $40 plus tax, maybe make sure that the publisher gets a copy editor who knows the difference between “its” and “it’s,” because it happens here, repeatedly. Also, figure out a way to organise, because while the chapters’ grouping by type – such as rock n’ roll horror, monster movies, etc. – is pretty straightforward, it seems like there’s no real organisational process at all within each section. It’s not alphabetical, chronological or otherwise, as near as repeated read-throughs can determine.
Blood on Black Wax is also not quite complete. At the very beginning of chapter six, “Italian Terror,” there are cover images of Waxwork Records’ recent represses to the scores for Dario Argento’s Deep Red and Inferno, but the represses aren’t mentioned at all in the write-ups. A slug noting which version was being shown would’ve been a big help, a la Tom Hodge’s VHS Video Cover Art book which was released a few years back by Schiffer. That book gave title, distributor, release date, and even artist information, when possible.
Lupton and Szpirglas have put together a book which is quite pretty, and there are some great interviews with various composers, as well as an excellent section on faux film scores to conclude Blood on Black Wax. However, for all the spot-varnish ink on the sleeve, this just seems like it could’ve used a little more time in the editing suite.
The Record Store Day edition of the book is autographed, and includes a 4-song red vinyl 7-inch featuring two songs and two cues from Paul Zaza’s score to the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis horror film Prom Night. The autographs are illegible, but the 7-inch sounds amazing and is the best thing about the book. The two songs – “Prom Night” and “Love Me Till I Die” – are serious disco jams, and well-suited for a party, murderous or otherwise.
