Scored to Death – The Documentary!

Back in 2016, a book came out called Scored to Death: Conversations with Some of Horror’s Greatest Composers, which I finally got around to reviewing in 2018. And then two years after that, in 2020, author J. Blake Fichera released a second volume, continuing his goal of bringing attention to these talented musicians who help enhance the scares and atmosphere in the movies we love. But now, Fichera is taking this one step further, by making a feature length documentary on these composers.

Scored to Death: The Dark Art of Scary Movie Music will be the first feature-length documentary that “explores the fascinating relationship between music and horror cinema.” Starting today, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign that will run through Halloween, hoping to raise the funds to make this project a reality. Production has already started, so fans of movie music need to make sure that it is able to continue.

Scored to Death 2!

Regulars to the Krypt know my love of soundtracks, especially in the horror genre. Back in 2016, J. Blake Fichera put out a book of interviews with different composers that had worked in horror genre, entitled Scored to Death. This was an amazing read because we got to hear from the people behind these incredible scores that we’ve enjoyed while watching the films, sometimes not even aware of the effect it was having on us! Composers tend not to get the attention that actors, directors, or even special effects people get, but Fichera wanted to change that and he did.

And now, he continues to do it with Scored to Death 2.

With this new volume, Fichera has interviews with 16 more renowned composers such as Richard Band, Charlie Clouser, Brad Fiedel, John Harrison, Bear McCreary, Robert Colbert, Disasterpeace, and many more, covering movies like Martin, Creepshow, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Terminator, Burnt Offerings, just to name a few.

Published by Silman-James Press, this new 492 page volume will be priced at $24.95, and is set to be released on Dec. 1st, just in time to order your copy to make a great gift for the holiday!

2018 Year End Review – Part 3: Best Readings!

I once again went beyond my goal of reading at least book a month this year, devouring a total of 15 titles. I seem to be on a trend because I’ve done that for the last 2 years. Granted, even at this rate, I still won’t get through every title I have, and that’s even if I stopped adding more titles to the library. And we all know that isn’t going to happen! But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try! Out of those 15 titles, here are the top 5 that I would recommend the most, listed alphabetically, even though I have a little adder at the bottom. If you want to read more detail about these titles, as well as the other ones I read, click on the link for Horror Reference Book Reviews on the menu to the right.

Book Review: Scored to Death

Scored to Death: Conversations with some of Horror’s Greatest Composers
Published by Silman-James Press, 2016. 356 pages.
By J. Blake Fichera

There is something to be said about film scores, something that I think most don’t know, don’t recognize, or even worse, don’t even think about. And that is the effect they have on the viewer. Sometimes a very powerful effect. The first time I can remember a film score having an effect on me was John Williams’ score for Jaws (1975), which I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. While it did bring up the tension and scare factor, I don’t think I made the full connection between the music and emotion it caused. That changed when Star Wars (1977) came out. Then it hit me how powerful of an impact a score can make. Star Wars was the first soundtrack I every purchased and I listened to it over and over. Each time, I could visualize the different parts of the film in my head and it would give me the same emotional reaction as if I was watching the film. It was at that point, I started to become more aware of a film score.