Writing
Horror to Music:
The
Sounds of MILK-BLOOD
Music
has played a huge role in the evolution of horror. Soundtracks make watching a
movie such as Halloween or Phantasm a full body experience. Darkness has
a tone all its own.
But
the sounds of darkness are present in fiction as well. The music is there as
you read, and it is there while I write. For each book I have written, I have
used a soundtrack to capture the tone of the novel. My last novel, On the Lips
of Children, takes place on the Tijuana/San Diego border, and was written to
the music of The White Stripes.
I
don’t pay much attention to the lyrics white writing to music, but the tone
seeps into my head. The beat of the song matches the beat of my sentence. The
music becomes the backdrop the characters live within. It paints the walls of
their home, the color of their sunsets, and fills the water that they drink.
My
recent release, MILK-BLOOD, was written to the song In A Gadda Da Vida. When I
sat down for a long stretch of writing, I stuck a pair of Dr. Dre Power Beats
over my ears and kept the hypnotizing song on repeat, listening again and again
and again.
I
wanted In A Gadda Da Vida to rise up from the cement cracks on the character’s
street. I wanted it to be heard through the broken window panes of the
abandoned homes where they live. Eventually, I made sure to inject the beat
straight into their veins.
When
you read MILK-BLOOD, you may hear the beat of a different drummer, but if you
listen closely, you’ll also hear In A Gadda Da Vida in the background. I hope
you enjoy it. It just may sound unlike anything you’ve ever read in a long
time.
"An
incredibly powerful story and one of the most original horror novels I have
read in years. Guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat"
~The
Horror Bookshelf Blog
"What
a dark, twisted and bizarre book this was. One of the most striking urban
horror stories I have read in a long time"
~Adam
Light, author of Gone
Article written by: Mark Matthews
