Back in June of last year, I posted about this upcoming title from AM Ink Publishing, the book version, so-to-speak of the popular series, In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic ’80s Horror. This is based on the 3-part documentary of the same name that was written, directed, and produced by David A. Weiner that had part one come out in 2019, part 2 in 2020, and the final part 3 in 2022. These are epic is scope, giving fans a ton of insight from those that worked in the films themselves, from names like Robert England, Doug Bradley, John Carpenter, Mick Garris, Jeffrey Combs, Joe Dante, and so many more.

Now this huge coffee-table size book that is the literary overview of those documentaries, packed from cover to cover with information and trivia about these films we love is due out very soon. To help give a little insight to not only the book, but also to the two authors that took on this massive undertaking to create a book version of this popular 3-title series, we reached out to Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley to pose a few questions for them.

Kitley’s Krypt: What was it about the horror genre that made you have the desire to “spread the gospel”?

Heather Wixson: I think it’s because I grew up with everyone thinking I was the “weird one” because I loved horror so much, so I wanted to find a way to celebrate everything I love about it in any way that I could. That led to me embarking on a writing career that was centered around the horror genre (after spending a few years writing about local news and being bored out of my mind). I just wanted to use my writing abilities in any way that I could to highlight why horror is so awesome, and also put the spotlight on those who helped shape the landscape of the genre over the years and made me fall in love with it in the first place.

Patrick Bromley: I think horror is unique in that those who love it pretty much love it unconditionally and will devour anything and everything they can on the subject (gotta keep feeding the monster), while those who don’t love it often keep it at arm’s length because they haven’t found a way “in” to horror. Writing about horror for all these years has been a way to serve both audiences — for fans, it’s just more to love, and for non-fans it’s a way to hopefully see that there are people who love horror, are passionate about horror, who are smart and articulate about horror (not me, of course, but certainly other people), and that maybe it’s worth exploring further. Admittedly, I’m usually writing for the first audience, geeking out about horror for other horror geeks like me, but I also know that I’m always willing to give something a chance if I see that people love it as much as we love this genre. I’m hoping there are others who will do the same.

KK: Every decade has its highpoints or elements that defines it, making it unique compared to the other decades. What is it about the ’80s that you feel sets it apart from the others?

HW: I think there are few things that make the ’80s so different than other decades in horror. One, it feels like the first decade that was reflective of the decades that preceded it, where we saw a lot of ’50s and ’60s horror stories come back into play once again through films like The Thing, The Fly, Invaders From Mars, The Blob and Cat People, to name a few. I think that’s why I’m usually pretty forgiving of remakes in general because I’ve been watching them ever since I was a kid. I also feel like the ’80s is a time when we really saw a lot of filmmakers and studios – especially the indie production studios – really swinging for the fences with a lot of films and stories that were wildly innovative and wholly unique. The bigger studios took some risks but imagine what ’80s horror would have looked like without companies like New Line, New World Pictures, or Cannon Films out there giving filmmakers the chance to tell the stories they want to on their own terms. Indie horror is still thriving today, but it just feels different than it did back then.

PB: I have a friend (his name is Elric) who unlocked what’s so special about ’80s horror for me: he says that advances in effects stretched the limits of imagination and that studios putting money and resources into horror made realizing that imagination possible. Or something like that. The VHS boom also meant that more horror was getting made than ever before, allowing for all kinds of movies at all sorts of budget levels. That meant a horror explosion of all kinds, from big-budget studio movies to cheap SOV slashers, all of which deserves to be celebrated.

KK: What’s a personal favorite from the ’80s that you wish got a lot more love and attention?

HW: I feel like a lot of the offbeat movies that I grew up loving and doing my darnedest to get my friends to watch have been able to find their audiences over the last few decades (and social media’s ability to bring these like-minded fans together surely helps in that regard, too). So, it’s hard for me to pick a movie that I don’t think gets love and attention these days (maybe Cutting Class?). But what I will say is that seeing people celebrating movies like April Fool’s Day, Vamp, The Stuff, Terror in the Aisles, Sleepaway Camp, or the TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow over time has been so cool for me because it’s like the internet is doing all the heavy lifting, and all I have to do is find “my people” now.

PB: My answer for this is thuddingly obvious for anyone who knows me, but it’s Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse, my favorite movie from my favorite director. I was so lucky to get to write the Funhouse chapter for In Search of Darkness, and even though I didn’t spend pages and pages gushing over it like I could have, I hope I’m able to convey what’s so special about it and convince some horror fans to give it a first or second look.

KK: As Patrick knows, I’m a sucker for horror reference books, so it was a no-brainer for me to order a copy right away. But for those that maybe have already seen and possibly bought the DVD series of In Search of Darkness, what is different about the book? What can readers expect that they wouldn’t get from the series?

HW: The one thing we really set out to do with the In Search of Darkness companion book is to give readers an experience that was different than the one they get from watching the documentary series, which was no small feat. We did a ton of additional research for every movie that we wrote about, and I know that my personal goal is that I want someone to read this book and learn something new about these films. We also did some additional write-ups too, highlight some of the decade’s iconic figures, and I also celebrate the women filmmakers from the decade too, because I wasn’t sure how many of them had really gotten the due that they deserved. We also have a lot of fun ’80s pop culture stuff infused throughout the book too, as we just wanted to make sure this felt like the ultimate tribute to this decade and what made it the ultimate time to be a horror fan.

PB: The documentaries are a ton of fun in a casual, celebratory way. We definitely celebrate ’80s horror in the book, too, but hopefully go a little more in depth into the productions of the films and offer a little critical analysis as well. It’s a cool book to have if you’re wanting to know some more about your favorite ’80s horror movies, looking for recommendations for movies you haven’t seen, or if you just want to flip to a certain title and read up on it. Like you, Jon, I’ve always loved books like this, and I think we wrote a good one.

Thanks to Heather and Patrick for taking the time to chat about their new upcoming book, one that I think is a must for horror fans, especially fans of the ’80s. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy already, I would suggest you do so. Or, they are having a book signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA, on April 27th, where not only are Patrick and Heather going to be there signing, but also Joe Dante, Tom Holland, Kelli Maroney, Steve Johnson, and Edward and Stephen Chiodo. The best part is that you don’t have to physically be there but can order the book through the mail. Yes, a copy if $100 plus the postage, but when you figure how much those signatures would cost you at a con, it is one hell of a deal. Plus, more importantly, it not only helps support independent bookstores like Dark Delicacies, but also independent publishers. For more into, just click HERE.