Midnight Syndicate

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist Midnight Syndicate is an American musical duo that has been working primarily in the genre of neoclassical dark ambient music since 1997 and is based in Chardon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

The band refers to their CDs as "soundtracks for the imagination" or "soundtracks to imaginary films". Their songs are characterized by a blend of instrumental music and sound effects and are commonly used to provide atmosphere during the Halloween season, in haunted attractions, theme parks, and in the role-playing game industry.

History

Formation and early years (1996–1998)

Composer/filmmaker Edward Douglas formed Midnight Syndicate in 1996 shortly after releasing a micro-budget, direct-to-video horror film called The Dead Matter (1996)<ref>Interview with Edward Douglas, FEARnet, October 2008.</ref> which he directed and scored and would later remake.<ref>Michael Gingold, "The Dead Matter: From Midnight music to a movie", Fangoria Magazine (New York, NY), August, 2010, Pg.6.</ref> Midnight Syndicate's self-titled debut album was released the following year.<ref>US Copyright office Midnight Syndicate album © date 1997-09-17</ref> A majority of music on the album was written, arranged, and performed by Edward Douglas. Contributors included Scott Angus, Mark Rakocy, Dennis Carleton, Jamie Barbour, Ray Portler, the rap act Dark Side, and Christopher Robichaud. Douglas coined the term cine-fusion to describe the album. Cine-fusion is described in the album's liner notes as

"a blending of movie soundtrack music and pop music ... a compilation of soundtracks to movies that do not exist. The goal of the music is to stimulate the imaginations of listeners so that they are able to transport themselves to worlds or movies of their own creation."

Musically, the album contained an eclectic blend of styles including everything from dark instrumental music (of which three tracks appeared on future releases), rock,<ref name="music extreme">Interview with Gavin Goszka, Federico Marongiu, "Midnight Syndicate", Music Extreme (Argentina), 2001.</ref> rock-a-billy, techno, rap, new-age, comedy music, jazz, and space. Movie-style sound effects were employed in some tracks. In March 1998, a multimedia show was produced by Douglas and his company, Entity Productions, to support the album. The show included a blending of original short films, live music, animation, and stage performers.<ref>Charles Cassady, "On Fright Night and Beyond the Spookiest Sounds", West Life, October 25, 2006, Pg.11B.</ref>

Breakout (1998–2000)

In 1998, Douglas teamed up with gothic fantasy artist Joseph Vargo, and the two decided to create an exclusively dark-themed instrumental Midnight Syndicate album, "the result of Joseph Vargo's desire to produce an album that people could play in the background of their Halloween parties." Vargo developed the storyline and concept of a musical journey through a haunted castle, with the music reflecting his gothic artwork, "in addition to being integral to many of the creative decisions on the album."<ref name="entity">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Announcement posted by Midnight Syndicate in August 1998.</ref><ref name="radio">Radio Interview with Joseph Vargo, Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka Template:Webarchive Station WERE 1300, (Cleveland, OH.), October 1998.</ref><ref name="Interview with Edward Douglas">Interview with Edward Douglas Template:Webarchive, Paragon Magazine, October 2003.</ref><ref name="HA">Cover story on Midnight Syndicate Template:Webarchive Leonard Pickel, "Midnight Syndicate: Setting the Mood for an Industry", Haunted Attraction Magazine (Charlotte, NC), June 2006, Pg. 24-28, 38-41</ref> Composer Gavin Goszka, formerly a solo artist in a project called Lore, also joined Douglas and Vargo in the new Midnight Syndicate line-up. Together, they created Born of the Night, a groundbreaking album that appealed to fans of gothic music, the horror genre, and haunted attractions. Douglas and Goszka wrote and performed the music on the album while Vargo served as executive producer and creative director of the project, as well as writing and performing the vocals and narrations, and designing the cover art and packaging. The album and songs were also titled after several of Vargo's most popular paintings. Born of the Night was independently released in September 1998 through Vargo's Monolith Graphics and Douglas' Entity Productions, hitting the horror market just in time for the Halloween season. It was Midnight Syndicate's first critically acclaimed gothic-horror soundtrack and proved to be an instant success,<ref>John Soeder, "Gothic Horror Rock Featured This Weekend", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), March 2, 2000.</ref> establishing Midnight Syndicate's trademark sound.

In March 2000, Realm of Shadows followed suit with the same flavor of dark instrumental music and another gothic setting. Douglas and Goszka wrote all of the music for this album while Vargo wrote and performed the opening narration and theme story. Again, the songs were titled after Vargo's artworks. Both albums were featured as official soundtracks for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and used in several other major theme parks during Halloween, such as Busch Gardens, Cedar Point, Kennywood Park, and Thorpe Park's Fright Nights event.<ref name=scene99>Jeff Niesel, "Soundbites", Scene Magazine Template:Webarchive (Cleveland, OH), October 14, 1999.</ref> The heavy metal band King Diamond also featured tracks from Born of the Night as opening music for their 2000 US tour. Afterwards, Vargo and Midnight Syndicate chose to work separately of one another on future projects.<ref name=DR>Interview with Midnight Syndicate Peter Iorillo, "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Dark Realms Magazine (Cleveland, OH.), Issue 1, January 2001, Pg. 20-23.</ref>

Rise (2001–2006)

Midnight Syndicate's third gothic horror soundtrack, Gates of Delirium, was released in 2001. This time Douglas and Goszka teamed up with two members who worked on the first Midnight Syndicate CD, Mark Rakocy (graphic design) and Christopher Robichaud (vocals). Set in a Victorian haunted mental institution called Haverghast Asylum, Gates of Delirium was the first Midnight Syndicate disc to feature the fictitious Haverghast family,<ref name="music extreme" /> a theme the band would revisit on future discs such as The 13th Hour and Bloodlines. Gavin Goszka has since called Gates of Delirium "a personal favorite" from the Midnight Syndicate library.

During the 2001 Halloween weekend, six of the band's mp3 singles were in the Top 20 for all of MP3.com (#1, No. 2, No. 7, No. 10, No. 12, and No. 19) registering over 100,000 listens in three days. The title track from Born of the Night remained at No. 1 for over a week with two tracks from Gates of Delirium maintaining their positions in the Top 40 as well.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In August 2002, the band released their fifth studio album Vampyre. The vampire-themed disc was the first Midnight Syndicate disc to feature a cover designed by fantasy artist Keith Parkinson.

By this time, the band's popularity with role-playing gamers who used their discs as background for their sessions had grown to where they were exhibiting at gaming conventions. It was at one of these conventions that the band was approached by designers from Wizards of the Coast.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The result was 2003's Dungeons & Dragons: Official Role-playing Soundtrack, the first officially licensed soundtrack to the classic roleplaying game of the same name. The album (whose fantasy themes were a departure from previous releases) was generally well received by music critics and the gaming community and helped the band build their following in Europe.<ref>Bernard Van Isacker, "Midnight Syndicate: Success Comes From Within Yourself", Side-Line (Bruxelles, Belgium, July, 2005.</ref> Some of the tracks were later used in computer games Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance II and Shadowbane expansions Rise of Chaos and Throne of Oblivion.

In August 2005, the band returned to darker themes with their seventh CD entitled The 13th Hour. Featuring vocal effects by Lily Lane of the horror-rock band Lazy Lane and cover art by Keith Parkinson the disc is set in a haunted Victorian mansion and features tracks like: Fallen Grandeur, Grisly Reminder, and Family Secrets. The album would become one of their most popular titles, winning awards in the gaming industry,<ref name="OriginsAwards"/><ref name="EnnieAwards"/> and inspiring a prequel-themed release, 2021's Bloodlines.<ref name="NewsHerald2021"/>

Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994–1999) was released in 2006 and featured re-recorded versions of tracks from Midnight Syndicate, Born of the Night, and Realm of Shadows, along with some of Edward Douglas’ early horror film scores including The Dead Matter (1995). Fantasy artist Rob Alexander designed the cover.<ref name="HA"/> The track Into The Abyss was featured as the outtro on the Misfits 2013 live album, DEA.D ALIVE!<ref name="cameo">Midnight Syndicate Blog January 15, 2013</ref> In 2015, the album was included in Rue Morgue Magazine's 50 Essential Horror Albums - Discs That Created, Evolved, or Defined Genre Music Through the Decades.<ref name="RM15">"50 Essential Horror Albums, Rue Morgue Magazine, October 2015 Issue 160, Pg. 28-36</ref>

The Rage and The Dead Matter (2007–2010)

In early 2007, the band temporarily shifted from creating "soundtracks to imaginary films" to composing music for actual projects when they completed the score to Robert Kurtzman's, The Rage and wrote music for Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 17's Carnival of Carnage. The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in February 2008.<ref>Midnight Syndicate News Archives Template:Webarchive July 30, 2007</ref>

In September 2007, Douglas returned to filmmaking as director, co-producer, and composer of an updated remake of his 1995 horror film, The Dead Matter. The remake stars Andrew Divoff, Tom Savini, and Jason Carter, and was co-produced by Kurtzman.<ref>IMDB.com listing for The Dead Matter</ref><ref>First Casting for The Dead Matter Johnny Butane, Dread Central, June 17, 2007</ref> During this time, Gavin Goszka started a solo project called Parlormuse which featured Victorian era songs re-recorded in a modern folk rock style.<ref name="Carl08">Carl E. Feather, "Syndicate Ready for Halloween", Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH), October 8, 2008, Sec. B, Pg. B1.</ref>

In August 2008, the band released The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates, a CD of music inspired by the themes from The Dead Matter movie. Midnight Syndicate's first two music videos were made for the songs Dark Legacy and Lost from the disc. In the finale of the music video for Dark Legacy, Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka are shown playing on stage at the historic Phantasy Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. It marked the first time they had played together live.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Video Shoot Update Gregory Burkhart, FEARnet News, March 12, 2010</ref>

On July 30, 2010 The Dead Matter movie was released in DVD along with a Midnight Syndicate "greatest hits-style" compilation CD called Halloween Music Collection and an EP entitled The Dark Masquerade featuring gothic artist Destini Beard performing operatic vocals and lyrics to various Midnight Syndicate recordings. The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was also released in July 30. The CD featured the score by Edward Douglas, other music that appeared in the film, and several remixes of Midnight Syndicate tracks by other artists.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Spec-Ed DVD Gregory Burkhart, FEARnet News, May 27, 2010</ref><ref name="pd2010">The Dead Matter, Hot Topic stores strike lively distribution deal Julie Washington, The Plain Dealer, July 17, 2010</ref>

The 2010s and Midnight Syndicate Live! (2010–2019)

In August 2011, the band released its fourteenth studio album, entitled Carnival Arcane. The theme of the CD surrounds a fictional turn of the century traveling circus called The Lancaster Rigby Carnival. The CD was inspired by research into carnivals of that time period and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.<ref>FEARnet "Carnival Arcane" Gregory Burkart, August 15, 2011</ref> In 2012, the album won the Best CD category in the 2012 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.<ref>2012 Rondo Award Winners David Colton, April 3, 2012</ref>

In August 2012 Destini Beard released the followup to her 2010 EP, The Dark Masquerade. The full-length CD once again featured Destini's original vocals and lyrics blended with previously recorded Midnight Syndicate tracks. The disc featured a remix by Pat Berdysz of the Electro-industrial band Encoder and an original song written and performed entirely by Destini entitled, My Last Goodbye. The CD is set in a haunted Victorian hotel and features cover art by Destini's father, fantasy artist, Ed Beard, Jr.<ref>Drive-In of the Dead Interview with Destini Beard Template:Webarchive Mark Zahn, June 20, 2012</ref> In February 2013, the band's song Into The Abyss from their Out of the Darkness CD was featured as an outtro on the Misfits live album, DEA.D Alive.<ref name="cameo"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2013, the band scored the horror creature feature film, Axe Giant: The Revenge of Paul Bunyan. The film is a dark contemporary take on the legend of Paul Bunyan and premiered on the Syfy Channel in June 2013.<ref>The Wrath of Paul Bunyan Clips Start Swinging Steve Barton, June 13, 2013</ref> In July 2013 the band released a new studio album entitled Monsters of Legend. Featuring images from Bride of Frankenstein and Werewolf of London on the cover, the album was influenced by classic Universal Monsters, Hammer Films, Amicus Productions, and Euro Horror films from the 60's and 70's as well as composers like James Bernard, Bernard Herrmann, and Max Steiner.<ref>Aaron Von Lupton, "Listen To My Nightmare", Rue Morgue (magazine) (Toronto, ON), August, 2013, Pg.61.</ref> The album won the Best CD category in the 2014 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.<ref>2014 Rondo Award Winners David Colton, May 13, 2014</ref>

In March 2014, the band announced plans for a series of live multimedia concerts entitled Midnight Syndicate Live! Legacy of Shadows that would run at the amusement park Cedar Point's HalloWeekends event beginning in September 2014. They also announced that they would be teaming up with special effects artist, Robert Kurtzman who worked on The Dead Matter as well as director Gary Jones and Face Off contestants, Beki Ingram and David Greathouse.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Announces Live Halloween Show 'Legacy of Shadows' FEARnet, Gregory Burkart, March 14, 2014</ref><ref>Catch 'Midnight Syndicate Live!' At Cedar Point's HalloWeekends Bloody Disgusting, Jonathan Barkan, March 17, 2014</ref> The show opened on September 12 to very positive reviews.<ref>Review: Midnight Syndicate Live! Legacy of Shadows, at Cedar Point Theme Park Insider, James Koehl, October 20, 2014</ref> The Akron Beacon Journal described it as "Part concert, part movie, part theater, part just plain creepy," going on to call it "top-notch and ambitious." <ref>Midnight Syndicate Transforms the Goodtime Theater into the Ghoultime Theater Akron Beacon Journal, Craig Webb, Sept 25, 2014</ref>

In September 2015, the band released, a "Yuletide-inspired" album entitled, Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering. Billed as "the band’s unique twist on classic Christmas carols blended with new and original material," the album was seen as an effort to take the band's Halloween-associated sound and apply it to a Christmas theme.<ref>Midnight Syndicate's "Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering" Now Available Dread Central, Debi Moore, September 11, 2015</ref><ref>Midnight Syndicate Terrorize Christmas Carol “Up On The Housetop” Bloody Disgusting, Jonathan Barkan, Sept 9, 2015</ref> In a November 2016 interview, Edward Douglas called it "one of my favorite albums Midnight Syndicate has ever done."<ref>Interview with Midnight Syndicate Beyond The Edge Radio, November 13, 2016</ref>

In April 2016, the band announced that it was teaming up with tabletop game designers, Twilight Creations, to create a soundtrack for that company's award-winning<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> zombie apocalypse-themed board game Zombies!!!.<ref>Midnight Syndicate to Release Soundtrack for Zombies!!! Board Game Dread Central, David Gelmini, April 12, 2016</ref> The Zombies!!! Official Board Game Soundtrack was released in September of that year. The album was praised for its effectiveness for use with the game<ref>Zombies!!! Official Board Game Soundtrack Games Gazette, Chris Baylis, November 11, 2016</ref><ref>Zombies!!! Official Board Game Soundtrack Review G2V Productions, Arnold T. Blumberg, October 28, 2016</ref> as well as its appropriateness for use as background music during the Halloween season.<ref>Zombies!!! Soundtrack - Midnight Syndicate Cryptic Corridor, Jonathan Brinson, October 22, 2016</ref><ref>Midnight Syndicate's Zombies!!! Metal Asylum, Rich Catino</ref>

In September 2017, the band returned to Cedar Point with a new production of their Midnight Syndicate Live! show. Staged inside the Jack Aldrich Theater, the show once again ran as a part of the amusement park's HalloWeekends event.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Returns To Rock Your Halloween Live! Dread Central, Steve Barton, March 15, 2017</ref><ref>It's time to see Midnight Syndicate Live! Sandusky Register, Justin Dietz, September 22, 2017</ref> They followed it up in 2018 with a new show entitled Midnight Syndicate: Conspiracy of Shadows which WBLZ Media's Daniel James called the band's "most ambitious project to date" and "one of the best stage shows in the country."<ref>Midnight Syndicate Once Again Puts on an Amazing Show WBLZ Media, Daniel James, September 28, 2018</ref> In the band's blog, Gavin Goszka mentioned that the 2018 show marked the conclusion of a loose trilogy that consisted of the band's first three productions at Cedar Point.

In March 2019, the band announced that they would be returning to Cedar Point for a third consecutive year. Gavin stated that the new show would be "taking things in a new direction," with Edward Douglas adding that he felt it was something that would appeal to fans of Twilight Zone.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Returning to Cedar Point in 2019 Midnight Syndicate Blog, March 28, 2019</ref>

Recent projects (2020–present)

In 2020, plans for a fourth consecutive Midnight Syndicate Live! show at Cedar Point were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In August, a limited-edition album, entitled Music of Halloween Horror Nights was made available at the Universal Studios Florida Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store. The album featured songs created by Midnight Syndicate specifically for Halloween Horror Nights in addition to other tracks that had been used at the event and on the event's websites since 1999. 500 hand-numbered copies were made available on red vinyl. Music of Halloween Horror Nights sold out in less than three hours.<ref name=WKYC2020>Midnight Syndicate unleashes haunting music for Halloween Horror Nights with plans for possible return to Cedar Point's HalloWeekends in 2021 WKYC, Ryan Haidet, August 26, 2020</ref><ref>Limited-edition Music of Halloween Horror Nights vinyl album released Inside Universal, Brian Glenn, August 26, 2020</ref>

Midnight Syndicate released its first live album in June 2021. Entitled Live Shadows, the album consisted of new material and newly arranged live versions of music from throughout the band's career. Recorded at Midnight Syndicate Live! shows from 2014 through 2019, the album was released along with music videos that showcased the productions the group had performed at Cedar Point's HalloWeekends to date.<ref name=Scene2021>Midnight Syndicate Releases First-Ever Live Album Cleveland Scene, Jeff Niesel, June 14, 2021</ref><ref>William J. Wright, "Shadows Come to Life", Rue Morgue Magazine (Toronto, ON), June 2021, Pg. 59.</ref>

In August 2021, Midnight Syndicate released its fourteenth studio album, Bloodlines, which debuted at #12 on Billboard's Classical Crossover charts.<ref>Classical Crossover Chart, Sept 4 2021 Billboard Magazine, September 4, 2021</ref> Created as a prequel to 2005's The 13th Hour, the album's last track, Sands of Time, is meant to segue directly into the first track of The 13th Hour.<ref>Jeff Szpirglas, "Bloodlines", Rue Morgue Magazine (Toronto, ON), September 2021, Pg. 81.</ref> Bloodlines expanded upon the backstory of the Haverghast family that was established on both the Gates of Delirium and The 13th Hour albums.<ref name="Scene2021"/><ref>Midnight Syndicate returns to HalloWeekends with plenty of new music in store The Plain Dealer, Anne Nickoloff, September 28, 2021</ref>

In September 2021, Universal Studios Florida reissued 2020's Music of Halloween Horror Nights album on limited-edition orange vinyl featuring new artwork and four additional tracks on the digital download version.<ref>[1] Universal Parks News Today, Shannen Michaelsen, October 16, 2021</ref> Once again, the album sold out within days of its release.<ref>Third Pressing of Music of Halloween Horror Nights coming Thrill Geek, Clint Gamache, September 29, 2021</ref> A third limited-edition vinyl pressing of Music of Halloween Horror Nights was released on October 5. This picture disc version featured the iconic Halloween Horror Nights character, Jack the Clown, on the cover and included a slightly different lineup of songs. Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka commemorated this particular reissue with a signing at Universal Studios Florida which also included the albums' cover artists, Jose Pardo and Luis Orazi.<ref>Limited Edition Music of Halloween Horror Nights Album Jack the Clown Picture Disc Debuts During Signing Event at Universal Studios Florida WDW News Today, Matthew Soberman, October 6, 2021</ref> That September also marked the return of the band to Cedar Point's HalloWeekends event where they staged a remount of their 2018 Midnight Syndicate: Conspiracy of Shadows multimedia performances.<ref name=NewsHerald2021>So Much Going On It's Scary News Herald, Mark Meszoros, September 19, 2021, Pg. D6-D7</ref>

To celebrate their 25th Anniversary in 2022, the band relaunched its Legions of the Night fan community featuring a fan-generated "best of" compilation entitled Legions of the Night Volume 1.<ref>Midnight Syndicate Celebrating 25 Years of Creating the Soundtrack for your Dark Side, Black Gate, Sue Granquist, May 27, 2022</ref> In August, Universal Orlando and Midnight Syndicate teamed up again to release another limited-edition vinyl album. The new album, entitled Legendary Truth: The Collective, featured packaging that referenced elements from the event's past including: previous icons, Legions of Horror, and the in-park experience, Legendary Truth: The Collective.<ref>[2] WDW News Today, Matthew Soberman, August 31, 2022</ref> Additionally, in 2022, the band commemorated its 25-year association with Cedar Point's HalloWeekends by producing and performing a new show entitled, Midnight Hour: 25 Years of HalloWeekends and Midnight Syndicate. A compilation album entitled, HalloWeekends: 25 Years of Terror Together was released and sold in the park. The new album featured songs that had been heavily used at the park over the previous 25 years as well as new music from the Midnight Hour show.<ref>Midnight Syndicate brings the sounds of the season to Cedar Point's HalloWeekends The Blade, Lilian King, October 29, 2022</ref>

File:Midnight Syndicate performing at Cedar Point in 2023.jpg

Midnight Syndicate performing in "Echoes from the Brimstone Club" at Cedar Point in 2023

In August 2023, the band released it's fifteenth studio album, The Brimstone Club. The album's "shadowy theatre" theme was inspired by the Parisian Cabaret de L'Enfer, a 19th-century hell-themed cabaret that band member Edward Douglas described as the first themed restaurant and forerunner to the modern day haunted attraction.<ref name=wkyc23>Midnight Syndicate reveals haunting plans for new live show at Cedar Point's HalloWeekends amid release of new ‘Brimstone Club’ album WKYC, Ryan Haidet, August 18, 2023</ref> The album debuted at #2 on Billboard's Classical Crossover charts on September 2, 2023.<ref>Classical Crossover Chart, Sept 2 2023 Billboard Magazine, September 2, 2023</ref> In support of the album, the band produced an outdoor live show with Cedar Point's HalloWeekends entitled Echoes from the Brimstone Club which incorporated music from the album, cirque-type specialty acts, and pyrotechnics.<ref>5 Things to Know about HalloWeekends Akron Beacon Journal, Craig Webb, September 5, 2023</ref><ref>It's Time to Check Out Midnight Syndicate Sandusky Register, Justin Dietz, September 25, 2023</ref>

Musicianship

Influences

Douglas cites film composers Danny Elfman, James Horner, John Carpenter, Hans Zimmer, heavy metal acts King Diamond and Black Sabbath, radio dramas, and horror film scores as primary musical influences for Midnight Syndicate. He has cited Hammer Film Productions, the art of Joseph Vargo, Alchemy Gothic, and Keith Parkinson, the books of Stephen King, Tales From the Crypt comics, and Role-playing games as sources of inspiration.<ref name="Interview with Edward Douglas"/><ref>FEARnet interview with Edward Douglas, October 31, 2008.</ref><ref>Geek In the City GITC Interview with Edward Douglas, June 17, 2009</ref><ref>Black Gate Black Gate Interview with Edward Douglas, July 29, 2010</ref> He has said that Joseph Vargo's input was critical on the Born of the Night CD.<ref>Creatures of the night come alive on new CD interview with Midnight Syndicate, Chronicle-Telegram, October 1998</ref> In a 2010 interview, Goszka cited similar musical influences (Elfman, Carpenter, King Diamond, and Sabbath) as well as Dead Can Dance.<ref>Halloween Blues Template:Webarchive Interview with Gavin Goszka, October, 2010</ref>

Legacy

Impact on Halloween music and haunted attraction industry

The group's music is commonly used as atmosphere for Halloween-themed events, stores, and parties (including Hugh Hefner's), as well as home decorating for trick-or-treating. Heather Adler credits them as helping to legitimize the genre of Halloween music (music for the Halloween holiday), elevating standards in the genre, and inspiring other musicians to create similar projects.<ref name="HA"/><ref>Heather Adler, "Haunted Harmonies", Rue Morgue (Toronto, ON), Issue 50, Pg. 131</ref><ref name="Scene05">Scream Kings Jason Bracelin, Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, Pg. 10-13.</ref><ref>Trevor Tuminski, "Hymns from the House of Horror", Rue Morgue (Toronto, ON), Issue 100, Pg.49.</ref> On September 11, 2009, AOL Radio released a list of the Top 10 Best Halloween Music CDs as ranked by AOL/CBS Radio listeners. Three of the ten CDs were Midnight Syndicate discs (Born of the Night No. 8, Realm of Shadows No. 4, and Vampyre No. 3), ranking behind Danny Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas and John Carpenter's Halloween soundtrack.<ref>Template:Usurped Sara Anderson, AOL Radio Blog</ref> In 2015, Rue Morgue Magazine cited Midnight Syndicate's continued influence in the haunted attraction industry as well their "entrenchment" in the celebration of the Halloween season among their reasons for including Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994–1999) among their 50 Essential Horror Albums - Discs That Created, Evolved, or Defined Genre Music Through the Decades.<ref name="RM15"/>

Midnight Syndicate was the first company to produce soundtracks of quality specifically for the haunted attraction industry.<ref name="HA"/><ref name="Horton">John Horton, "Scary Music Writers Accomplish Their Ghouls", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 17, 2006, Sec. A, Pg. A1.</ref> In 2005, Leonard Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine estimated that "75-90% of the attractions in the industry had at least one Midnight Syndicate CD." Their music is also used by amusement parks such as Universal Orlando, Busch Gardens, Kings Island, Six Flags, Cedar Point, and Kennywood Park hold Halloween-themed events such as Thorpe Park Fright Nights, Halloween Horror Nights, HalloWeekends, Howl-O-Scream, and Fright Fest.<ref name="HA"/><ref name="Scene05"/><ref>Jim Vickers, "Scream Songs", Cleveland Magazine (Cleveland, OH), October 2006, Pg. 30.</ref> In the liner notes to 2020's, Music of Halloween Horror Nights album, Vice President of Entertainment, Art and Design at Universal Orlando, T.J. Mannarino said, "It is difficult to overemphasize how much the music of Midnight Syndicate played in the historic success of Halloween Horror Nights."<ref name="WKYC2020"/><ref>Midnight Syndicate teams with Universal Studios to release new Music of Halloween Horror Nights album Coaster Nation, Dan Hower, August 26, 2020</ref> In 2020, Midnight Syndicate received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the haunted attraction website, City Blood.<ref>City Blood's Lifetime Achievement Awards Noah Wullkotte, City Blood, December 2020</ref>

Impact on role-playing game industry

Midnight Syndicate has a significant following in the role-playing game community.<ref name="Scene05"/><ref>Jeffrey Lee, "Background Music for Role-playing Games," Examiner, August 5, 2009</ref> Their Dungeons & Dragons CD broke previous sales records for gaming soundtracks in its first month.<ref name="Carl08"/> Their The 13th Hour CD won the Origins Award for Best Gaming Accessory presented by the Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design, marking the first time a role-playing soundtrack or music CD had won the award.<ref name=OriginsAwards>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 13th Hour also became the first music CD to win an award at the ENnies, a fan-based annual award show for role-playing game publishers and products.<ref name=EnnieAwards>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2007, Midnight Syndicate teamed up with Goodman Games to produce Cages of Delirium a Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure based on Gates of Delirium which came packaged with the CD. The Cages of Delirium module was nominated for an ENnie Award as well as the band's Carnival Arcane album in 2012, their Monsters of Legend album in 2014, and their Zombies!!! Official Board Game Soundtrack in 2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Distribution

When record labels and distributors rejected the band's first two CDs, Douglas began building his own distribution network by selling CDs out of his van with Goszka and cold-calling hundreds of stores.<ref name="Scene05"/><ref>Jennifer McKevitt, "Art of Darkness", News Herald (Mentor, OH), October 29, 2006, Sec. E, Pg.E1.</ref> Today Midnight Syndicate's CDs are self-distributed to thousands of retailers worldwide through Entity Productions, Inc. and its partners, making them one of the largest distributors of Halloween-themed music.<ref name="Horton"/><ref>Carl E. Feather, "A little night music", Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH), October 30, 2006, Sec. B, Pg. B1.</ref> In addition to Dee Snider's Halloween-themed music act, Van Helsing's Curse,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Entity Productions also distributed the 2010 version of The Dead Matter movie.<ref>Mark Koestner, "Dawn of his Dead", News Herald (Mentor, OH), July 30, 2010, Pg. C10.</ref><ref name="pd2010"/>

Discography

Studio albums

• Midnight Syndicate (1997)
• Born of the Night (1998)
• Realm of Shadows (2000)
• Gates of Delirium (2001)
• Vampyre (2002)
• Dungeons & Dragons (2003)
• The 13th Hour (2005)
• The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates (2008)
• Carnival Arcane (2011)
• Monsters of Legend (2013)
• Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering (2015)
• Zombies!!! Official Board Game Soundtrack (2016)
• Bloodlines (2021)
• The Brimstone Club (2023)

Soundtrack albums

• The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2008)
• The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2010)
• Axe Giant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2013)

Reissues

• Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994–1999) (2006)
• Halloween Music Collection (2010)
• Music of Halloween Horror Nights (2020)
• Legendary Truth: The Collective (2022)
• HalloWeekends: 25 Years of Terror Together (2022)

Collaborative albums

• The Dark Masquerade with Destini Beard (2010)
• A Time Forgotten with Destini Beard (2012)

Live albums

• Live Shadows (2021)

Film

• The Dead Matter (2010)

In popular culture

Midnight Syndicate's composer credits include the scores to the films The Rage, The Dead Matter, and Axe Giant. Additionally, their music has been featured in television programs such as Happy!, Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Monday Night Football, NBA on TNT, Syfy's The Possessed, and Travel Channel's haunted attraction-themed reality show, Making Monsters.<ref name="Scene05"/><ref name="imdbMidSyn">IMDB.com listing for Midnight Syndicate</ref><ref>IMDB.com listing for Edward Douglas</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The music has also been used as theme music in independent horror films like Dead & Rotting, Revamped, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire and Song of the Vampire (AKA Vampire Resurrection), and on the Dungeons & Dragons-based web series, Critical Role.<ref name="imdbMidSyn"/>

The music is used in the audio drama, The Byron Chronicles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Newer episodes of the Byron Chronicles are available at the creator's blog.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The song Grisly Reminder from The 13th Hour was featured in Creepypasta videos between 2012 and 2016. It is considered nostalgic by some because of this.

See also

• Nox Arcana
• Destini Beard

References

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External links

• Template:Official website