With Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic, author Alan Jones updates his exhaustive biography of famed Italian director Dario Argento to include new films, biographical sketches, and interviews that will satisfy any fan of one of horror’s most renowned auteurs. In addition to his detailed histories surrounding the making of Argento’s films (many of which he witnessed in the stages of their productions), Jones livens up this essential compendium with in-depth interviews from the filmmaker’s many collaborators he’s accrued in his five decades of helming pictures. Jones’ unwavering love for all things Argento is hard to deny, and the interviews from those figures involved in the production offer terrific insight into the highs and lows of working with the director. Given Jones’ access, the readers can delve into first-hand accounts of the early crew gambling on a first-time director’s groundbreaking The Bird with the Crystal Plumage to people who grew up on the director’s films like Suspiria and Tenebrae winning the chance to write his more recent projects.

Along with the terrific writing, Jones includes a glorious array of images both professional and personal to document the making of every film and television show Argento has worked on in some capacity. Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic is so meticulous that fans won’t want to rush through its many pleasures, but draw it out and savor each page in the way Argento maximizes the tension in his films.