Joseph Vargo is a music composer, published author, and internationally acclaimed artist. His visions of gothic fantasy have graced the covers of several books and cds, appeared in numerous publications including Spectrum III, Carpe Noctem, Dark Realms, Bite Me, and Dark Visions, and has been used for set design by broadcast companies such as NBC, Universal, 20th Century Fox, A&E and The Discovery Channel. He began his professional artistic career in 1991 and achieved worldwide status by 1993 with the release of a series of art collections entitled Born of the Night. In 1998 and 1999 Vargo produced and directed two popular Halloween soundtracks, Born of the Night, and Realm of Shadows, and to this day his influential sound and ominous voice resonates in almost every haunted house and theme park across the U.S. during Halloween. During the following years, he created various artistic and literary projects; most notably to date is The Gothic Tarot and the illustrated gothic anthology Tales from the Dark Tower. In 2003, he returned to the music arena with his new band, Nox Arcana, to compose the haunting melodies and darkly themed orchestrations that are a trademark of his gothic realm.