House of Shadows

Born of the Night

The Gothic Fantasy Artwork of Joseph Vargo

The powerful and captivating artwork of Joseph Vargo opens a gateway to the darkside and dares the viewer to venture within. While his work is dominated by an immense and memorable array of ominous and often nightmarish entities, his timeless images are also permeated with tremendous beauty, grace and symmetry. His art has achieved a resonance and popularity partially because of this ability to shed light on the inner demons that lurk in the shadows of the mind, while also not forgetting the sometimes majestic grandeur that resides there as well.

This extensive collection features over 100 of Vargo’s most popular works of gothic fantasy, as well as some rare paintings, drawings and sketches published here for the first time. With an introduction and text by Joseph Iorillo, and additional commentaries by the artist, this volume offers comprehensive insights into Vargo’s gothic domain.  184 pages; 100 color plates; 40 black & white insets Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Joseph Vargo is an internationally acclaimed fantasy artist, writer and composer. He is the featured cover artist for Dark Realms Magazine, and the creator and illustrator of The Gothic Tarot. Joseph has produced and directed several highly successful music CDs used in Halloween theme parks nationwide and is the founding member of the band Nox Arcana, renown for their sinister soundtracks, Darklore Manor and Necronomicon. His haunting images were also the inspiration for the gothic anthology, Tales from the Dark Tower.

Customer Reviews

A monumental work 
Without a doubt Born of the Night is Joseph Vargos most impressive work to date. A longtime fan of his art I feel in love with the visions in his mind, richly detailed in every stone and swirl of fog, one could get lost in his world and never want to leave.

Corvis Nocturnum, author of Embracing the Darkness; Understanding Dark Subcultures

Amazing
This book has the most stunning artwork - some are hauntingly beautiful, others are down right ghoulish - as you would expect I guess. I would love to be able to make some of the gowns that are featured - they are fabulous!

Waiting to see…
Being aware of the work of Vargo as musician - Nox Arcana - I felt curious about his production as visual artist. After going through the book - text and pictures - I was left with mixed feelings. Not being an art critic I nevertheless sensed there was a unbalance in his art production. His depictions of the human figure are weaker than his backgrounds and monsters. I know he didn’t go to an art school and that’s perhaps what’s missing in his drawing of the human figure: depth, proportion, reality. Now his monsters are something else. His gargoyles are magnificent,and he masters the drawing and painting of stone as very rarely seen. So the latter seem much more alive than the human figures.All in all it is a good choice to get introduced to Joseph Vargo artwork. And it made me willing to wait and see the following publications of the kind.

Born of Night: The Gothic Artwork of Joseph Vargo and the music of Nox Arcana are listed in the House of Shadows Store; just click the tab at the top of the page for more information.