I can play just about any keyboard but I can't read or write a note.

The strongest human emotion is fear. It's the essence of any good thriller that, for a little while, you believe in the boogeyman.

Horror is a reaction; it's not a genre. Somebody's life would have to be in danger for it [story] to be a horror story.

Horror has been a genre since the beginning of cinema, all the way back to the days of silent films. I don't think it will ever go away because it's so universal. Humor doesn't always travel to other countries, but horror does.

It [horror genre] never dies. It just keeps getting re­invented and it always will. Horror is a universal language; we're all afraid. We're born afraid, we're all afraid of things: death, disfigurement, loss of a loved one. Everything that I'm afraid of, you're afraid of and vice versa. So everybody feels fear and suspense.

What scares me is what scares you. We’re all afraid of the same things. That’s why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you’ll know what frightens me.

I had a talent for scoring films; I just developed it.