The Babadook vinyl by Waxwork Records review

If you're anything like me, you might have wondered where to get the title pop-up book after watching the Babadook. As it turns out there was a limited edition of them and have been sold out for years now. Copies can still be bought at auction sites and such, but for hundreds of dollars. After getting wind that Waxwork Records was going to release the standard for this title last year I decided that it was the best next thing to the actual book.

Here is how it rates as I see it:

Pros

• It's the freaking Babadook +1 star
• The cover visually matches that of the book +1
• We get a pop-up in the centerfold +1
• As compared with Nosferatu, the pressing is dead silent. Bravo. +1
• Separate artwork, notes from the composer and a nice splatter +.5
• Inclusion of hype sticker and some label postcards  +.25

Cons

• I got a torn inner sleeve. Not really a problem. -0 stars
• The length of the soundtrack is on the short side, but doesn't feel lacking. -0
• For the second time for a Waxwork release (out of two in my case) I find that it is really difficult to get the record in and out of the outer sleeve -.25
• The cover is non-textured. It looked as if it would come this way, but didn't. I feel this omission hurts the overall experience as they let go one of the senses, touch, which kind of was already implied. Maybe some manufacturing issues came into play, but I feel that Waxwork dropped the ball on this one. -1

After all this, however, I feel it gets half a point back for the actual music which lives up to the oniric theme and places the whole release on a more balanced footing between music and looks.

Not scientific, but fair: 4 stars