Is It Scary

"Is It Scary"
European promo CD single
Promotional single by Michael Jackson
from the album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix
B-side"Off the Wall" (Junior Vasquez remix)
ReleasedSeptember 7, 1997 (1997-09-07)
Recorded1994–1995[1]
Genre
Length
  • 5:35 (album version)
  • 4:11 (radio edit)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Michael Jackson
  • Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"HIStory" / "Ghosts"
(1997)
"Is It Scary"
(1997)
"Smile"
(1997)

"Is It Scary" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. The song was written in 1994 during sessions for Jackson's 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, but it was not included on the album. It was later released on Jackson's 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. "Is It Scary" was written and produced by Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

"Is It Scary" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Musically, the song was viewed by music critics as showing a "darker side" of Jackson, and compared the song's composition to the music of Marilyn Manson. In November 1997, a radio edit version of the song was released as a promotional single in the Netherlands, while promo singles containing remixes were released in the United States and the United Kingdom.

  1. ^ Lecocq, Richard; Allard, François (2018). "Blood on the Dance Floor". Michael Jackson All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London, England: Cassell. ISBN 978-1-78840-057-2.
  2. ^ Michael. It Books. 2009. ISBN 978-0-06196-983-6.
  3. ^ Wyman, Bill. "All 147 Michael Jackson Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best". Vulture. Retrieved September 19, 2023. But all in all, this track, which gets more and more overwrought, isn't really R&B; it's straight-up pop gothic.