Make horrid scars and gashes.

3.10.2006

William Castle "Ghost Story: Thrilling, Chilling Sounds of Fright & the Supernatural" (Peter Pan, 8114, 1972)

This LP was something of a tie-in to the NBC anthology show that William Castle produced from '72-'73 ("Peter Pan Records is delighted to have the opportunity to bring to the public its original recording production based on William Castle's Ghost Story"), but aside from the tracks on Side One being dubbed "The Horrors of Mansfield House" there's no real connection. There's certainly Castle-esque hype slathered all over the cover though; "This record should not be listened to by the very young or tender-hearted", it shouts. "This recording is definitely not recommended for children under eight years of age". Personally though, I can tell you that as children, my friends and I would roundly mock the first side of the LP across the board. Composed of an unscary narrator walking his way through vignettes featuring killer dogs, vampire waiters and murderous orchids (no, really), a lot of the "snap" endings sound almost as though they were made up on the spot. To this day only the oddness of the (Proto-Punk! Pre-Industrial!) "Lobotomy And The Shock Treatment" track from the Mansfield "Psychedelic Sounds Nightclub" stands out for me (as kids we'd play it and bounce around as though we were "insane"), but I guess I don't know how chilling I'd call it. In recent years though I've run in to several folks who have fond memories of the whole album, so maybe seven-year-old-me was being too harsh? You decide!

By the way, Side Two is largely a return to the same well of sounds that were heard on the two Power Records "Ghostly Sounds" albums (previously posted here, and here), so I hope you're not too sick of them yet.


Link Removed

16 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wot!? No Sebastian Cabot!!??

3/10/2006 11:05 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you know Castle himself narrated an LP on the Hanna-Barbera label that's a reading of Poe's Tell-Tale Heart? It pops up once in a blue moon on ebay but I've never had the scratch that disc goes for! Thanks again for another cool share.

3/10/2006 6:24 PM

 
Blogger Jason said...

Wow, no I didn't -- I'll try to keep an eye peeled as well & see if it turns up around here on the cheap.

After I posted this I was rooting around & did notice that several people are selling copies of the Ghost Story series on iOffer though.

3/11/2006 7:56 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome. More thanks!!!

Isn't there an old Barrymoore record set of ghost stories??

Dr.Terror

3/12/2006 1:18 PM

 
Blogger Jason said...

You might be thinking of that 78 rpm collection "Halloween", which is about as unfrightening a "musical fantasy" as you're likely to ever run across (it's more of a folk tale/ love story w/ very (very!) vague supernatural undertones -- like elves). It's narrated by Lionel Barrymore though, and (you know, now that I've, ahem, raised the excitement level for it) I'm planning on posting it pretty soon.

Or maybe there's something else I'm not calling to mind?

3/12/2006 1:58 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

John Carradine hosted a series of stories such as The Tell Tale Heart and my favorite from the set The Monkey's Paw. What was the LP called?

5/28/2006 2:41 PM

 
Blogger Big Wop said...

This album was one of my favorites as a kid,my cousin Mark and I used to act out little plays in front of my family to various tracks on it.Thank you for bringing it all back to me after all these years.You're the goods!


Yours Cruelly,
B.W.

9/10/2006 9:12 PM

 
Blogger maxruehl said...

I got all excited when I saw this--I figured it would have Sebastian Cabot. When I saw it didn't I figured, well at least it'll have the theme from the series--I've wanted to have a copy of it for the longest time. Sadly, it's not there either.:( Oh well...(wistful sigh)

Great site, btw. It's like a window back on my childhood. Thanks very much.:)

10/19/2006 9:28 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does any have acopy of this for sale or download? I would love to hear it.

11/19/2006 8:21 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I Bought this LP on ebay it's MINT condition and was unopened I have converted the LP into MP3 files and they sound great, very little hiss or pops. If you are interested in downloading these files please email me at:

salemfrostgames@hotmail.com

12/27/2006 12:49 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had this album when I was ~5 or 6 and loved it (and no, side 1 didn't seem too hammy then) but side 2 is still wonderful. Delightful audio tales, and especially the music of the Cathedral of Evil which now features prominently in some appropriate area LRPGs :-) Glad to find it here, as my LP version is getting a bit tired

1/01/2007 4:31 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You can download this LP in MP3 format at:

http://www.salemfrostgames.com/wcgs

1/04/2007 3:32 PM

 
Blogger Dave said...

Working on getting this one uploaded to my PC something struck me about the tracks on this LP. They're very similar to the story tracks used on the "House Of Terror" LP.
Dave

1/29/2007 10:14 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this was a favorite when I was a kid. any chance of a repost? thanks!

6/19/2007 11:40 AM

 
Blogger Ickysan said...

Um...yeah...I don't want to be a dick or anything, but, how come almost all of the links on here are dead? Will they be back up on here? You've got some really great stuff on here - would really like to get some of it. Thanks.

10/06/2008 1:48 AM

 
Blogger dronecaster said...

Jason--me and my sister loved listening to this record when we were kids. I remember being sounding very psychedelic. Are there any samples available that you know of (mp3s, etc.)? I wish I had a copy of this on a CD. :-)

8/27/2011 7:33 PM

 

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