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.


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