Make horrid scars and gashes.

10.01.2006

William Conrad "Spirits and Spooks For Hallowe'en Summoned Up by William Conrad" (Caedmon, TC1344, 1973)

Another fantastically spooky Caedmon Halloween LP from the early '70's, this time with the narrative duties ably handled by William Conrad, then in the thick of his popularity as the private eye "Cannon". This was another public library childhood favorite of mine, and I can recall being quite frightened by the music in "The Secret Commonwealth" for some reason. I'll just quote copiously from Paul Kresh's evocative liner notes and then get along to the downloading:

"Hallowe'en -- All Hallow's Eve -- the eve of All Saint's Day -- a night for mischief, when the goblins all are out playing pranks, when witches and warlocks cavort through autumn air, when dark clouds scud across the moon's scared white face and the wanton October wind strip the branches of trees bare leaf by leaf...

Just listen, as William Conrad, that master spieler of spooky tales, inhabits the grooves of this disc for a spine-tingling session of storm-tossed rhymes and tales. Children, especially, will love to be frightened by him: 'After all, it's only a story.'
Or is it?

Bolt the doors, dim the lights, place the record warily on your turntable, lower the needle softly -- but take care! Be you big or little, old or young, huddle close and sit quite, quite still -- never a wriggle nor a murmur now. Sh-shsh! These witches, goblins and ghosts mean business. As Mr. Herrick warned three hundred years ago:

This night, and more for the wonder,
The ghost from the tomb affrighted shall
come,
Called out by the clap of the thunder.

With this record in your collection, mischief need know no season,
Any night can be Hallowe'en. Spin it at your risk."



Link Removed

11 Comments:

Blogger Sallie Neal said...

Cool LP, are you going to post Charlie Brown's Halloween by chance? Thanks!

10/01/2006 1:34 PM

 
Blogger Jason said...

I'm actually pretty astounded that it hasn't been issued on CD, but that's the way it looks. So yeah, en route.

10/01/2006 2:13 PM

 
Blogger Joe said...

thank ya

10/01/2006 4:51 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
About 15 years ago, I made a tape recording of this record from the library (along with Vincent Price's A Hornbook for Witches).
A few years ago, my William Conrad tape went missing, and I've missed it very much. It's great to hear it again!
This site is the greatest!!

10/02/2006 7:27 AM

 
Blogger Dr.Terror said...

I can't wait to give this one a listen.

I may post Scary Stories to Tell in the dark, but my copy is 2 tracks one side each, if you plan on posting it I won't becasue it looks like yours has the stories seperated.

Did you get the Delugg I sent you?

10/02/2006 3:12 PM

 
Blogger New Texture said...

is this ANOTHER Dillons cover for Caedmon? very nice. thanks!


www.newtexture.com

10/11/2006 4:35 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have loved this & the Price album for decades and have missed them greatly since our local library sold off all its LPs while I was away. Thank you so much for bringing back these fine tastes of terror!

1/01/2007 4:21 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I loved this record as a kid, I used to check it out from my library all the time.

I can't seem to access the file, though-- I hope it will be available soon!

3/09/2007 5:22 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just came upon this site - I have a lot of these gems and was looking for a few more - are these downloadable? I am having a hard time figuring this out. I clicked on the link, and it said it was out of date or no good - it's a pleasure just to see the pics - thanks!!! Dana

6/09/2007 1:41 PM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

This is great! I've been looking for this stuff forever. Can't believe it took me this long. I used to check this out from Belle Isle Public Library in Oklahoma City, but I don't live there anymore. At least now I can try to order this online.

Thanks so much!!

7/26/2007 10:28 AM

 
Blogger J. Thompson said...

I cannot even begin to tell you how long I've been looking for this recording. Is there anyway I could get an mp3 copy of it or can you point me to where I could get one. Thanks so much for posting this information as it is a really great childhood memory!

10/02/2008 8:27 AM

 

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