Toxic Coffin - "The Haunted Sounds Of Halloween" Cassette

50 Minutes Of Spine-Tingling Terror! WARNING! This Cassette Is Not To Be Listened To In The Dark. Listen To This Cassette At Your Own Risk!

No, this isn't an unexpected Freebie Friday post, but it is for fans of all of those old "spooky sounds" releases filled with the glorious Halloween sounds of howling winds, cackling witches, bubbling cauldrons, rattling chains, and snarling werewolves. Did you know that there are still artists out there who are keeping the tradition alive today??

I was super excited when I recently found Toxic Coffin out of North Carolina, and their brand new cassette release, The Haunted Sounds Of Halloween. 

Two different styles on this one. Side A's "Haunted House Sound FX" is an homage to the classic "spooky sounds" cassettes of years gone by with some great and truly creepy sounds, all backed with some nice, subtle droning synth. No silly kids stuff on this side, just great, creepy Halloween atmosphere!

Side B's "Eerie Music" is different and unique in that it is a collection of original Halloween-inspired music created by Stephen and Lance, the owners of Toxic Coffin, and performed under the name Beyond The Gate. Again, really great sounds with an almost synthwave angle. Perfect music for the season!

Both sides are on repeat as we wind down another all-too-fast Halloween season, and I will most definitely keep this one going long after the season ends.

Be sure to grab a copy of this one over at Toxic Coffin, and while you're there maybe pick up a shirt, some art or an insanely rad, super limited, coffin-shaped skateboard deck!

On a final note, along with my cassette, I also received a sticker and a hand-written thank you letter from Lance and Stephen. Super cool extras that you just won't get from larger companies. A huge Cemetery shout-out to Toxic Coffin on a totally awesome release!

  

"Halloween Sound Effects" Cassette

Here we are at the fourth Friday in October, which means it's time for one last Freebie Friday for the year! We've had three absolute classics served up from my "spooky sounds" collection this year, so let's see what's on tap for this week's offering.

I grabbed a sealed copy of Halloween Sound Effects strictly based on the incredible card art. Spooky, gothic fonts and totally awesome clip art, including that sweet, evil bat! And still encased in the shell was a wonderfully cheesy cassette with nothing but the same title art on a blank orange label. All the signs of another cheap knock-off classic!

And my initial instinct was correct. Because as soon as I put this cassette in, pressed "play" and heard the very first note, I knew this was yet another Taiwanese knock-off. It was a poorly dubbed recording of the Topstone Halloween classic, Horror Sounds Of The Night. 

I swear, every cassette factory in Asia must have had one copy of it to use for dubbing, because this is at least the third different Halloween cassette I have picked up only to hear that same organ music starting off...

And as great as Horror Sounds Of The Night is, this one is just another cheap knock-off in a really great package. Still worth it for the art, but the sounds themselves are only for the die-hard "spooky sounds" collectors or those that might not have Horror Sounds Of The Night.

Three out of four still ain't bad!

DOWNLOAD 'HALLOWEEN SOUND EFFECTS' HERE.

  

"Horror Sound" Cassette

It's the first Friday of October, and that can mean only one thing...

Freebie Fridays!

Every Friday in October, I dig up one of the vintage novelty Halloween soundtrack cassettes, CDs, or vinyl records from my ever-growing collection and share it with all of my fellow classic "spooky sounds" junkies.

I've been doing this for quite a few years now, and I still absolutely love doing it. It's a great way to share the love during the Halloween season, and a great way to (re)discover some really neat-and-or-hilarious old novelty soundtracks from Halloweens long past.

So let's get down to business!!

Up this week, we have the "Horror Sound" cassette. I didn't know anything about it upon purchase, other than I knew I had to have it based on the questionable title and cassette art. 

Horror Sound. Not Sounds plural, but just one Sound. Definitely a glaring issue of lost-in-translation somewhere along the Chinese production line pumping out a vast array of ripoff "spooky sounds" cassettes from the 80s and 90s, for certain.

The cassette label itself is a wonderfully sparse smattering of clipart-level images of a single ghost, a single bat, and TWO trees. I just knew that this one was going to be a glorious stinker!

And upon dropping this into the cassette player and hitting play, my suspicions were confirmed. A really bad "copy of a copy of a copy" of Topstone's classic, Horror Sounds of The Night. Recorded with the volume turned up too loud, resulting in the speakers absolutely overpeaking with sound.

Nonetheless, "Horror Sound" is still worthy of being in my collection. In this case because it is so hilariously bad, but still a part of what makes collecting this genre so entertaining and fun. Grab a copy if you are a completist like myself, or just grab a copy of the superior original. The choice is yours! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD "HORROR SOUND" HERE.

"TERROR Treats!" Cassette

New Horror - More Fascinating Than Science - More Frightening Than Fantasy!  You are about to participate in a unique experience! Fear not! Warning: Do not lock the door! Carry some garlic, a wooden stake, a hammer, and a crucifix, just in case!

Time for the third installment of Freebie Fridays, where I share a selection from my ever-growing collection of novelty Halloween "spooky sounds" vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CDs.

This week we have an absolute gem in the 1987 cassette release of "TERROR Treats!" By T.A. Hamilton. This was another blind buy because I had never heard of it before, but was a done deal the moment I saw this absolutely incredible cover art! (After researching it, I have now seen two different versions of this release, and this particular version is far superior in total presentation.)

But the cover art was just the beginning! I put the unmarked black cassette in and hit 'play.' Both sides clock in at about 15 minutes for each side, and contain a flowing collection of the usual spooky sounds: howling winds, cackling witches, thunderstorms, screeching cats, ghoulish laughter and screams, mad laboratory sounds, etc. Nothing really new (outside of the brief snippet of dialogue with hilarious, exaggerated pronunciations like "imaginaaashun-uhhh"), as I think these sounds were all pulled from other sources. 

But the entire thing has an added reverb echo effect over it, giving it a unique and cool sound. Add to that the flat production and you have the perfect throwback "spooky sounds" release. The low quality production on this is what makes it so, so good! Pure nostalgia on this one, and another worthy piece for your collection.

DOWNLOAD "TERROR TREATS!" HERE.

  

"Chamber Of Horrors" Cassette

So this Freebie Friday offering is bit of a cheat because I had posted it before, but: a) I wanted to show off my new original copy that is still sealed, and b) out of all the novelty Halloween records, cassettes and CDs in my collection, this one is still the best!

I had written way back in 2014 about how I had found this old cassette in a tape player that had been in my garage. Before rediscovering it, it had sat for about 10 years after being used as the haunt soundtrack during the earliest days of Highbury Cemetery (before it even had a name!)

Luckily, I popped the old cassette into a deck and it still played perfectly! Instant warm fuzzies as those old sounds brought back all those great memories from my haunt's beginnings. In fact, this became one of the first Freebie Friday segments, and it kicked my vintage novelty Halloween record, cassette, and CD collecting into high gear.

And after all these years of collecting and sharing the gems and the stinkers from my ever-growing stash, I still haven't found a release that tops this one. High-quality "spooky sounds" that are actually creepy. An absolutely solid release and the centerpiece to my collection.

If you haven't heard this, do yourself a favor and hit play on the link above. If you like it, grab a copy at the link below. 

It's Halloween. Let the Chamber of Horrors' thoroughly-terrifying, spine-tingling sounds get you in the mood to do what you do!

DOWNLOAD CHAMBER OF HORRORS HERE.

 

"Scary Sounds of Halloween" Cassette

Warning: This Tape May Scare The Heck Out Of You!

Haunt your house with this cassette featuring clinks, clanks, rattling chains, howling witches, screaming victims, and more!

Chances are, you may have come across this cassette cover before, with its instantly recognizable kitty cat illustration on the cover. I have wanted to add this one to my collection for a while now, and I finally made it happen not long ago.

If there was a wheelhouse of classic 80s and 90s novelty "spooky sounds" cassette releases, this one would land somewhere right near the middle. It has all of those nostalgic, spooky sounds: howling winds, weird cat howls, screams and laughs, wolves, and in the case of this particular cassette, an overabundance of demonic growls and laughter.

It's your basic collection of sounds in a continuous 15 minute track. But flip to the second side and things get a bit more...spooky. Many of the sounds are repeated, but it adds a little spice with a fantastic organ arrangement, the echoed cries of a child, bats, heavy breathing, a cat, more demons, and if I'm hearing it correctly, the "hee-haw" of a donkey. Huh? (Listen at about the 3:45 mark and see for yourself. I say it's a donkey!).

Overall, this one really nails that Halloween nostalgia vibe with all the classic sounds. It has a high production quality and it's a ton of fun to just kick back and listen to. Another highly rated Freebie Friday classic. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD "SCARY SOUNDS OF HALLOWEEN" HERE.

"The Haunted Horror House" Cassette

Welcome to the Haunted Horror House. Just follow the footsteps from room to room and you'll experience the worlds that lie beyond each door. Turns your home into a chamber of horrors. Great for Halloween, Theme Parties, or around the campfire. Enjoy 40 minutes of original sound-score music and effects.

Step inside the Haunted Horror House. You're expected!

Recorded in 3-Dimensional Horror-Phonic Sound!

This week's Freebie Friday offering was picked up on a whim. I had never heard of The Haunted Horror House before, and there really wasn't any information available on it. But, it was in my budget (cheap!) and with that name, the silly cover graphics, and all of the wild claims plastered on it, how could I not pick this one up??

This cassette was released in 1990 by C.C. Marketing out of New York City. A quick search revealed that they were long gone. And info on the inside flap of the cover tells me their whole gig was releasing cassettes like this. Their list of other "greats" include Crazy Calls, Power Walk, The Massage Tapes, The Romantic Guitar, The Christmas Caroling Kit, Brazilian Dreams, and much more! Yeesh.

When I dropped the wonderful orange cassette into the deck and pressed play, I was somewhat surprised. It was good! I didn't know what "3-Dimensional Horror-Phonic Sound" was, but it apparently meant a high-quality sounding cassette, especially compared to other novelty Halloween cassettes from the era. And it was in fact, roughly 40 minutes long, split over the two sides.

Side A (1. Enter The House  2. The Hall of Horrors  3. The Rack  4. Mad Dogs  5. Where Am I  6. The Chapel of Chills  7. Chain Saw Massacre  8. Step Outside) has a nice collection of standard spooky sounds and cool echo and reverb effects, running continuously without any breaks between the tracks.  The Chapel of Chills not only has the best track title ever, but has a nice "gothic chamber with thunderstorms" music feel to it.

Side B (1. The Graveyard  2. The Basement  3. The Clock  4. The Swamp  5. Run For Your Life  6. Come Again!) is another collection of standard sounds that run continuously. Run For Your Life is the standout, with its odd and hilarious "snarling jungle cat" sound effect...

For a chance purchase, this cassette turned out to be quite a find. I'm surprised it doesn't show up more often with its high-quality sound and amazing cover art. This one is definitely going into the collection and will get a few more plays this Halloween season for sure! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE HAUNTED HORROR HOUSE CASSETTE HERE.

"Hallmark Howl-o-ween Sounds" Cassette

Welcome to day 2 of our October celebration, and welcome to the first Freebie Friday, where I rummage through and share my ever-expanding collection of novelty Halloween records, tapes and CDs! 

This segment has become my absolute favorite. There's just something so fun and nostalgic about listening to the old gems (and the stinkers!) that populated store shelves each Halloween. So let's dive in!!

"My... what an ugly costume!"

"Aren't you a little big... to be trick-or-treating?"

"Why didn't you wear a mask? Oh, excuse me. I guess you did..."

Hallmark Greeting Cards released a series of "spooky sounds" cassettes in the late 80s, including "Howl-o-ween Sounds" in 1987 (their third of four cassette releases). I had seen their other releases, but happened upon this one at just the right price - cheap!

The cool linocut wolf howling at the witch on the cover just drew me in! Very dark and ominous for a happy greeting card company.

The cassette contains a standard, somewhat random collection of "spooky" sounds, but nothing too frightening. Organ, chains, wolf howls, cats, creaks, laughs, heartbeats, bubbling lab, thunderstorms and wind, a few shrieks and echoed screams. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The one big thing of note on this one is the inclusion of silly vocal cuts (including the three quotes above). They are way too prominent here, and distract from the overall fun of this release. Each voice actor seems to try way too hard to deliver their lines.

And that leads to my other issue, repetition. The content is repeated on both sides, but everything also repeats 2 or 3 times on each side. So instead of "45 minutes" like it says on the cover, you only really get about 10 to 15 minutes of unique sounds.

But even with those issues, this one is still fun to listen to at least once. It has enough cheesy nostalgia to it to add to your collection. Enjoy!!

DOWNLOAD "HALLMARK HOWL-O-WEEN SOUNDS" HERE.

"Sounds of Halloween" Cassette

Somehow we are already into our third weekend in October, and we're starting it off with another Freebie Friday! As with every Friday throughout October, I scour my collection of vintage novelty Halloween records and cassettes and then share them with all of you.

This time around, we have Distribution Madacy Inc's Canadian novelty gem from 1998, Sounds of Halloween.

Warning: This Cassette Is Not To Be Listened To In The Dark. Listen To This Cassette At Your Own Risk!

Sounds That Will Keep You And Your Children On The Edge Of Your Seat During Parties Or On Dark Stormy Nights.

"Spine Chilling" / "Hair Raising" / "Heart Pounding" Sound Effects

Instantly, with warnings like these, Sounds of Halloween completely hits the mark for me. Another in a long line of novelty releases with crazy, over-the-top warning labels, coupled with some really great cover illustration work. In researching this release, I actually found out that they put some effort into this, releasing at least three different covers: the cat & pumpkin (this one), a skull pumpkin & deranged hospital worker, and a really great pumpkin & haunted house.

They also had another similar release called Halloween Tricks & Treats, although it looks like it has slightly different tracks including a full-length Halloween story. And if it has anywhere near the quality that this release has, it is going on my want list right now!

Sounds of Halloween has your standard collection of Halloween sounds including thunder and rain, howling winds, snarling wolves, church bells, a pissed off cat, rattling chains, a few "borrowed" screams and laughter, creaking floors and doors, some weird and random space noises, a REALLY cool organ, and a few other odd sounds thrown in for good measure. But the production quality is higher than average and has a surprisingly full sound to it.

It's a fun, continuous 18-minute mix that hits the sweet spot for the nostalgic sounds of Halloween. The only drawback is that the same track is repeated on side two, robbing the listener of another potential 18 minutes of ghastly greatness!

DOWNLOAD "SOUNDS OF HALLOWEEN" HERE.

"Haunted Mansion" Cassette

Welcome to another exciting edition of Freebie Fridays, where I scour the depths of my vintage novelty Halloween vinyl record and tape collection and then review and share them with you all!

This time out we have "Haunted Mansion," by Rubie's Costume Company (who somehow are still in business after all these years!).

Now if like me, your first thought is, "Cool, Haunted Mansion. I love Disney!" you would also just like me, be completely wrong. This has no affiliation with Disney's iconic haunted attraction whatsoever, outside of simply lifting the name.

The Ultimate Sounds Of Horror In Stereo.

I would be willing to say that this tagline is a bit far fetched, but honestly this is a really fun cassette.

What you get is two sides of classic, novelty Halloween sounds. A mishmash of screams and cackles, organ notes, werewolf howls, weird cat meows, thunder cracks, and just about every other standard Halloween sound effect, all rolled into two 15-minute tracks.

And I love it! This cassette nails what's so great about the vintage Halloween soundtracks of the 80's. All kinds of "spooky" sound effects pasted together with a paper-thin production quality, mass-produced with over-the-top graphics, and available everywhere during the Halloween season. Pure Halloween nostalgia!

And the best part about this one? It's still available everywhere, most still sealed in their original backing card! Straight from the late 80s directly to your door. And for cheap!! They must have way overproduced these things back in 1987 and are still trying to get rid of them today. But their loss is our gain!

Enjoy "Haunted Mansion, " because this one really is a classic novelty Halloween gem.

DOWNLOAD "HAUNTED MANSION" HERE.

  

"Sounds To Haunt Your House" Cassette

It's the first Friday of October, and that can mean only one thing...

Freebie Fridays!

If you're new to the Cemetery, you've stumbled in at just the right time! Every Friday in October, I dig up one of the vintage novelty Halloween soundtrack cassettes or vinyl records from my ever-growing collection and share it with all of my "spooky sounds" junkies.

I've been doing this for quite a few years now, and I still absolutely love doing it. It's a great way to share the love during the Halloween season, and a great way to discover some really neat-and-or-hilarious old novelty soundtracks from Halloweens past.

So let's get down to business!!

Absolutely The Scariest, The Most Chilling, Blood Curdling, Hair Raising, Bone Chilling, Heart Stopping, Shocking, Terrifying And Daring Spooky Sounds Ever Recorded!

Welllllllllll, I might not go THAT far, but Dominion Entertainment/K-Tel's 1992 cassette release, Sounds To Haunt Your House, is actually not bad, even with a few shady practices thrown in...

I had picked this one up on the cheap, based solely on the silly graphics on the front of the sleeve. I wasn't expecting much, but I ended up being somewhat surprised...

Upon listening to the first side I noticed the overusage of the echo reverb voiceover that guides us along, but luckily there was a solid base of nice, high-quality "standard creepy" sound effects. And the effects were layered nicely, with a higher than average production quality.

But as I got half way through the first side, I started to hear sound clips that sounded a bit familiar... "We have such sights to show you..."

WAIT. WHAT? They LITERALLY ripped off audio directly from Hellraiser. The shady side of novelty Halloween soundtrack production rears its ugly head again. Hilarious!

But they weren't done there. As side one drew to a close, I also noticed more "borrowed" audio. This time, a few screams taken directly from the classic novelty cassette, Horror Sounds of the Night. It takes guts to lift audio from such a beloved and well-known release!

As I started side two, I was actually impressed. Another 20 minutes of different sound effects, which was nice. Most cassettes simply repeated the same track on both sides, but this was a continuation of the loose story (and sampling) from side one. More high-quality, "creepy" sound effects ending with the voiceover. 

But again, the same scream from Horror Sounds of the Night. And did I recognize the wolf howl from Night in a Graveyard? Hmmm.

As I continued on, I realized that this cassette was pretty much "borrowing" audio from many sources, now including audio directly from Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Unreal.

But what can I say? Sounds To Haunt Your House is actually a fairly decent release (especially compared to some of the drivel released in this genre), even if it DOES directly rip off audio from other, well-known sources. I still have to give this one a recommendation for your collection, as I think you'll get a kick out of it too. Happy Friday!

DOWNLOAD "SOUNDS TO HAUNT YOUR HOUSE" HERE.

  

"Halloween Howls" Cassette

An array of screams,  screeches, clanks and howls to greet trick-or-treaters

or put chills down a party-goer's spine.

Over 40 minutes of scary sounds!

It's time for another Freebie Friday segment, and we've got a great one today! Halloween Howls is a novelty Halloween cassette soundtrack that originally came out in 1988 on Gemstone Entertainment. Or was it Sterling Entertainment? The sleeve says one thing, and the cassette says another. Who knows. Maybe they are the same thing. Thus is the life of a novelty Halloween cassette...

Regardless, this cassette is actually better than most. A nice variety of high quality sound effects with some scattered, creepy vocals throughout create a really entertaining listen. It's nice to hear a collection of sound effects that weren't poorly recorded in someone's basement.

I have included both sides of the cassette, although it seems like it's the same collection of sounds on both sides, just in a different order. And hey, it adds up to almost 45 minutes of solid Halloween fun!

And unfortunately, if you listen closely, you can hear a slight static "clicking" in each track. That was something weird that was going on with my USB cassette player. Consider it added ambience, I guess?

Halloween Howls turned out to be a pleasant surprise from a blind purchase. I really like this collection of creepy sounds and I highly recommend it for some nostalgic Halloween fun.

DOWNLOAD "HALLOWEEN HOWLS" HERE.

  

"Chamber of Horrors" Cassette (1988 Version)

"Haaaaaapy Halloweeeeeeen!" Just stop. Stop it. Quit it! How many times are you going to say that!?!?

Time for another Freebie Friday, and this one is actually another absolute winner. But before we begin, let's take a step back in time...

When I first started doing a small, crude yard haunt in the early, early 2000s, I used a classic novelty cassette for my haunt soundtrack. It was just something that I had laying around. A throwback cassette that reminded me of my youth and the classic old Halloween soundtracks from when I used to go out trick-or-treating (late 70s through the late 80s, for anyone keeping score). It was a cassette that I had picked up somewhere during the early to mid-1990s. And that cassette was Chamber of Horrors.

Classic screams, moans, howls, thunder and synthesizer notes made for a perfectly spooky soundtrack to my little display. Fast forward ten years when, by chance, I rediscovered that cassette in an old tape deck, half buried in my garage. I was so excited when I had found it again! I immediately took it inside, ensured that it still played, and recorded it to mp3 format (little did I know that this cassette and the nostalgic feelings that it evoked would be the start of my Freebie Fridays segments!).

Upon researching my cassette, I quickly noticed something strange. Lots of photos and YouTube clips of a Chamber of Horrors cassette that looked and sounded NOTHING like mine. This fascination triggered my complete freefall down the rabbit hole of vintage novelty Halloween records and cassettes... 

Fast forward to 2017 and it looks like I have now gone full circle. I finally picked up a copy of that OTHER Chamber of Horrors cassette. The one that I had seen and heard everywhere all those years ago.

THIS Chamber of Horrors cassette is actually the original version, released in 1988 by Tony U.S.A. And while it's still available everywhere, I still wanted to add it to my ever-growing collection, and give it a quick review. 

This cassette is so odd. It seems like there were two separate tracks slapped together - a "Halloween sounds" track smashed over a random music track. I actually had to double-check that songs weren't playing from somewhere else on my system while I was recording it. The two really didn't fit together at all. And to top it all off, the segments just kept repeating and repeating and repeating. This is the only way the cassette made it to 23 minutes in length.

It starts off with the now-infamous, "Haaaaaaaapy Halloweeeeeeeen!" vocal clip immediately followed by a cheap instrumental version of Thriller. I'm guessing Michael Jackson had no knowledge of this?

But things get even stranger from there. Thunder claps, the standard generic witch cackle, a police siren and a few other overused "Halloween" sounds are interspersed with another six or seven "Haaaaaaaapy Halloweeeeeeen" clips. And then the music changes. It goes into some weird beatnik flute-and-trumpet jazz segment. It actually sounds like something lifted from the Manos: The Hands of Fate film soundtrack. Completely out of place in its surroundings.

And then the whole segment repeats. And then repeats again. And then again. And then again.

In fact, this cassette would probably be best served as background noise at a late night Halloween party. Definitely not usable in any sort of haunt setting.

But even with all that, I have to admit that I LOVE this cassette. That chilled out flute and trumpet audio is so cool, especially juxtaposed with monster roars, deep gurgling and howling clips placed over it. This is another classic example of a quickly and cheaply executed cassette release that flooded retail stores in the 80s and 90s and has now gone on to achieve cult-like status with collectors and enthusiasts like myself.

Like the second version of this cassette released some 2 or 3 years later, this Chamber of Horrors is a fun slice of novelty Halloween history that everyone needs to hear. And enjoy.

"Haaaaaaaaaapy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen!"


DOWNLOAD "CHAMBER OF HORRORS (1988)" HERE!