Walt Disney Studios - "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House (1979)" Record

The days of October are absolutely flying by and we have already reached another Friday... time for the next Freebie Friday post, where I share forgotten gems from the murky depths of my Halloween "spooky sounds" collection.

WARNING: This album will scare your socks off. Parental guidance suggested.

For the third week in a row, I'm serving up an absolute Halloween classic. This time around, it's Walt Disney Studios' Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House - the second version!

That's right! After the initial success of the original Chilling, Thrilling Sounds... in 1964 (and 1973), Walt Disney Studios went back and re-released a totally new version in 1979, with completely different cover art AND audio tracks.

Gone were the original's individual story/audio tracks utilizing special effects sounds from the Walt Disney Studios collection, and replaced with a more traditional "spooky sounds" collection of sounds.

I have done a bit or searching to find out why this was done, but I haven't been able to find anything definitive. Either way, I find this version to be the superior one. The original, while groundbreaking for its time, lacks any real spookiness to it and is plagued with silliness in most of the tracks. And let's not even get started on that "Chinese Water Torture" track...

This re-released version fits well into the traditional "spooky sounds" genre with more mature Halloween sounds. Two sides of continuous audio with side one containing "Frightening Situations" and side two containing "Eerie Sound Effects." Both sides are equally great and have all of the classic sound effects within.

And I haven't even mentioned the new cover art yet. A fantastic, full-cover haunted house illustration with a skeleton rising from a grave and colorful, traditional creepy fonts make this one an absolute winner! I would expect nothing less from the talented artists of Disney.

Overall, this release is an absolute classic (even if it is still overshadowed by the original). It's campy and fun, but still has just enough nostalgic creepiness to make it an essential piece for your collection.

(And on a side note, this was just re-released in 2023 on a cool translucent smoke-colored vinyl and is still available here.)

DOWNLOAD CHILLING, THRILLING SOUNDS OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE (1979) HERE.
  

Halloween 1979

Halloween of 1979 saw another addition, in that it was baby brother Scrapes' first Trick or Treat. Awww, he's so cute in his little Spiderman costume. I, like most kids at this time, was fully immersed in the Star Wars phenomenon and decided to go out as arch villain Darth Vader. I knew that anybody who went out dressed as Luke Skywalker just didn't get it. My old neighbor didn't quite get it either, as he dressed up as a pirate. He obviously didn't understand the power of the dark side...

The old costume posts seem to be a hit, so as an added bonus, I received some photos from my mother-in-law to post as well. Here's my wife in a fetching bunny outfit from around the same time. Dig that red shag carpet!