"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.

 

"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!

   

"Chamber of Horrors" Cassette

Christmas comes a bit early to Highbury Cemetery this year! Presenting a very special Freebie Friday from a newly rediscovered gem from the depths of the garage...

While I was cleaning and organizing my garage after another wet, yet successful Halloween, I stumbled upon an old, single speaker radio/cassette player. After blowing years' worth of sawdust and cobwebs off, I inspected the old radio, remembering how I used to use it in the early, early days of my home haunt. While reminiscing, my eye caught something on the front of the radio. More specifically, something in the tape deck. I did a double-take as I quickly realized what it was. It was a cassette!

But not just any cassette...

It was my old "Chamber of Horrors" Halloween cassette! Voices. Sound. Music! I couldn't believe that I had found it. And I couldn't believe that I had forgotten it. It must have been hidden away in my garage, enduring at least 7 years' worth of cold winters and hot summers. And it appeared to still be in good condition.

We used this cassette as our haunt soundtrack in the early days, some 10 years ago or more. And we used to play it through that old, dusty one-speaker cassette player. That thought alone made me chuckle. It really showed how far we have come.

After getting nostalgic, I brought the tape into the house and quickly connected an old cassette deck to my current stereo setup. And nothing. No sound. No movement. The deck was dead.

Two weeks later, I procured another cassette deck from my mother-in-law and quickly hooked it up to the stereo. Same thing. Totally dead. I was completely striking out. Two cassette decks and nothing. Perhaps the tape was cursed?

Amazingly, I did a search on Amazon and found an incredibly cheap (cost and construction!) Cassette-to-USB tape player and two days later, had it hooked up to the computer, ready to try its luck with the tape. I put it in the player and hit play...

The speakers sprung to life, playing the sweet sounds of the old cassette, filing my mind with the classic haunt sounds from this masterpiece. Hearing those old haunt sounds again brought a big smile to my face.

As I listened to the tape, I started researching it, as I knew nothing about the age or the origin of it. And that is where things get kind of interesting.

Do a Google or YouTube search for "Chamber of Horrors" and you will undoubtedly find many entries on the 1988 version of this cassette. And I quickly found out that this version (with a different sticker label on the cassette itself) is actually awful. Generic voices and quick audio clips from popular songs (Thriller) and standard scary sound tracks. How many times is that guy going to say, "Haaaappy Halloweeeen!"??

Take a listen for yourself to see what I mean:

So after some extensive searching, I found NOTHING on this particular version of the cassette. The audio on my version is completely different, with more scary ambient Halloween sound effects. The audio actually repeats on both sides, but far outshines the more common version. My version doesn't have the 1988 copyright date, but does have the same "Made in China for ©Tony (U.S.A.) Encinitas, CA. 92024" disclaimer at the bottom.

I did a quick search for Tony (U.S.A.), and found that they are in the "Doll, Toy and Game Industry" and employ a total of 7 people. Not much to go on. My guess is that they simply licensed things like these cassettes in bulk. I vaguely remember getting mine at some point at some local discount store. With the "NEW" burst on my cassette, I'd be willing to bet that this version was released a bit later. I used it in the late 90s early 2000s for my haunt.

Either way, I find this version a far superior version to the 1988 original. And that is why I ripped it and am sharing it with all of you. This tape holds a special place in my cold, dead heart and it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. If anyone knows anything about this version, feel free to drop the info in the comments below. I'd love to find out more about this particular version of the Halloween classic. When I have a free minute, I'll also post the audio to YouTube to see if anyone there knows anything about it. But until then, enjoy this version...


DOWNLOAD "CHAMBER OF HORRORS" HERE.


Merry Christmas from Highbury Cemetery and...

..."Haaaappy Halloweeeen!"