October 18, 2006

HALLOWEEN MYSTERY MUSIC

I interrupt this countdown to seek council from you folks out there in internetland. In 1997 I bought one of those cheapie Halloween sound effects CDs at Wal-Mart for like, three bucks. As you can see below it's simply called 55 Minute Horror Sounds and it was produced by Fun World Electronics.

Ninety-nine percent of it is indeed environmental "horror sounds," (which are pretty good actually) but the CD opens with an eerie little synthesizer melody that I've adored since the first time I heard it. You can hear it HERE. (1 meg, right click and 'Save as' to download.)

If you listen closely it sounds like it's been edited at the 35 second mark. Which naturally causes me to wonder if it's from a larger piece of existing music. And so I pose the questions...

Do you recognize this music? (Perhaps as an adaptation of another piece of music, or from some other sound effects/spooky music album, or maybe even a film or TV show.)

I emailed Fun World years ago and got no response. A couple Halloweens ago I heard an even shorter version of the exact same recording on an electronic Jack-O-Lantern. It played as a mechanical ghost popped out of the head. (I don't know if Fun World made it or not.)

Any info would be greatly appreciated. It may be that some intern hammered it out in the Fun World office during his lunch hour, but my hope is that it's from a grand and lengthy opus that I've yet to discover and that's readily downloadable for free.

16 comments:

Dr.Terror said...

It's also on a tape from the 80's I have somewhere. I was suprised one day when I bought this CD and there it was.

It became my friends theme song because he looked like a troll.

I love the apple eating sound effect.

I'll dig out the tape and give it a listen.

HarveyMidnight said...

Sorry, it's nothing I have heard before... BUT, a little hope for ya. At one point near the end, you hear a note start playing, but then it does a kind of stutter, & starts to repeat the theme from the beginning, as it fades out... This sounds to me like somebody stuck an ending onto a song that originally went longer.

Kevin P. Edgecomb said...

What a great little tune! Sorry, I can't help. Do you know any music geeks?

Kirk D. said...

Wow, thanks for the quick response fellas!
Dr. Terror- I'm VERY curious to know if the tune is the same length as the one on your 80s tape. I can't believe you're familiar with it! Well actually I totally can. lol!

harvey- yeah, it definitely sounds monkeyd with!

kevin- Indeed I do (aside from myself of course.) I left a plea over on the scarstuff blog, and if anyone would know they would (as illustrated in Dr. Terror's post)

Thanks again!

Dave said...

It sounds to me like a familiar Midi I've heard somewhere. I'll have to search through my Midid page, and see if i can find it, and what the title is.
Dave

Kirk D. said...

That would be fantastic Dave! Thanks.

Todd Franklin said...

For some reason it kind of reminds me of background music from a mid-80's adventure type video game. With that edit it makes you wonder if the music radically changes and that's why they looped it back to the beginning. What's the knocking sound?

Kirk D. said...

I think the knocking sounds are just part of the "horror effects."
I like that the CD isn't divided into little segments, it's just random effects throughout. The whole CD is actually just one track!

Anonymous said...

"I think the knocking sounds are just part of the horror effects."

Kirk: Having just back from a trip to my small hometown in Arkansas, and seeing some woodpeckers, I convinced the knocking sounds are woodpecker noises. (Other birds and the sound of crickets are heard, too, but are more obvious.)

I couldn't hear any sound of an apple being eaten, Dr. Terror. Betcha it was the woodpecker sound you were hearing.

Just my two cents.

Max the drunken severed head

Jason said...

Rats. It's familiar enough, but I certainly can't fully place it. Looks like you've got a lot of qualified folks on the case though -- good luck to you sir! The world of cheapo cd effect collections is another bottomless pit really, and one that I've barely been able to adequately plunder. That said, it sure seems like this fellow has some good info on the more recent crop.

Kirk D. said...

Max, I'll buy your woodpecker theory.

Jason, thanks for listening, and thanks for the lead. I'll check it out.

Anonymous said...

Well I came up empty. Sorry. I see several of these are for sale on ebay right now.
Dave

Kirk D. said...

Dave, hey, thanks for your time!

Anonymous said...

I know this tune. Its the theme to a level on a mickey mouse sega megadrive game as you are walking up to the spooky castle. The woodpecker sounds are sfx for coffin lids opening which mummies or vampires come out of to attack you

Kirk D. said...

anonymous- no way!
I shall look into this.
thanks for your help!

Dave said...

Dr. Terror mentioned this was on a 1980's cassette, and all the time I had it, and didn't know it. I've shared it this year on my blog HERE. The cassette is the same on both sides, and is only about 23 or 24 minutes long per side. Side #1 & #2 are identical.

Dave