Title: Haunted Horror: Terror on Tape
Manufacturer: LHL Productions
Year: 1980
Total Runtime: 60 Min
Repeats on both sides: No (But it may loop at some point)
Stories: No
Music: Opens with ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” and organ music is
scattered throughout. In places there’s some synth that sounds like the end of
Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle.”
Narration: No
Distinct Audio: They throw a cooing baby into the mix several times.
Review: While the 1970s offered a slew of Halloween sounds on vinyl,
Haunted Horror: Terror on Tape was ahead of the scary cassette biz which didn't
get crowded until about 1987. Terror on Tape seems to be designed to take
advantage of its format. In a world before the “repeat” button the owner could
forget about it for a half hour at a time. This was the workhorse you needed
when your attention was focused on personalized porch scares. The downside to its length is
that there are a lot of recurring effects.
The recording creates an atmosphere that’s broad and consistent. So your
victims won’t encounter corny dialogue, or detracting scenes of say, cat torture
that can ruin the tension. The theme weaving it all together is chaos. It's strongest when the soundscape is frantic and unexpected, although sometimes things get overloaded, as
if someone sat on the soundboard. There’s plenty to catch the listener off
guard. Is that an acid bath? What sort of thing just attacked her? Do I hear a
happy infant in a ghoul-infested graveyard? There are some effects that are
completely unidentifiable, but I consider that an added feature.
The typeface on the cassette is a thing of beauty. I don't even care that they
may have lifted the style from The Haunted Mansion story album. Also beautiful
is this promotional image that we can enjoy thanks to the Sweet Skulls blog...
Rating: Cassette-4 of 5, Promotional art- 5 of 5
7 comments:
I went ahead and listened to this alone. So far, i'm okay......
Rest In Peace John.
I haven't heard the YT clip yet, but I'm almost certain my family had this tape. It scared me to death! I wouldn't be in the same room when it played (much to the amusement of my siblings).
Haunted sounds with a cooing infant mixed in. That's a first for me. And that baby sounds happy.
I can give you a few ideas where some of the sounds come from. A lot of them sound like they came from the 1979 Disney Haunted House record. Also, the synthesized music that shows up now and then is this piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3vk4hkLMSA
Nice catch with the Jean-Michel Jarre piece! I wonder if
they got permission to use it.
Some of the flute music in Haunted Horror comes from this record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-qs9vc6XUM
These are great tips! Thanks for demystifying these just a little bit more!
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