HALLOWEEN TAPE REVIEW #17: Night in a Graveyard

 

Title: Night in a Graveyard
Manufacturer: Haunted House Music Co. (Golden Circle Inc.)
Year: 1985
Total Runtime: About 25 Min 
Repeats on both sides: No
Stories: No
Music: A segment called "Midnight Music" that sounds like it's from "Night of the Living Dead."
Narration: No
Distinct Audio: Gremlin laughter
Review: Night in a Graveyard is one of the three Halloween albums released by the "Haunted House Music Co." in 1985. I like to think of it as a non-musical option to its companion, Haunted House, for those times when you feel that music will diminish the experience.

If you've ever read "The Family Circus" you may recall that Bil Keane would turn to his son Billy for cartoons. In that same spirit I invited my eleven-year-old son to help review this tape. As we listened, I jotted down some of his thoughts...

As side one began he was skeptical.
"They really overuse the wind. Pretty sure trees don't do... whatever that is, very much"

Then confusion set in.
"Is that crying, or maniacal laughter?"
"I've never heard a cat make that sound."

As his mind struggled to make sense of the soundscape, he formed a scene.
"Makes me think I'm hiking up a stone staircase, going up a mountain to a cave. Bats are flying out, and witches are inside."

He gave purpose to some random cries.
"Sounds like someone's lost, scared."
Other associations were made.
"Sounds like the ghost host from Disney."

Side two is full of random, individual sound clips that seemed to stoke his imagination.
"Sounds like if dogs were at a play, and they were really not liking it."
"Sound like if a giant were trying to sew, and kept poking his thumb with a needle."
"Sounds like Donald Duck on laughing gas."

Though he's never seen a horror show he understood what the "Midnight Music" is about.
"Sounds like the part in a horror movie where the murderer is in the house creeping around with a knife. Everyone's like, 'Where is he?'"

His final verdict?
"I liked it. it was kind of cool. It had a lot if different things in it... variety."
Rating: "3 or 4 out of 5"


Seeing how these tapes have been playing constantly in our house for weeks on end, I didn't expect him to get spooked. So I was surprised when he was too uneasy to take the recycling bin to the garage (one of his weekly chores) after our listening session. I offered him a flashlight and encouragement, but his solution was to invite our dog along on his dark journey.

Then a few minutes ago he asked me to investigate a face he saw in the ceiling vent. Tonight may be a long night.