RENFIELD'S RECORD RACK.

There have been hundreds...nay, thousands of records with a spooky theme made in the last century. After I cleared all the rats away, I made a search through this fellow's dungeon lair and came up with some rare platters that would put us all in the proper Halloween mood. From time to time this month, I'll dip once more into the ratty record collection for the choicest chilling sounds. So here is some rare wax direct from Renfield's record collection. 1967 saw the release of "AN EVENING WITH BORIS KARLOFF AND FRIENDS" featuring the King of Horror, Boris Karloff, "reminiscing" about some of his favourite old monsters -- as they appeared in the classic Universal horror movies of the 30's and 40's. Also heard are sound clips from such films as DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE WOLF MAN and the rest. Unhappy with the script given to him, Boris was given a NEW script written by Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman. The result is a fun (if short) LP which is something like a tour of the King of Horror's neighbourhood. Here we see, at the actual recording session, the record's producers Verne Langdon and Milt Larsen on either end while Boris and Forrest J. Ackerman stand in the middle. Says Boris at the record's introduction: "Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, ghosts, mummies that come back to life after 3,000 years. . . Can such things be? Well, I've spent a lifetime doing my best to persuade you, at least for an hour or two in a darkened theatre, that there are things that go bump in the night and raise a lump in your throat; a hard knot of terror. A number of my fellow actors (Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Miss Elsa Lanchester, to name only a few) have helped me in this persuasion. And in this record it is my pleasure to share with you memorable passages of dialogue from scenes which film historians have come to regard as classics of terror." It's hard to believe Uncle Forry wrote this script; considering how "pun-free" it is! Naturally, the album is not available on CD -- but for fly-eating maniacs like Renfield it wasn't difficult to obtain a copy. What a great record to get the blood flowing on a windy Halloween eve. I wonder what other devilish discs Renfield has to spin for us this Rocktober?!?