Boris Karloff - Tales of the Frightened Volumes 1 & 2 (1963)

I present to you two classic volumes of ghost stories narrated by Boris Karloff for your listening pleasure. There is actually a lengthy tale behind how these recordings came to be, but I'll do my best to summarize the story for you. Apparently sometime in the late '50s/early '60s there was a syndicated radio feature titled "The Frightened", which didn't really get off the ground. No one seems to know exactly how many episodes of this series were broadcast, and none of the original recordings exist. The radio viginettes were written by Michael Avallone and read by Boris Karloff. A magazine of the same name served as a tie-in, with each issue containing one of the viginettes Years later these stories were published in a paperback format entitled "Tales of the Frightened". That same year Mercury Records released two volumes of Karloff reading these stories as a phonograph record.

These recordings are considered by many collectors to be among the best ghost story albums from this time. Karloff does a masterful job of narrating, creating an eery atmosphere that few others could match. Someone on a forum I frequent wrote: "He has a reassuring, grandfatherly quality, but manages to come across as foreboding at the same time." These stories aren't designed to scare the living hell out of you, opting more for the "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits" approach.

Electronic music can faintly be heard in the background. The music in question is a slowed down, heavily distorted version of "Song of the Second Moon" by Tom Dissvelt and Kid Baltan. It was released on The Elektrosonics' 1957 album "Electronic Music". Several of the stories also feature sound effects, such as screams, rattling chains, clock chimes and ticking, footsteps on creaking floorboards, which add to the overall atmosphere of the album.

I have a few more albums of ghost stories and spooky tales, as well as a few sound effects albums. It's been almost two years since I posted anything like this, so I can't recall how well these went over at the time. Please let me know if you would like to see more of this type of thing, or if you would prefer that I stick with the music.

Year of Release: 1963
Label: Mercury (MG 20815 / MG 20816)
Genre: Ghost Stories / Spoken Word
Bitrate: 192kbps

Tracklist:

Volume 1:
1. The Man in the Raincoat
2. The Deadly Dress
3. The Hand of Fate
4. Don't Lose Your Head
5. Call At Midnight
6. Just Inside the Cemetary
7. The Fortune Teller

Volume 2
1. The Vampire Sleeps
2. Mirror of Death
3. Never Kick A Black Cat
4. The Ladder
5. Nightmare
6. Voice From The Grave

Download: Boris Karloff - Tales of the Frightened Volume 1
Download Size: 46MB

Download: Boris Karloff - Tales of the Frightened Volume 2
Download Size: 41MB