Running With Chainsaws
When it comes to haunted house soundtracks or sound-scapes, we’ve come a long way from Disney’s Chilling Thrilling Sounds of The Haunted House. For years and years, if you wanted background noise for your haunt, or just something to relax with on the hi-fi during dinner, this was your only choice.
Judging by the barrels of Halloween CDs at the local fireworks store-turned Halloween Supply House, many budding sound engineers must have found inspiration in those old recordings. I certainly did. We had an ancient tape recorder that I used to make “haunted house tapes”. It was usually just me ooooooo-ing like a ghost and rattling an old bike chain, but in my mind I explored all my favorite haunt-scapes.
A dripping underground catacomb echoes with rat squeaks, bat flaps, and clicking skeleton bones.
A cemetery high on a windy hill with a huge front gate covered with brush. Ghosts moan among the grave stones and banshees scream from mausoleum rooftops.
A gray room, completely covered in dust. There are two sounds; the wailing wind outside and the irregular “tok… tok tok… tok… tok tok” of the mantle clock.
A maniac chasing a pack of teenagers with a chainsaw. Wait, what?
Okay, I admit it. Every year for as long as I can remember I’ve put together some kind of Halloween CD to give to my friends, but this year I was sick of the same old sweeping swells and griping ghosts. So I went to a different well for one of the tracks. A place where you don’t want to be unless you’re the maniac with the chainsaw.
From Spooky Blue’s 2008 haunt-scape CD “Nightmare At The Fair”, here is Track 5: “Running With Chainsaws”.
[audio:spooky-blue-dot-com-running-with-chainsaws.mp3]
Running With Chainsaws
I realize that I’ve already written my own rebuttal to this, so I suppose that I’m either evolving or sinking down to their level. Whichever is the case, I still like that track.
To prove that we’re no one-trick pony around here, and that deep down inside we’re still somewhat offended by chainsaws, here is our CD title track…
[audio:spooky-blue-dot-com-nightmare-at-the-fair.mp3]
Nightmare At The Fair
God forgive me, and please pass the chain oil.
