William Conrad — Spirits And Spooks For Halloween 👻 🎃
Description: TALES OF THE SONIC VOYAGE PRESENTS
WILLIAM CONRAD — SPIRITS AND SPOOKS FOR HALLOWE’EN
Summoned Up by William Conrad (1973)
Hello, my fellow travelers. For this stop on our October journey, we’re settling in with a voice that many of you will recognize before you can quite remember where you heard it.
William Conrad is our storyteller tonight, and he’s brought along a gathering of witches, ghosts and strange visitors to keep us company.
Conrad belonged to that remarkable generation of performers who could create an entire world through a microphone. He was the original Marshal Matt Dillon on radio’s Gunsmoke, narrated The Fugitive and brought his unmistakable delivery to Rocky and Bullwinkle. Television audiences also knew him as the private detective in Cannon. Whether he was telling a joke, introducing a mystery or playing someone you probably shouldn’t trust, that deep, resonant voice commanded attention.
Released by Caedmon Records in 1973, Spirits and Spooks for Hallowe’en brings that voice into a collection of supernatural poetry and traditional storytelling. Caedmon helped establish spoken-word records as something worth sitting down and listening to, and this album fits beautifully into that tradition: a storyteller, a collection of curious tales and an invitation to let your imagination do some of the work.
There’s an old-fashioned Halloween feeling here that I enjoy bringing into our October listening. The cover practically invites us into a costume party, with Conrad holding a glowing pumpkin while an assortment of creatures gathers around him. Leo and Diane Dillon created that wonderfully colorful artwork, giving the record a welcoming face with just enough mischief lurking behind it.
The selections move between short verses and longer tales, drawing on the sort of folklore people passed along long before anyone could record it. Much of the material comes from English and Scottish traditions, while “Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch” takes us into a West African folktale. That variety gives the collection its character: different places, different voices from the past, and the familiar human pleasure of wondering what might be waiting beyond the firelight.
For those of us who love radio mysteries and spoken-word recordings, an album like this belongs right alongside our musical discoveries. A well-told story can hold a room just as surely as a song. Tonight, we’re giving William Conrad the floor and letting these older Halloween tales have their turn.
ARTISTS AND CREDITS
William Conrad — Narration and spoken-word readings.
Leo and Diane Dillon — Cover artwork.
COMPLETE TRACKLIST
1 — The Merry Night of Halloween
2 — The Ghost’s Song
3 — Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch
4 — The Hag
5 — The Secret Commonwealth
6 — The Horny-goloch
7 — How a Witch Tried to Kill a King
8 — Suppose You Met a Witch
9 — The Strange Visitor
All rights to this recording and its artwork belong to their respective rights holders. If you enjoy what you hear, please support the artists’ work through available authorized releases and help keep these recordings and the tradition of spoken storytelling alive.
Thank you for listening, watching, liking, sharing and subscribing to Tales of the Sonic Voyage.
I appreciate everyone who spends part of their October here with us, whether you’re discovering these recordings for the first time or returning to something you remember from years ago.
Turn the lights down, get comfortable and enjoy the stories. We still have plenty of October ahead of us—and plenty more waiting in the dark. Close description
WILLIAM CONRAD — SPIRITS AND SPOOKS FOR HALLOWE’EN
Summoned Up by William Conrad (1973)
Hello, my fellow travelers. For this stop on our October journey, we’re settling in with a voice that many of you will recognize before you can quite remember where you heard it.
William Conrad is our storyteller tonight, and he’s brought along a gathering of witches, ghosts and strange visitors to keep us company.
Conrad belonged to that remarkable generation of performers who could create an entire world through a microphone. He was the original Marshal Matt Dillon on radio’s Gunsmoke, narrated The Fugitive and brought his unmistakable delivery to Rocky and Bullwinkle. Television audiences also knew him as the private detective in Cannon. Whether he was telling a joke, introducing a mystery or playing someone you probably shouldn’t trust, that deep, resonant voice commanded attention.
Released by Caedmon Records in 1973, Spirits and Spooks for Hallowe’en brings that voice into a collection of supernatural poetry and traditional storytelling. Caedmon helped establish spoken-word records as something worth sitting down and listening to, and this album fits beautifully into that tradition: a storyteller, a collection of curious tales and an invitation to let your imagination do some of the work.
There’s an old-fashioned Halloween feeling here that I enjoy bringing into our October listening. The cover practically invites us into a costume party, with Conrad holding a glowing pumpkin while an assortment of creatures gathers around him. Leo and Diane Dillon created that wonderfully colorful artwork, giving the record a welcoming face with just enough mischief lurking behind it.
The selections move between short verses and longer tales, drawing on the sort of folklore people passed along long before anyone could record it. Much of the material comes from English and Scottish traditions, while “Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch” takes us into a West African folktale. That variety gives the collection its character: different places, different voices from the past, and the familiar human pleasure of wondering what might be waiting beyond the firelight.
For those of us who love radio mysteries and spoken-word recordings, an album like this belongs right alongside our musical discoveries. A well-told story can hold a room just as surely as a song. Tonight, we’re giving William Conrad the floor and letting these older Halloween tales have their turn.
ARTISTS AND CREDITS
William Conrad — Narration and spoken-word readings.
Leo and Diane Dillon — Cover artwork.
COMPLETE TRACKLIST
1 — The Merry Night of Halloween
2 — The Ghost’s Song
3 — Fereyel and Debbo Engal the Witch
4 — The Hag
5 — The Secret Commonwealth
6 — The Horny-goloch
7 — How a Witch Tried to Kill a King
8 — Suppose You Met a Witch
9 — The Strange Visitor
All rights to this recording and its artwork belong to their respective rights holders. If you enjoy what you hear, please support the artists’ work through available authorized releases and help keep these recordings and the tradition of spoken storytelling alive.
Thank you for listening, watching, liking, sharing and subscribing to Tales of the Sonic Voyage.
I appreciate everyone who spends part of their October here with us, whether you’re discovering these recordings for the first time or returning to something you remember from years ago.
Turn the lights down, get comfortable and enjoy the stories. We still have plenty of October ahead of us—and plenty more waiting in the dark. Close description