Martha Stewart Living: Spooky Scary Sounds for Halloween

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 5, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 5, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00004WJ6F
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,585 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #63 in

  Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Halloween

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Martha Stewart's sonic spookathon bodes well for her new alliance with Rhino Records. The 40-minute, single-track CD steals the Halloween thunder from tired, hokey hits such as "The Monster Mash" and leaves you scratching your head over why such a masterful menagerie of menacing sounds didn't hit the market sooner. Trick-or-treaters of timid stock will want to steer clear of doorsteps fraught with Stewart's frightful cacophony. From the unmistakable scrape of knives being sharpened to the rattling clang of rusty chains, what's here is perfect for goose bumps. A laugh so sinister that it could only issue from the larynx of a lunatic comes near a witchy cackle, howling winds, thumping human heartbeats, and the hair-raising rustling of branches. This is not for scaredy cats (nor for most kids under 6), but it's apt to play a sizable part in serving up a well-deserved scare to those in search of an authentic case of Halloween creeps. That's not to say this record will suit the needs of every Halloween host, though. The mix of movie-quality sounds isn't varied enough to keep from getting monotonous at parties, so it makes most sense to play this during high-traffic, quick-stop scenarios, such as candy dispersal to a steady stream of neighborhood ghouls. As a bonus, the indefatigable Stewart includes a booklet of Halloween how-to instructions, putting perfect caramel apples and just-so pumpkin-carving parties within crafty revelers' reach. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bit of a Martha let-down, really..., July 31, 2001

By	J. Williamson "Spotty Logic" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a fan of Martha, and I *love* Halloween music. When I heard she made a halloween album it was "get out the credit card and call Amazon" time. But this album was a disappointment--I'm going to assume Martha didn't actually design this, but just signed off on it, to maintain my faith in her.

The sound quality is good--very crisp recording of ambient halloween noise. It's fine for background music for the trick-or-treaters. But for any other use it's flawed. There's only a single, album-length track, so no putting this one on "shuffle" for your Halloween party. The sounds repeat, so after 20 minutes of this, you start getting deja vu. And there aren't even "themes" in the album--no plots, which some of the more elaborate halloween SFX albums have (this is the "torture chamber piece," this is "Alone by gaslight stalked by Jack the Ripper..."

I'm going to wait for an apology from Martha on this one.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spine tingling!, September 21, 2000

By	Holly Liedtke (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

I had hoped this CD would contain the great sound clips I've heard on Martha's show during the Halloween projects, but I was not disappointed. The sound effects are elegant and eerie, not gory and stomach churning as so often is the case. My favorites are owls hooting accompanied by far off thunder, and an old clock chiming. There are plenty of cackles and chains. The combined effect is of walking through the scariest forest imaginable on the scariest night (Halloween, of course!). My only complaint is that it contains the same 5 minutes repeated over and over.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could've, Should've Been Much Better, November 2, 2001

By A Customer

This 40 minute CD is a single track with various witch cackles, laughs, owls, clock tickings and heartbeats. The sounds are original and not ripped from other sources, and they are good.
The sound mixing is also well done. But what you get is the same 5 minutes looped over and over and over again. If this CD makes you feel like you're walking in a dark forest alone, you must be
walking in circles. Make that *small circles*. Given the price of about ..., you'd expect a lot more.
Another problem with the CD is that some sections have thumping heartbeats for 30 seconds (not in ... sound sample). If you play this on a boombox it will sound awful. Don't buy this CD unless you plan to put it on a full home stereo with big woofers.
Since trick-or-treaters will only be passing by for a moment or
two, this CD is adequate for most home Halloween needs. But given
the stiff price and what else exists out there, it is not a good
value.