Reasoning that it must be seals or something, no one goes out into the maelstrom to investigate. It concerns a family who hears what sounds like a baby crying outside during a terrible storm. "The Cradle" is possibly my favorite of them all. The best story here, though, is "The Cradle That Rocked by Itself." I mentioned Maria Leach earlier in the article, and I cannot overstate what an excellent job she did compiling and retelling spooky tales from all over the globe during her career. They're all breezy and fun to read, and even the weakest of them has a certain charm. Wells, which serves as an incredible exercise in extracting maximum suspense from the most basic setup: a dark, candlelit room in a spooky house. There's the so-so "The Devil's Pocket," about two boys who hang out in a quarry their parents have forbidden them from approaching the comical "The Ghost Catcher," a goofy tale of spectral deception from India and the masterful "The Red Room," abridged from a longer story by none other than sci-fi legend H.G. The other four stories here vary in quality. As an added bonus, the one here continues wailing as it rolls across the floor! It's a real treat for decapitation aficionados. The details between the versions are different, but the payoff is just the same: a woman's head falls off. It's a classic tale that can be found in many such collections of horror folklore, such as In A Dark, Dark Room, which I referenced earlier but have helpfully linked to my article about once again. The art above is from "The Velvet Ribbon," which is one of the most famous stories here and was wisely selected for the record. Turns out the way to make a picture of a dead child even more disturbing is to make it kind of look like said child drew it. The bleak saga of a shipwreck that claims the life of a young girl and her father because the father in question is a prideful moron is made all the more disturbing by its somewhat basic, juvenile illustration. For example, take the case of The Wreck of the Hesperus, a poem so grim and depressing that it makes Upton Sinclair's The Jungle seem like The Berenstain Bears Learn to Embrace Communism. It does, however, effectively convey a certain mood, and at times somehow manages to make a story much more creepy by its contrasting playfulness. The competent, cartoony illustrations are a far cry from Scary Stories' sanguine, betendriled nightmare visions, having more in common with In a Dark, Dark Room's youngster-friendly relative zaniness. Speaking of artwork, let's address The Haunted House's. One thing, though.I've seen bats, we've all seen bats, and if Roethke thinks bats have a human face, he should probably get his eyes checked, because from the sounds of it he's blind as a.well, you know. An d now you can hear it too, thanks to the magic of Youtube! It was a brief but spellbinding experience (you don't get a lot of auditory mileage out of 7" vinyl). The record's natural pops and snaps evoked the eerie ambiance of sitting fireside, listening to ghost stories and peering out into the darkness, wondering what lurked there watching you back. Well, the vast majority was poetry, really, but that's how you knew this stuff was classy. It was like nothing I had ever heard before: the soft, haunting voices of a man and woman alternating recitations of classic horror poetry and prose. We listened to it together, and I was entranced. You see, at some point during my childhood, my mother bequeathed unto me the sweet vinyl pictured above, mentioning that it was a scary record she used to enjoy in her childhood. In fact, for years I didn't even know it was an actual book. I was introduced to The Haunted House long before I ever read it. And then there's this curious little number: 1970's Scholastic release The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales. Maria Leach, for example, had been doing an excellent job laying the groundwork for macabre collections to come in her compendiums of chilling folklore like Whistle in the Graveyard. But Alvin Schwartz was not the only author to produce collections of scary stories for younger audiences, and he certainly wasn't the first. I've spilled a lot of virtual ink in my numerous online missives about scary stories, particularly Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and its two sequels.
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