I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: WALT DISNEY-Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House (1964).

Just in time for Halloween, I link to Disney’s 1964 LP Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.

I was unfamiliar with this record, but I gather a lot of people grew up being frightened by this.  The premise is simple–the narrator talks to you, yes you, as you are prepared to be scared by, well, everything you can imagine.  For 26 minutes, various sound effects are designed to scare you.

You go into a haunted house…and never come back.  Although despite the title, that’s all there is of a haunted house.  For there are more things to scare you….

There’s screams and creaks.  Gunpowder and dogs barking. A trip to Mars.

Tree limbs falling, cats going crazy.  A racist Chinese segment.

The back half of the disc is sound effects–I have no idea what that’s supposed to be around 20:49, though.

Basically every fear a kid could have (Disney was quite the sadist, huh?)

I imagine that if you were a kid (in 1964) this could be pretty darn scary.  Enjoy the whole thing…if you dare!

[READ: October 25, 2014] The Dumbest Idea Ever

I was pretty excited to see this book from Jimmy Gownley, creator of Amelia Rules, one of my favorite kids comic books.  I see that the books have been reissued, and that some new ones have been published since I last checked, so I’ll have to look for those.  He also has a new comic strip called Gracieland.

Anyhow, this book is a memoir about Jimmy growing up as a kid obsessed with comic books in a world where comic books were not appreciated (specifically: Catholic School).

It opens with young Jimmy being interviewed on TV–a seeming fantasy for any writer.  But this happens to be true (it’s local TV coverage of this young boy who has self published a comic book).  But before we get ahead of ourselves, we jump back two years earlier.

Jimmy lives in Girardville, PA.  He’s a great basketball player, an excellent student and a budding artist.  Sadly Girardville, PA is not the place for an artist–there’s not even a half way decent art store.  So, Jimmy relies on the few stores that carry comic books as his sole outlet for creative fun.  Even a good student can’t convince his teachers that a comic books is appropriate in school.  He even volunteers to do an oral report on the value of comic books.  He gets an A on the report but is still forbidden from having them in school.

Over the summer, Jimmy becomes even more obsessed with comics.  When he goes to high school, he sees his grades slip because he just doesn’t care that much about grades anymore–there are more important things in life.  He’s still doing great at basketball.  There’s even a girl who thinks he’s kinda cool.

So he decides to finally buckle down (with some new awesome art supplies) and make a comic book.  His first.  It is called Star Lord, and is apparently a melding of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and it is…dreadful.  At least according to his best friend.  He says it is terrible and then offers the titular dumbest idea ever–why doesn’t Jimmy write a comic about them.

And he does.  And it is good.  And his parents decide to help him get it published.  And he is able to sell it around the school (even the Catholic school teachers approve).  And then suddenly he is on TV. And better yet, Ellen, the girl he has been hanging around with, agrees to go out with him.

Of course, being a star on TV (and still being pretty darn good on the basketball team) and having a sweet girlfriend is bound to go to anyone’s head.  And so Jimmy becomes rather insufferable.   Until a trip to New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art puts Jimmy’s skills into real perspective.

Ellen is there to help, but she won’t be for long, as not every story has a happy ending.  Although since this is a memoir and Gownley is a successful artist (with a bunch of great books out), we know there is at least something of a happy ending.

I wonder if he plans to do the next stage of his career too?