Death and Horror

In 1977, the BBC released "Death & Horror" — an album of horror-themed sound effects which (unlike most sound-effect records) made its way onto the UK's Top 100 charts. The entire album is on YouTube, so perhaps some of you might find a use for it this Halloween.



The success of the album attracted a prominent critic. As reported by the Associated Press (Mar 17, 1977):

A new BBC record contains sound effects of a stake being driven through a heart, an arm being sawn off, a hot poker gouging out an eye and other grisly tidbits. Self-appointed decency campaigner Mary Whitehouse says she is "horrified" by it.

She called the record "utterly irresponsible" and said Wednesday she will ask the government to ban it.

The publicly financed British Broadcasting Corp., a generally sedate organization known to many Britons as "Auntie BBC," said the long-playing record was intended for drama groups, owed most of its effects to "the mistreatment of large white cabbages," was made "without the loss of a single member of the staff" and assuredly was no cause for alarm. . .

Mrs. Whitehouse, who has campaigned against stage nudity and pornography such as a proposed film on the sex life of Jesus Christ, sent protests to the head of the BBC, Sir Michael Swann, and said she will complain to Home Secretary Merlyn Rees.

"What is the BBC's aim?" she asked. "To brutalize and desensitize people?"

Mary Whitehouse was a well-known "decency" campaigner. Wikipedia has a long article about her.

Execution And Torture
00:01 The Guillotine
00:10 Arm Chopped Off
00:15 Head Chopped Off
00:22 Sawing Head Off
00:31 Leg Chopped Off
00:38 Neck Twisted And Broken
00:43 Arm Broken
00:49 Stake Driven Through Heart
00:55 Branding Iron On Flesh
01:08 Red Hot Poker Into Eye
01:18 Nails Hammered Into Flesh
01:40 The Scaffold (Trap Opens, Body Falls)
01:50 Sawing Leg Off
02:08 The Firing Squad (Commands And Volley)
02:35 Whipping
03:15 Three Gun Shots
03:27 Burning At The Stake
04:00 Dagger Thrown Into Wood
04:08 Arrows Fired Into Wood
04:20 The Pendulum

Monsters And Animals
04:55 The Mad Gorilla
06:05 Monsters Roaring
06:36 Wolf Howling
06:58 Werewolves Howling
07:22 Wolves Baying At The Moon
08:00 Wolves Howling And Snarling
08:48 The Hell-Hound (Growling And Snarling)
09:28 The Hell-Hound (Panting)
09:48 Bats Calling
10:24 Bats Squeaking And Flying
11:00 Dracula In Flight
11:55 Snake Hissing
12:40 Rattlesnake
12:58 A Cat Howl

Creaking Doors And Grave Digging
13:10 Creaky Door Closes
13:19 Creaky Door Opens
13:28 Creaky Door Closes
13:40 Heavy Creaky Door Opens
13:49 Coffin Lid Closes
13:59 Nailing Coffin Lid Down
14:31 Coffin Lid Opening
14:47 Assorted Creepy Creaks
15:30 Crypt Door Closing
15:45 Grave Digging (In Stoney Ground)
16:36 Grave Digging (In Wet Ground)
17:25 Portcullis Closing
Musical Effects And Footsteps
17:38 Phantom Of The Opera (Organ Sounds)
18:44 Ghostly Piano Sound (Low Pitch)
19:01 Ghostly Piano Sound (Low Pitch)
19:23 Ghostly Piano Sound (Low Pitch)
19:40 Ghostly Piano Sound (High Pitch)
19:51 Ghostly Piano Sound (High Pitch)
20:10 Ghostly Piano Sound (High Pitch)
20:22 The Lost Chord
22:05 A Gong Roll
21:22 Gong Struck Once
21:45 Ghostly Footsteps (With Chains)
22:40 Squelching Footsteps

Vocal Effects And Heartbeats
23:21 Strangulation (Male)
23:35 One Scream (Male)
23:43 Two Screams (Male)
24:00 Three Men Screaming
24:10 Heavy Breathing (Male)
24:45 Two Screams (Female)
24:59 Three Screams (Female)
25:15 One Long Scream (Female)
25:30 Two Women Screaming
25:44 One Woman Sobbing
26:23 Heavy Breathing (Female)
26:55 Lunatics Laughing
27:44 Human Heartbeats
28:25 Electronic Heartbeats
28:57 Frankenstein's Heartbeats

Weather, Atmospheres And Bells
29:35 Three Thunderclaps
30:15 Thunderclaps And Rain
30:54 Approaching Thunder
31:15 Rain And Distant Thunder
32:31 Heavy Rain
33:25 Eerie Wind
34:29 Weird Wind
35:23 Cathedral Bell Tolling
35:52 Church Bell Tolling
36:28 Church Bell Tolling In The Wind
37:15 Wind Howling In Ship's Rigging
38:02 Jungle At Night
38:43 Tropical Atmosphere At Night
39:23 The Electronic Swamp
40:44 Dr. Jekyll's Lab
41:23 Midnight In The Graveyard
43:30 Daytime In The Graveyard
44:35 The Chinese Water Torture
45:39 Boiling Oil
     Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 29, 2021
     Category: Horror | 1970s | Halloween | Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults





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