Tale Spinners for Children

There is nothing as exciting for us as discovering something "new"..... and luckily, this thrill comes weekly. After finding that certain something special, the next best feeling is sharing it. So this week, we have something special to share with you: the Tale Spinners series. 

If you enjoy audio books, then you will enjoy these (even though they are aimed at children), especially since the production quality of these albums are so much better than an audiobook. 

Tale Spinners for Children began in England in 1959 as a series of 30 records from the Atlas Record Label each featuring a story for children. The stories were classics and the actors/actresses reading them were usually classically-trained actors with rich and melodic voices such as Denise Bryer, Robert Hardy, Maggie Smith, Donald Pleasence or William Devlin. As lovely as it is listening to these actors, they were always supported by a full orchestra playing background music (once again, classically based) and a cast of other actors each reading the different parts. 

Listening to a Tale Spinners album feels like listening to a radio show but one featuring classic novels... how wonderful is that! 

After the success of the series in England, United Artists brought the Tale Spinners to the American market and pressed 69 different titles (!) including Robinson Crusoe, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Snow White, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Swiss Family Robinson, Peter Pan, Davy Crockett, and Don Quixote. 

The Tale Spinners series continued until the early 1970s. New titles were no longer released but the series was re-issued up until the mid-1980s. Today, many of these albums appear quite frequently on eBay and several are available on Youtube, a few of which we have linked to below. 

Enjoy! 

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (c 1963)

Robin Hood (c1964)

Knights of the Round Table (c 1963)

Treasure Island (c1962)

The Mikado (c1963)

William Tell (c1962)

Tom Thumb (c1969)

Rewind Review: The Witch's Tale Radio Series (1931-1938)

"Draw up to the fire and gaze into the embers as I tell you a hearty tale that will boil your blood..."

Old Nancy the witch knew how to tell a good ghost yarn. At over 107 years old ( and aging fast ) she certainly had plenty of years to practice her art of story-telling. Each week, for seven years, she gathered her listeners close to her via radio waves and cackled tales of mystery and horror to send chills running up their spine. 

The old "Witch of Salem", as she was affectionately called, played host of The Witch's Hour, one of New York's most beloved horror programs, between May 21, 1931 and June 13, 1938 on WOR, the Mutual Radio Network. The series was created by Alonzo Deen Cole who not only wrote and directed each episode but also provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat Satan. His wife Marie O'Flynn also took part acting in many of the episodes as the female lead. 

Originally stage-actress Adelaine Fitz-Allen voiced old Nancy but after she passed on at the age of 79 she was replaced by 13-year old Miriam Wolfe....who did just as good a job!

What made The Witch's Hour so engrossing was the clever story lines and the quality of the programs. Each episode was well-acted and utilized convincing sound effects that gave the series its extra dose of creepiness. 

Unfortunately, only about 50 episodes of the program still exist today since many of the original recordings, which were performed live during broadcast, were destroyed by Cole in 1961. All of the surviving episodes could be heard at the Relic Radio website or through Old Time Radio. 

Since today is Halloween and tonight is the witching hour, be sure to tune into some of these programs, and for a sample, here for your listening pleasure are....

FIVE EERIE CLASSICS 

The Haunted Crossroads ( 1933 ) 

An invisible woman has stabbed a policeman in the back at an isolated crossroads. A stabbing like this has happened before, and will soon happen again.

 
Graveyard Mansion ( 1934 ) 

Two brothers inherit a suspicious old house in Louisiana and meet a beautiful woman who's been dead for one hundred years! Are there vampires within the mansion? A ghost perhaps?

The Wonderful Bottle ( 1934 ) 

A couple of young American lads in Argentina meet an old Spaniard who sells them a magic bottle that grants its owners every wish. That bottle was made by the devil and anyone who owns it must get rid of it before he dies or he will burn in hell’s fire forever!

The Devil Mask ( 1935 ) 

A wife is concerned about her husband's disrespect of African ways and so asks a witch doctor to boom on the drums a ceremonial chant to keep the devil away during the trip back to England.

The Priest of Sekhet ( 1936 ) 

A young British archaeologist becomes trapped in an ancient tomb, along with a dead priest from ancient Egypt. After his rescue, the archaeologist undergoes a strange change of character.

This is a Rewind Review post dating from Halloween 2016. 

The Price of Fear - BBC Radio Serial

In July 1973, BBC Radio aired "Remains to be Seen", the first episode of The Price of Fear, a newly written radio series that featured the voice of the master of macabre - Vincent Price. 

This late-night horror anthology serial featured 30-minute tales of spine-tingling drama penned by some of the most popular authors of the day. Each episode was introduced with a shrill violin theme followed by Price's euphonious voice welcoming listeners with "Hello, there..."

John Dyas, the producer of the series, was good friends with Vincent Price and his wife Coral Browne and came up with the idea of having Price host a radio series that would echo the classic horror programs of the 1930s and 1940s. "Merely to cast Vincent as narrator would have been all too easy," says Dyas. "My intention was to make the series far more personalized, to involve Vincent in the action, to make him a participant, even a helpless onlooker of the dreadful events we would concoct for him."*

Vincent Price loved the concept and embraced the opportunity to work in radio again. Beginning in 1936, Price had a long career in the medium and was featured in nearly 1000 episodes ranging from suspense programs like Escape and Suspense, to dramas such as Lux Radio Theatre, to guest appearances in comedies such as The Jack Benny Show. Price is probably known for being the voice of The Saint between 1947-1949. 

BBC initially aired five episodes of The Price of Fear nightly in the summer of 1973 and these proved to be so popular that an additional five stories were ordered for the fall season. The series continued in 1974 and 1975 and then was brought back in 1983, this time with Price acting solely as a narrator. 

The first-episode cast gathering during a break: Mervyn Johns, William Ingram, Diana Bishop, Robin Browne, Avril Angers, Vincent Price, Clive Swift, and Michael Gwynne. 

The series was delightfully eerie and Price injected his own tongue-in-cheek humor into the narrative which made them doubly enjoyable. The stories were also unique because of the writing talent involved. Science-fiction and detective novelists like Robert Arthur, Charles Birken, William Ingram, and Stanley Ellin all helped contribute highly imaginative stories of phantom encounters, bizarre love triangles, and spooky tales of revenge. 

Listeners with keen ears will recognize the voices of some of the actors, many of whom were popular in British television. 

Below are three episodes from The Price of Fear. To listen to all 22 episodes and to read more behind-the-scenes info about this series, check out The Sound of Vincent Price website. 

Lot 132 ( 10/6/73 )

Price sells a portrait of Nathaniel Blackwell that he purchased at an auction to a friend who then ax-murders his family! Before he can regain the painting it is sold again and Vincent worries that he may not be able to track it down before another murder occurs. 

The Waxwork ( 10/13/73 )

Price recalls the time he met writer Raymond Hewson, who died under mysterious circumstances while spending the night in a Baker Street waxworks museum.

Specialty of the House ( 4/13/74 )

Vincent Price has a fondness for Lamb Amirstan, the "specialty of the house" at Sbirros, an exclusive New York restaurant. Is it just a coincidence that every time this dish is served one of the restaurant's regular customers disappears? 

* From an article by Peter Fuller, published on The Sound of Vincent Price.

This post is part of The Vincent Price Blogathon being hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis. Click here to read more articles about Vincent Price - Enjoy! 

The Witch's Tale ( 1931 - 1938 ) Radio Series

"Draw up to the fire and gaze into the embers as I tell you a hearty tale that will boil your blood..."

Old Nancy the witch knew how to tell a good ghost yarn. At over 107 years old ( and aging fast ) she certainly had plenty of years to practice her art of story-telling. Each week, for seven years, she gathered her listeners close to her via radio waves and cackled tales of mystery and horror to send chills running up their spine. 

The old "Witch of Salem", as she was affectionately called, played host of The Witch's Hour, one of New York's most beloved horror programs, between May 21, 1931 and June 13, 1938 on WOR, the Mutual Radio Network. The series was created by Alonzo Deen Cole who not only wrote and directed each episode but also provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat Satan. His wife Marie O'Flynn also took part acting in many of the episodes as the female lead. 

Originally stage-actress Adelaine Fitz-Allen voiced old Nancy but after she passed on at the age of 79 she was replaced by 13-year old Miriam Wolfe....who did just as good a job!

What made The Witch's Hour so engrossing was the clever story lines and the quality of the programs. Each episode was well-acted and utilized convincing sound effects that gave the series its extra dose of creepiness. 

Unfortunately, only about 50 episodes of the program still exist today since many of the original recordings, which were performed live during broadcast, were destroyed by Cole in 1961. All of the surviving episodes could be heard at the Relic Radio website or through Old Time Radio. 

Since today is Halloween and tonight is the witching hour, be sure to tune into some of these programs, and for a sample, here for your listening pleasure are....

FIVE EERIE CLASSICS 

The Haunted Crossroads ( 1933 ) 

An invisible woman has stabbed a policeman in the back at an isolated crossroads. A stabbing like this has happened before, and will soon happen again.

 
Graveyard Mansion ( 1934 ) 

Two brothers inherit a suspicious old house in Louisiana and meet a beautiful woman who's been dead for one hundred years! Are there vampires within the mansion? A ghost perhaps?

The Wonderful Bottle ( 1934 ) 

A couple of young American lads in Argentina meet an old Spaniard who sells them a magic bottle that grants its owners every wish. That bottle was made by the devil and anyone who owns it must get rid of it before he dies or he will burn in hell’s fire forever!

The Devil Mask ( 1935 ) 

A wife is concerned about her husband's disrespect of African ways and so asks a witch doctor to boom on the drums a ceremonial chant to keep the devil away during the trip back to England.

The Priest of Sekhet ( 1936 ) 

A young British archaeologist becomes trapped in an ancient tomb, along with a dead priest from ancient Egypt. After his rescue, the archaeologist undergoes a strange change of character.