Two of my favorite childhood records were an LP of the music from Disney's Haunted Mansion, and a cheap LP called Thrilling, Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House. The former was primarily organ music — predictable selections like JSB's Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor — and a handful of melodies from the amusement ride itself. The latter was a split personality affair, with the A-side composed of sound effect tracks — wolves howling, creaking floors, and the like — while the flip side told brief stories using the same effects. I remember one in particular disturbed me, a tale of astronauts landing on Mars and being devoured by the Martians; it featured the crunch of celery stalks to represent the snapping of bones by strong alien teeth.

While both records vanished at some point in the past 35 years, thanks to the wonders of the Internet (and Amazon), I can slake my desire for aural terror with abandon. Here are links to a few choice compilations and sites.

• Oddio Overplay has put together some of the best Hallowe'en compilations I've found. The real treat, though, is that they are free to download. This year's offering is Calling All Fiends; previous releases include Munsterbeat and distributed Otis Fodder's two-volume Ghouls With Attitude.
• WFMU always delivers the goods, and even more so on Hallowe'en. This post has more links that I'm willing to copy and paste, all pure spooky delight.
• And even though I got the link from WFMU, I want to draw special attention to the absolutely fantastic Scar Stuff. Jason collects, rips, and distributes classic spooky LPs of the past, as is evidenced by the impressive collection on this page. A few highlights would include these: a quasi-ethno-musicologist recording of Haitian voudon ceremonies; Vincent Price reading various spooky stories; or an evening with Boris Karloff. Don't miss his Hallowe'en mixes, either!
• Lastly, although it is a time-sensitive link, This American Life has a Hallowe'en episode well worth a listen.

I've always though that audio serves the imagination better than video. Perhaps with these samples you'll agree.