“Welcome to the world of witchcraft, to the world of magic. Magic — the very world is magic.”
So begins this great collection of stories and lectures on witchcraft and the occult by suave cinema spook Vincent Price. The actor’s LP recording Witchcraft-Magic: An Adventure in Demonology was released in 1969 and its track list is to die for:
1. Prologue – The Tale of Master Seth
2. Hitler and Witchcraft – Witchcraft in History
3. Women as Witches – Witch Burning
4. Witch Tortures
5. Witch Tortures (continued) – The World of Spirits and Demons
6. Preparation for Magic – Instruments of Magic
7. How to Invoke Spirits, Demons, Unseen Forces – The Magic Bloodstone
8. The Witches’ Cauldron – How to Communicate with the Spirits
9. How to Communicate with the Spirits (continued) – Gerald Yorke and Necromancy
10. How to Make a Pact with the Devil – How to Become a Witch
11. Curses, Spells, Charms
12. Curses, Spells, Charms (continued) – Potions
13. The Hand of Glory – The Witches’ Sabbat
14. Witchcraft Today – Epilogue
Here’s the word from the Record Fiend…
Even though it isn’t a Halloween record per se, this two-LP set – billed as “The Secrets of Witchcraft & Magic Revealed by Vincent Price, Distinguished Actor & Demonologist” – is probably creepier than anything else that was marketed as a horror album. If you have nosy, ignorant neighbors, you might want to keep the volume down when playing this lest they think you’re preparing for a Satanic sacrifice or some other supernatural activity. Obviously, the producer of this project, Roger Karshner, could not have selected a more suitable narrator than Vincent Price, whose oratory skills and knowledge of the occult made him a perfect choice. In addition to his articulate Transatlantic-accented commentary, this album employs Douglas Leedy’s primitive synthesizer work to create sounds such as bubbling cauldrons, howling winds, and other atmospheric effects. (There are sections wherein he creates sounds very similar to David Gilmour’s electric guitar “seagull” effects featured in Pink Floyd’s “Echoes.”) In between certain passages there are chanting witches (a la Macbeth) with treated vocals, and throughout this audio adventure, the listener can hear Price’s voice move from speaker to speaker, giving it a slight psychedelic flavor. This was recorded in the late 1960s, after all. According to one source, Price read the entire 122-page text on which this album is based in a single five-hour recording session. The best sections were apparently culled from these tapes to create what you are about to hear.
Stay Awake!
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