Sounds of Darkness

Troll Records – Weird Tales of the Unknown – 1973
GHOST STORIES
I finally got to the last of the Troll Records 1973 set of ghost story albums, and I’m glad I made it. These albums just don’t see to do much for me.

This one opens with Poe’s “The Black Cat”, another staple of weird-tale albums. “A Diagnosis of Death” and “John Bartine’s Watch”, both by Ambrose Bierce, follow. Last is “The Cat that Didn’t Purr”.

The first three are classic stories written in the 19th century … the language is therefore very old-fashioned. Reading these stories is a pleasure … listening to them is a bit of a chore. I can’t find the origin of the last story, but the only weirdness of the tale is talking cats. It has been years since I read any of Bierce’s short stories, and listening to this gave me an excuse to revisit them, and that’s about all this album did for me.

Yeah, it's still good. Get it.