Sound Effects: Death & Horror (BBC Records & Tapes, 1977)

There were three horror-themed LPs in the BBC’s long-running sound effects series: Sound Effects: Death & Horror (Vol. 13, 1977), More Death and Horror (Vol. 21, 1978), and Even More Death and Horror (Vol. 27, 1982). Some editions of the second title (Vol. 21) were released “in blood red vinyl,” as advertised on the LP cover. These are not, you may have guessed, your standard “chilling sounds,” including tracks such as “Arm Chopped Off,” “Red Hot Poker Into Eye,” “Death By Garrotting,” “Body Put Into the Acid Bath,” and “Self Immolation,” to name just a few. The gruesome cover art on the first two records is by Andrew Prewitt, who talks about the project at Horrorpedia, where you’ll find a good write-up. Many of the sound effects on the albums are available on iTunes.

There are lots of other interesting volumes in the BBC sound effects series, including Disasters (Vol. 16, 1977)—“Erupting Volcano With Lava Whooses,” “Radioactive Burn,” “Reprisal Air Strike,” etc.—and the extraordinary Out of This World (1976), a compendium of sci-fi, fantasy, and “supernatural” atmospherics. Hewitt did the covers (below) for those volumes as well.