Search - Tom Willett :: Ghost Gallery: Eerie Tales Based On True Stories

Ghost Gallery Passes Teenage Ghost Acid Test!

05/16/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I took Tom Willett's narrative CD of ghost yarns over to a friend's a few nights ago for pizza and teenagers. The competition was stiff: pizza, teen boys and girls, and one of those awful Freddy Kreuger movies that teen boys like to watch with teen girls so they can all pretend to be scared. The teens flocked down to the basement and stuck the movie in. It was too late. The social teen squeals had begun. They were lost. Innocuously, inobtrusively, I put the CD in. The mom said Tom Willett's courtly country gentleman narrative style of narrative was wonderful. 12 year old Brett sat there silently, munching pizza and listening. Squeals and video monster-sounds rose from the basement, competing for the boy's heart. The narrative started out with a retelling of Abe Lincoln's famous dream precursing his own death -- adding details we grownups hadn't heard of before. Most interesting. Brett munched and listened. Downstairs, the girly squeals continued. By the time Tom Willett's narrative turned to the story of Tut Ankhamen's famous curse, Brett had sauntered over in front of the speakers and lay down to listen to the rest of it. But was his attention rapt? "That's stupid! Mummies can't open their eyes," he interjected. Tom's knowledgable recountings of the real story of the Mummy's curse kept us grownups interested. Ah, so there WERE more events surrounding the story that we've long forgotten. And intrepid Brett kept up his brave banter, this was dumb and that was dumb, eyes widening. By the time Tom got to the part about how a cursed mummy was aboard the Titanic when it sank, the kid had fallen silent. He pretty much stayed that way through the rest of the CD. The CD is a mix of old familiar ghost tales and new ones, all told with a fireside friendliness and high intelligence that keeps a grownup's interest quite beyond anything Freddy Krueger and squirmy young teens could offer. My personal favorite is Tom's own recounting of The Ghost Cafe, a spot where he dined every night for a week in downtown Los Angeles, which apparently never was there. Buy this CD. It's worth a listen any time, not just Halloween. Don't wait for the TV series. Tom's simple production of incidental music and his top class narrative are plenty. Another must-have from Tom Willett is The Secret Story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It includes surprising details that we public at large just never did know... and ought to."

AAA great enjoyable CD for all

02/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hey, i'm 43 and I love this CD. So much so, that i've looked for more by Tom Willet and this company. But it doesn't appear that as of yet, anymore have been produced. I'll second the other review below that "Ghost Cafe" is my favorite story on here. No, this isn't the silly "spooky sounds" type of scarey story CD for kiddies, and there's nothing really "adult" (as in R-rated here), but as much of a fan of music as I am (I own thousands of music CD's),I can't imagine a more enjoyable CD to pull out and play on a car stereo during a long drive alone (especially in the evening), or, if you're lucky enough, to listen to along with someone else who would enjoy this. Now i'm not sure just how true many of the "facts" represented here are, but I imagine when naming the real people in some of these stories (such as Bela Lugosi and various musicians), that the facts represented in those stories probably are accurate. ALthough I search for CD's of this type often, this is the best one i've ever found. If you're looking to bring back the child in you (the one who might sit up late in the evening to watch a scarey movie) or just enjoy well done audio stories (and the enjoyment of using one's own mind to make up the images), then you could not do better than this aprox 66 minute CD! I just wish these folks had made more of these...."