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The 1940s was a scary time, but not really in a way that we can comfortably celebrate at Halloween. Nevertheless there were still a few horror movies being made, and it’s from these that I’ve largely drawn for this mix (the best are of course the works of Val Lewton, a shame there aren’t more.) The most traditionally Halloween-themed musical numbers here are from Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, and along with the lack of Universal Horror monsters except in semi-parody retreads, this seems to indicate that 40s audiences were in no mood to be frightened. If it isn’t already obvious, I’ll leave it to Al Bowlly to explain why.

Tracklist:

(Clip from The Hitchhiker)
0:00:06 Bing Crosby & The Rhythmaires - Headless Horsemen (1947)
(Clip from Inner Sanctum - Death Is A Joker)
0:03:17 Carl Stalling - Ghost Wanted (1940)
(Clips from House of Dracula)
(Clip from Lights Out - Kill)
0:07:17 Louis Armstrong - You've Got Me Voodoo'd (1940)
(Clip from Lights Out - Kill)
0:10:09 Charles Mingus Sextette (Vocal by Claude Trinier) - Weird Nightmare (1946)
(Clip from Cat People)
0:13:34 Delta Rhythm Boys - Dry Bones (1941)
(Clip from Suspense Theatre - Donovan's Brain)
0:16:39 Una Mae Carlisle - Oh I'm Evil (1941)
(Clip from Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man)
0:19:13 Louis Jordan - Somebody Don Hoodooed The Hoodoo Man (1940)
(Clip from I Walked With A Zombie)
0:22:05 Spike Jones & His City Slickers - My Old Flame (1947)
(Clip from Inner Sanctum - Death Is A Joker)
0:26:06 Josh White - Evil Hearted Man (1944)
(Clip from Ivan The Terrible)
0:29:10 Kai Winding Sextet - A Night on Bop Mountain (1949)
(Clip from Suspicion)
0:33:08 Washboard Sam - Evil Blues (1941)
(Clip from Bedlam)
0:36:26 Bob Wills - The Devil Ain't Lazy (1947)
(Clip from Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man)
0:39:16 Wayne Raney - Jole Blon's Ghost (1948)
(Clip from Notorious)
0:41:50 Lionel Hampton Sextet & Dinah Washington - Evil Gal Blues (1943)
(Clip from Lights Out - Kill)
0:44:55 Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys - The Ghost and Honest Joe (1949)
(Clip from The Hitchhiker)
0:48:06 Stan Jones And The Death Valley Rangers- Ghost Riders In The Sky (1948)
(Clip from Inner Sanctum - No Coffin For The Dead)
0:51:09 Jay Mcshann - Voodoo Woman Blues (1946)
(Clip from Inner Sanctum - No Coffin For The Dead)
0:54:15 Charlie Shavers - Zooming At The Zombie (1940)
(Clip from Cat People)
0:57:00 Lena Horne - Haunted Town (1941)
(Clip from Lights Out - Kill)
1:00:21 Texas Slim - Devil's Jump (1949)
(Clip from And Then There Were None)
1:03:19 Fred Astaire - Me And The Ghost Upstairs (1940)
(Clip from Lights Out - Kill)
1:05:48 Al Bowlly & Jimmy Mesene - When That Man Is Dead And Gone (1941)
(Clip from The Hitchhiker)
1:08:50 Kay Starr - The Headless Horseman (1948)
(Clip from Isle Of The Dead)
(Clip from Inner Sanctum - The Man Who Couldn't Die)