The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales (1970, Scholastic Book Services)

Here's another Scholastic Book Services entry, The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales (1970, edited by Gladys Schwarcz and Vic Crume, illustrations by Gerry Contreras). This is a collection of spooky poems and short stories from various authors, including a reappearance of Maria Leach's telling of The Cradle That Rocked By Itself.

Some of these stories were performed for an accompanying album (called, appropriately, Selections From the Haunted House and Other Poems and Tales).

Some of the more notable entries include the poems The Haunted House (Vic Crume), A Skeleton Once in Khartoum (author unknown), Dust (Sydney King Russell), The Bat (Theodore Roethke), and short stories The Cradle That Rocked By Itself (Maria Leach)and The Velvet Ribbon (Ann McGovern). Below is a sample of illustrations from the book, some with accompanying audio from the record (hat tip and thanks to Scar Stuff).

THE CRADLE THAT ROCKED BY ITSELF (Maria Leach)

DUST (Sydney King Russell)

THE HAUNTED HOUSE (Vic Crume)

A SKELETON ONCE IN KHARTOUM (Author Unknown)

THE GHOST CATCHER (A tale from India retold by E.B. Chance)

OLD CORNISH LITANY (Author Unknown)

THE OLD WIFE AND THE GHOST (James Reeves)

SPOOKS (Nathalia Crane)

THE BAT (Theodore Roethke)

THE VELVET RIBBON (Ann McGovern)

Honeycomb Cereal Ghost Stories record ("The Miser's Gold")

I used to have this Honeycomb Cereal ghost stories record (circa 1970s). The record was literally pressed into the back of the cereal box itself. You cut it out with scissors (in a square shape, no less) and plopped it on your turntable.

There were 3 possible stories (although the artwork remained the same for each variation...the only way to know which record you had was to check the record number in the bottom left corner).

I had "The Miser's Gold". Click below to listen. The other possible stories were "The Headless Horseman" and "The Hitchhiker" (you can see the tell-tale sweater still sticking out of the foot of the gravestone).



(with thanks to Scar Stuff for the rip)

"The Hitch Hiker" (1970, Famous Ghost Stories With Scary Sounds)

With thanks to Scar Stuff.

"The Golden Arm" (1973, Great Ghost Stories)

With thanks to Scar Stuff.

"The Cradle That Rocked Itself" (1970)

From the album "Selections from the Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales" (1970).



With thanks to Scar Stuff.

"The Dare" (1973, Scary Spooky Stories)

With thanks to Scar Stuff.

Dark, Dark, Dark (1973, Scary Spooky Stories)

With thanks to Scar Stuff.