It's late October and the Halloween season that seemingly began when one could still walk around in shorts, is in full force. Ghosts, skeletons, carved pumpkins, spiders, and cob webs are everywhere.  It's time to prepare  for the first layer of winter fat that arrives after taking a jump down the "bad food" rabbit hole that leaves our nation's candy reserve depleted. It's also time to embrace our inner Vincent Price and revel in horror stories,  Halloween movie marathons, and the "Peanuts" special where we all laugh at Charlie Brown as he unknowingly receives rocks instead of candy in his trick or treat bag... again. What a wonderful time of year!

Here, at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives, we love Halloween and want to celebrate it by sharing some great Halloween themed recordings we have in our holdings.

Andy Warhol's Blood for Dracula (1974)

Directed by Paul Morrissey and produced by Andy Warhol , "Blood for Dracula" is a film that tells the story of a dying Dracula who travels from Transylvania to Italy searching for the remedy to his illness. The blood of a virgin. Dracula, along with his assistant Anton, come to find that everyone who claims virginity isn't always telling the truth and Dracula has to make some tough decisions that lead to controversial (read politically incorrect) sub plots. The score, which was composed by Claudio Gizzi and And Warhol, fits perfectly with the creepiness of the film. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

The Rats in the Walls

Set in 1923, H.P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls" is a psychological thriller about a man named Delapore who moves to England from Massachusetts in order to restore his ancestral estate. The architecturally unique property, called Exham Priory, fell to ruins after "...a tragedy of intensely hideous, though largely unexplained, nature" occurred, leaving all but one dead. Declared, but suspiciously not convicted as a murderer, the survivor flees to the United States, begins a new life, and never speaks of the tragedy again. Delapore learns of his villainous lineage from the local villagers who despised his ancestors long before the horrific event, and believed that evil lived in the walls of estate. The realization that the walls were infested with rats leads Delapore to a deeper discovery that supports the evil folklore about his family, and the myths surrounding  Exam Priory's special design. 

SCREAM QUEENS!!!

What is a scream queen? Typically, it is the young , female, protagonist in a horror movie with a STRONG set of lungs. Scream queens are part of what make horror films scary as they engage the audience in all of the emotion and terror that their characters are experiencing. A good scream queen can make the audience feel like they too are in the film, trying desperately to escape death. Think of Janet Leigh's infamous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Shelly Duvall who escapes being axed to death in The Shining (1980), or Neve Campbell in the Scream (1996) series that pays homage to famous slasher films of the past. The queen of the scream queens is Jamie Lee Curtis.

Her breakout role as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)  was legendary. She set the standard high and made being a "Scream Queen" something future slasher film actresses aspired to be. As the daughter of Janet Leigh, it's not surprising that Jamie Lee Curtis made Laurie Strode an iconic character like her mother did with Marion Crane.

Be merry and enjoy Halloween!