Boogie man

Every year at Halloween, my dad would sit me and my sister on the couch and put on this record, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People.”

I loved that hissing, popping LP. And I loved that my dad would turn out all the lights and close the curtains and point at the door saying, “Do you see it? Do you see it?” when Hitchcock starts talking about ghosts slithering through keyholes. This was all before we went trick-or-treating, so we’d be good and creeped out before we even knocked on the first front door.

I can’t believe I forgot I had this until this morning. My father-in-law, who has a sweet stereo set-up, burned this for me a couple of years ago, and I listened to it on Halloween, with the lights out and the curtains closed.

It's funny how things work. Listening to that record probably led me to the various print collections and anthologies with Hitchcock's stamp on it, which eventually led to all the movies and an ongoing love of crime and horror fiction.

I'd like to think that when I listen to the album this year, maybe that's dad slithering in for a visit.