Cranking Up the Creepiness for Halloween

If the trick-or-treat season is a big deal at your house, you may want to pick up one or more of these fun (and not too scary) audio and video releases for your favorite Halloweensters.

R.L. Stine’s best-selling chiller-thriller “Goosebumps” stories are naturals for spooky ambience, and so are Walt Disney Records’ terrific new audio books based on the series. Presented radio theater-style, with polished vocal performances, spooky sound effects and mood music, titles include “The Haunted Mask II,” “A Shocker on Shock Street,” “Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes,” “A Night in Terror Tower,” “Attack of the Mutant” and “Deep Trouble.”

* Audiocassette: $6.98. Widely available.

For just the right party music, pick up “Halloween Howls,” Andrew Gold’s 12-song chuckle of an album with a pop beat, released by Music for Little People/Rhino Records. From “Ghostbusters” and “The Addams Family” theme to a bunch of cleverly done original treats such as “The Creature From the Tub” and “In Our Haunted House,” this album is, well, a howl. Linda Ronstadt and David Cassidy are among the special guests who join in.

* CD: $11.98; audiocassette: $7.98, plus shipping. (800) 346-4445.

For something heartwarming, not spine-tingling, don’t miss “Stellaluna,” the audio version of author Janell Cannon’s lovely book about a sweet little bat who finds her way home after being separated from her mother. Narrated by a master storyteller, Grammy nominee David Holt, this High Windy Audio release also features “Corduroy” author Don Freeman’s delightful tale “Hattie, the Backstage Bat,” Holt’s version of “Why the Bat Flies at Night” and “Amazing Bat Facts.”

* CD: $15.98; audiocassette: $9.98, plus shipping. (800) 637-8679.

“The Ketchup Vampires II” is an entertaining surprise from Just for Kids Home Video. The feature-length comical cartoon, suitable for young viewers and narrated by “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark,” revolves around a family of vegetarian vampires, whose sustenance of choice is tomato-based. It also features a castle-dwelling, eccentric professor; his Halloween-loving daughter and her Shakespeare-spouting uncle; young love, wacky bats and a mildly wicked vampire Contessa and her family.

* $24.95. (800) 451-4340. Also at selected Blockbusters.

All That Jazz: Don’t miss the return of percussionist Adam Rudolph’s “Children’s Concert Series” at the Jazz Bakery on Sunday. Rudolph is joined in family-friendly jazz improv concerts by other world-class musicians on various dates, including “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks, multi-reed player Ralph “Buzzy” Jones, Uruguayan guitarist Federico Ramos and Lebanese musician Jihad Racy.

Children may dance to the beat, and paper and crayons will be on hand in case the creative urge strikes. They’re also welcome to bring their own poems to read, accompanied by the musicians.

* Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, beginning Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Also Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, 12:30 p.m. $7-$10; under age 12, free. (310) 271-9039.