Celebrities Scare Up Tales for Halloween

Celebrity readers will spin ghostly tales on Halloween for the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service, a noncommercial station broadcasting to visually-impaired listeners in the San Fernando Valley.

The special program, which runs from 11 a.m. to midnight on Oct. 31, will include spooky stories read by TV and recording stars as well as old-time radio shows with Halloween themes.

The second annual Scare-A-Thon is a fund-raising event during which listeners will be asked to make pledges--ranging from the $10 Jack-O-Lantern League to the $750 Paranormal Partners to the $1,500 Kindred Spirit Society, said Jolie Mason, station director and founder, who lost her sight in 1986.

On Monday, pop singer and actress Taylor Dayne stopped by the radio station to record her scary tale, “Just a Little Thing,” a yarn by Joan Van Der Putten about an imp sent by the devil to annoy a household.

“I thought it would be fun reading a story for Halloween,” Dayne said, sitting in the control room before the recording session began. “It’s a way to bring forth my creativity and it will benefit a lot of people, too.”

Other celebrities scheduled to record stories include comedian Brett Butler, star of the TV sitcom “Grace Under Fire,” actor Jeff Kober of the former TV drama “China Beach,” and television announcer Gary Owens.

Founded in 1994, Los Angeles Radio Reading Service offers 24-hour programming to 140,000 visually-impaired listeners via Cal State Northridge radio station KCSN-FM (88.5), said Craig Massar, operations director.

The program can be picked up only by radios specially adapted for the subcarrier wave that is part of the KCSN signal, he said.

Programming mostly consists of volunteers reading from newspapers, magazines and books, Massar said. The station also broadcasts a Latino affairs program in Spanish, a Jewish cultural program and a parenting program, said Massar, who is legally blind.

The station is looking for volunteer readers, public relations specialists to help with fund-raising and community outreach, and a sighted administrative assistant, Mason said.

For information, call the station at (818) 345-2874.