‘Dead House’ Comes Alive

Audio

Welcome to Dead House. R.L Stine, Goosebumps Audio Book. Walt Disney Records. 45 minutes. $6.98. Ages 7-12. The TV show is fine, the books are clear winners with kids--and the audio versions of this supernatural series are terrific, with fun music, radio theater-style performances and lots of sound effects--creaky doors, thunder, suspenseful music. All this inspires imaginations to paint spooky mind pictures as young teenage siblings move into a strange house in the strange town of Dark Falls, during a rainstorm, of course. Plenty of chills and thrills ensue as the local graveyard yields a shocking secret.

Hansel and Gretel, Happily Ever After Fairy Tales for Every Child. Confetti Entertainment Co. $9.95. (800) 797-1050. The notable HBO animated kids’ series, narrated by Robert Guillaume, is now on video, and this all-time classic witch tale is a kick, with a multicultural twist and the voices of Liz Torres and Cheech Marin. “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Frog Prince,” “Rumpelstiltskin” and many others are also available, featuring the voices of such celebrities as Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Sinbad, Robert Townsend and B.D. Wong.

Video

Assorted Halloween videos. Warner Home Video. $12.95-$14.95 each. There are all kinds of silly and spooky treats to choose from in this Halloween collection: “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble,” with the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley; an animated version of Ray Bradbury’s eerie “The Halloween Tree”--Leonard Nimoy voices the mysterious Mound-shroud; “Inside the Haunted House”; and “Going Batty” from the Magic School Bus series.

For fans of traditional Saturday morning cartoon fare, look for Scooby-Doo’s “The Headless Horseman of Halloween,” the Flintstones in “A Haunted House Is Not a Home,” plus Halloween-themed selections starring the Animaniacs, Bugs Bunny and Tiny Toons.