Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #06 - TERRIFYING TUESDAY TUNES (Vol. 1)





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to 'Day Six' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" and to the first instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes", where each week I will recommend some spine-tingling Hallowe'en music & sounds that can be streamed to your television via the magic of Roku player !!


So... whether you're planning to create your very own yard haunt to prepare a suitably ghoulish greeting for the "Trick 'r Treat" brigade on Hallowe'en, or you just need some macabre music to help your ghastly guests get into the "spirit" of things come the time of your spooky soirée, you should make a point of visiting this blog EVERY TUESDAY between now and October 31st for all the horror-themed audio you'll need to "get your fright on" in readiness for your Hallowe'en celebrations !!


Since I figure you're more likely to want to listen to actual Hallowe'en / Horror-themed "songs", rather than a selection of spooky sound "effects", this early in the month... I've decided that for 'Volume One' of my "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" series, I'm going to concentrate more on macabre music than clips of chilling audio "bites" so you can practice the "Monster Mash" or do the "Time Warp" to your heart's content for the next few weeks and beyond.


Anyway... one of the best recommendations I can make, as to which of the available Roku channels you could use to stream audio via your Roku player, is to suggest one of the most well-known sources of internet radio on any platform you may care to mention. While you are quite likely to have heard of this channel and (equally possibly) to already have it installed on your Roku device(s) it may not have crossed your mind as an obvious source of Hallowe'en-themed content. Believe it or not, this popular internet radio channel also offers plenty of content specifically tailored to the Hallowe'en season and can easily be used like an automatic Roku "DJ" to keep those devilish ditties, scary songs & other tunes of terror flowing, and ensure your paranormal party stays pumping... like the blood from the veins of the vampire's victim !! Suffice it to say that, if you are looking for the most spine-tingling soundtrack to your spooktacular shindig, with no limit to the amount of music that can be streamed from the stations available, then you'll definitely want to add this to your channel selection for the ultimate macabre music streaming experience this Hallowe'en !!







As you might expect, this radio-based Roku channel can be found within the "Music" category (i.e. genre) of the Roku Channel Store in all regions. Generally speaking, the 'TuneIn Radio' channel on Roku provides an assortment of the world's music, sports and news from LIVE GLOBAL RADIO stations to PODCASTS and CONCERTS. The 'TuneIn Radio' channel for Roku offers access to the multitude of internet radio channels (MORE THAN 100, 000 stations) as can be found on the 'TuneIn Radio' website, as well as via the numerous dedicated 'TuneIn Radio' apps for smartphones, tablets, televisions and other connected devices, all of which can be FOUND HERE.


Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'TuneIn Radio' channel means that not all of the included content is going to be relevant to this post. However, the inclusion of a 'Search' function means that it is very easy to whittle down the list, by sticking to our general theme, and entering the word "Halloween" as a search term, to obtain a set of results specific to our needs.


Now, ordinarily, you'd use an original Roku remote to enter text via the on-screen keyboard shown:- 





HINT: Click on the above image to ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!



Although, if you've tried that method previously, you'll know that it can be a bit fiddly (not to mention overly-cumbersome) to "type" your search term into the required field. For this reason, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you enter the required text USING THE FREE ROKU REMOTE APP for either iOS (if you have an Apple mobile device) or Android and also Windows Phone, since the keyboard for touch-screen mobile devices are (generally) far easier to use than the directional buttons on a remote control when it comes to typing. If you have yet to install the Roku app on your mobile device, you can download them easily by using the relevant link(s) below:- 



If you have an Apple mobile device (running iOS 6.0 or later)...



Or, for those of you with Android mobile devices (running Android 2.3 and up)...



And, for those of you with Windows Phone (running Windows 8.1 and up)...




Even if you don't intend using the app(s) with this particular channel, I would urge you to go ahead and download them anyway because of the increased functionality they offer over the original Roku remote(s). You could also find that the app makes using your Roku streaming media player a far easier (yes, that is possible) and, not to mention, all together more enjoyable experience, too !!


Anyway once you've entered the search term, "Halloween", and then hit the on-screen 'Search' button to perform the task, you should then see a sub-menu appear onscreen with the relevant search results. These will appear as a single row of icons, scrollable from left to right (and vice-versa) using either the LEFT / RIGHT directional arrows (to advance one icon at a time) or else, the 'FWD SCAN' and/or 'REV SCAN' buttons (to advance by four icons at a time). On the far right of the list (HINT: you can also click 'LEFT' from the left-hand end of the list to get there more quickly) you will see one folder for "Recent Episodes", which contains the latest editions of any podcasts available (which match your search term), and another marked "Other results:", that will contain additional results (again, based upon the search term used). As of 31st October 2013, searching for "Halloween" via the 'TuneIn Radio' channel gave the following Hallowe'en radio stations & shows to choose from:-



Search Results for "Halloween" (25 Titles)


  • Fear All Year - We are a 24/7 Halloween & Haunt-themed radio station
  • HalloweenRadio.net - Every Hallowe'en we make you scream!
  • Horror Theatre - feat. Ghost Stories, Weird Stories and Murder Stories
  • Roswell UFO Radio - Science Fiction Radio Dramas from the 1940's & 1950's
  • Halloween Radio - The best in Halloween-related music and entertainment
  • Halloween Classics (UK) - The poppier side of Hallowe'en. No fillers, only thrillers.
  • Radio Weirdsville - Hallowe'en Comedy Hits & Howlingly Funny Sketches
  • SomaFM: Doomed - A scary, haunting soundtrack where Hallowe'en is every day!
  • Halloween Radio Oldies - Scary, spooky, horror, thrilling Hallowe'en radio
  • A Great Halloween Station - The perfect mix of spooky songs & scary sounds
  • Halloween Radio Atmosphere - Scary, spooky, horror, thrilling Hallowe'en radio
  • Hauntcast - Radio for Haunters and Hallowe'en Fanatics
  • Scare FM - Haunted Radio for Hallowe'en Fanatics
  • PseudoPod - Horror fiction podcast, featuring the best short horror in audio form
  • Ghost Pod - The place where REAL ghost stories are shared
  • Ghost Chronicles - Exploring the dark halls of spirit lives and ghostly realms
  • Ghost Chronicles International - Radio show with Ron Kolek, Cal Cooper & Steve Parsons
  • The Book Of Hallowe'en - Audiobook version of the Ruth Edna Kelley classic
  • Anything Ghost Show - Lex Wahl presents personal ghost stories from around the world
  • Rue Morgue Radio - The world's original ALL-HORROR broadcast
  • The War Of The Worlds - Audiobook version of the H. G. Wells sci-fi novel
  • The No Sleep Podcast - Horror story-telling podcast, hosted by David Cummings
  • Horror Stories - Errr... Horror stories (surprise, surprise) of varying length, in podcast form
  • The Scary Story Podcast - feat. the horror, humour & howls of author O. Penn-Coughin
  • Halloween Haunt - When you need some darkness, the Hallowe'en Haunt is there


Other Results for "Halloween" (11 Titles) 




As of October 2015, however, many of the above (including those in the main "Search Results" list) are tending to show-up within the "Other results: halloween" folder, with most of the main "Search Results" now made up of various assorted Hallowe'en-themed podcasts. Although, as you can see, there is plenty of content for you to choose from that can be used to provide the perfect audio backdrop to your Hallowe'en (h)extravaganza. If you'd like a quick summary of the available channels, without visiting their individual websites (via the links above), then you should navigate to the dedicated 'Halloween' page for 'TuneIn Radio' which can be FOUND HERE if you're interested. 


Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'TuneIn Radio' channel on Roku, you can visit their Official Website VIA THIS LINK. Alternatively, you can keep up with all the latest news on 'TuneIn Radio' by reading their Official Blog FOUND HERE. You can also connect with the 'TuneIn Radio' channel via their Twitter Feed: @TuneIn or else, get social through: TuneIn Radio (Facebook)


In the meantime, it may further interest you to know that, according to the channel description for 'TuneIn Radio', taken from the Official Roku Website, the channel was developed for Roku by 'TheNowhereMan'. If that name happens to sound familiar to you, it could be because he is also responsible for the development of MANY OTHER CHANNELS that are well worth installing on your Roku player. Many of those channels are PRIVATE CHANNELS that you won't find in the "Official" Roku Channel Store, no matter which region you are in but, if you'd like to see what they are all about (and discover more about the 'TheNowhereMan' at the same time) you can do so via his Official Website FOUND HERE. Alternatively, those wishing to connect directly with Chris [aka 'TheNowhereMan'] developer of the 'TuneIn Radio' channel for Roku, can do so easily via his Twitter Feed: @nowhereman or else, you can use the contact information which can be found in the upper right hand corner of his website. While you are there, please consider making a donation to Chris for his tireless efforts in developing Roku channels for all of us to enjoy (many of which are available free-of-charge) using the "Donate" button at the top of the page. Failing that, if any of his paid channels are of interest to you then perhaps you'd consider one of those instead of donating. Either way, Chris definitely deserves a "thank you" for all the work he has put in, so (if nothing else) send him a message of gratitude for his trouble !!


Those of you who may wish to add this channel to the Hallowe'en-themed entertainment on your Roku player(s) but are, perhaps, unable to access the Channel Store on your device at this precise moment... can also take care of things by simply LOGGING-IN to your Online Roku Account, scrolling down to the 'Manage Account' section, and using the "Add a Private Channel" option. That way, when you do have access to your Roku player, the 'TuneIn Radio' channel will be there ready for you to listen to whenever you so choose !! All you must do to achieve this, is type the following access code under "Add a Private Channel" and click the 'Add Channel' button:-



ACCESS CODE:- tunein


Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that 'TuneIn Radio' has been given an average score of "4.5 out of 5" from 13, 659 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That statistic alone should be reason enough for you to give this channel a try, never mind the fact that ALL OF THE MUSIC IS FREE TO LISTEN TO as well !!


Sadly, that's all there is for today... but, if you come back in 24-hours for 'Day Seven', there'll be more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", and I will reveal the final "themed" day for every Wednesday throughout the month of October... PLUS, if you visit again this time next week, there'll be more "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" for you all to enjoy, as my month-long blogathon for the "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015 continues...



Fangs (as always) for reading !!





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