Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #27 - TERRIFYING TUESDAY TUNES (Vol. 4)

Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...

... to 'Day Twenty-Seven' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" which brings with it the fourth and final instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" for 2015 where, once a week, I've been recommending a different source of spine-tingling Hallowe'en music & sounds that can be streamed to your television via the magic of Roku player with a little bit of help from the internet !!

Still... 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, here's one more suggestion for a Roku channel that's full to the brim with spooky spirits and scary melodies bringing all the horror-themed audio you'll need to "get your fright on" in readiness for Hallowe'en !!

HALLOWEEN RADIO........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

*** EASILY FOUND UNDER: "MUSIC" in the channel store OR, VIA ROKU "SEARCH" ***

This particular channel was only added to the Roku Channel Store a couple of weeks ago and some of you may even recognise the channel icon (above) from my 'Weekly RoundUp' post in which it recently featured. In any case, if you're not already familiar with it, the "Halloween Radio" channel offers an continuous LIVE STREAM of Hallowe'en and Horror-themed audio which is ALL FREE for users of Roku devices AS WELL AS AD-FREE making it great for all-day, every day, spook-tastic listening!


It features an eclectic mixture of Hallowe'en-themed audio, including: horror, sci-fi, scary parodies, old time radio, movie trailers & more. Better yet... the developers, who also gave us Cult Radio A-Go-Go! for Roku, have said that it will stream 24/7 every October in honour of the Hallowe'en season! Who knows, I may even be able to persuade them to incorporate a dedicated radio player to share their live stream via this blog for future "Countdown To Hallowe'en" blogathons?!! :-)


For those who'd like to know more about Cult Radio A-Go-Go! and the various Roku channels they have developed over the years, I recommend a visit to their official website, FOUND HERE, where you'll find plenty of information on the various ways to enjoy their content. Should you wish to get social with the folks behind all the Cult Radio A-Go-Go! creations for Roku devices, there's always their Twitter Feed: @Cult_Radio for sharing your thoughts and opinions in 140 characters or less. Though, no matter how brief, I'm sure they'd welcome any feedback you may have for them! ;-)

Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'Halloween Radio' music channel has been given an average score of "3.5 out of 5" from 94 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That's pretty good, considering it was only released about two weeks ago, but the fact it caters directly to fans of Hallowe'en and horror alone should be reason enough to give this a try, plus ALL MUSIC IS FREE TO LISTEN TO and many of the classic old time radio (OTR) theatre recordings are a real Hallowe'en treat - even if some of the ambient sounds, randomly interspersed throughout the day, can prove to be less than comfortable listening at times - but, then again, maybe that's just the sort of thing you were looking for? In which case, you now know just where to find it! With everything from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to horror movie soundtracks, and classic OTR episodes from Murder Mysteries to SciFi plus Horror Stories and Thrillers, "Halloween Radio" has it all and, consequently, it's as well-suited to spooky soirées as it is to haunted, horrific listening at bedtime (or any time) and, for me at least, has been the perfect companion during my month-long blogathon... even if I did get rather distracted at times - nothing new there, then !! :-P

Still, while that's all I've got to say in this final instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" for 2015... do remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Twenty-Eight' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, in "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I reveal the very last horror-themed movie selection for "Wicked Watch Wednesday", as the "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015 nears the end. Meanwhile, be sure to visit the other contributors to the 2015 Countdown To Hallowe'en and see what devilishly delightful Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you ahead of October 31st !!

Fangs again, for stopping by !!

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #20 - TERRIFYING TUESDAY TUNES (Vol. 3)

Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...

... to 'Day Twenty' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" and to the third instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes", where each week I recommend a source of 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", at this stage in the month... I've decided that for 'Volume Three' of my "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" series, I'm going to continue with some more macabre music (rather than clips of chilling audio "bites" & such like) so that you can carry on practicing the "Monster Mash" or doing the "Time Warp" (again!) to your heart's content for the next week and a half.

With that in mind, I have (once more) searched through all of the available channels on Roku player and managed to (yet again) come up trumps... with a channel that offers another huge selection of music, thanks to a couple of dedicated radio sub-channels specifically tailored to the Hallowe'en season, that 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, then you'll definitely want to add this to your channel selection for the ultimate macabre music streaming experience this Hallowe'en and let your guests bear witness to the voodoo that you do on Roku!...... Who do voodoo?...... You do!...... On Roku !!

As with "TuneIn Radio" & "Spotify", mentioned in previous posts from this mini sub-series of my month-long blogathon... another GREAT recommendation, for streaming audio via your Roku media player, is an channel by the name of "AccuRadio". Anyway, for those of you with an interest in such matters... this channel was developed for Roku by the good folks at 'AccuRadio' (themselves) and you can easily add "AccuRadio" to your Roku player(s) from the channel selection found within the "Music" category of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. From there, it's a matter of scrolling through the options until you see this channel icon:-

ACCURADIO...........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

As with my regular 'Weekly RoundUp' posts... I have included links below the channel icon (above) to the channel description, from the "Official" Roku website, and the 'Roku Guide' review of 'AccuRadio' for those that may need further convincing... not that you will, once you've read what follows:-

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 'AccuRadio' music channel on Roku provides an assortment of MORE THAN 850+ FREE MUSIC RADIO CHANNELS with unlimited skips (in case you happen to hear anything that offends your ears) which all come together to form this dynamic internet radio app filled with great sounding, well-programmed music. The 'AccuRadio' music channel for Roku offers a multitude of channels across it's many available genres, that include: Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, Broadway, Reggae, Classical, Electronica & so much more !! Better yet, you can pretty much customise each and every channel to match your own taste(s) in music... PLUS, it's 100% FREE !!!!!! Add to that the ability to take your music choices with you, whenever you're away from your Roku player, thanks to FREE downloadable 'AccuRadio' apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire & Nook tablets (see links below) & you're all sorted !!

Obviously, having multiple genres to choose from in the main menu of the 'AccuRadio' music channel means that not all of the included content is going to be relevant to this post. So, sticking to the general theme of Hallowe'en, the best selection of music can be found under the "More Channels for Fall" category of the 'AccuRadio' music channel. You can easily navigate to this genre by using the "Down Arrow" from the directional buttons on your Roku remote to "Select a genre" from the main menu. Once you've reached the "More Channels for Fall" genre, which you will know by the fact that it is highlighted, just press the "OK" button on your Roku remote to access the channel selection in the sub-menu of the "More Channels for Fall" genre. There, you will see another list inviting you to "Select a channel" from the options available. Again you must scroll down the list, using the directional buttons on your Roku remote, until you come to "Hallowe'en" when you must (again) press the "OK" button on your Roku remote to load the "Hallowe'en" channel (n.b. this may take a moment or two, so please be patient). This will provide you with a range of scary film music, fun novelty horror tunes and other Hallowe'en hits that span multiple styles of music and many decades in time. 

Once the music starts playing, you can skip any songs you don't like as well as being able to pause and resume listening but, once you use the "Back" or "Home" buttons (or any other sequence of buttons) to exit the channel you are listening to (even if you are still within the 'AccuRadio' channel) the music will stop and you'll have to start afresh with your genre and/or channel selection. Speaking of which, there is another spooky channel which (again) can be found under the "More Channels for Fall" genre that is called "13 Classic Horror Film Soundtracks", where you'll find the dark delights of the "Halloween", "Jaws" and "Eraserhead" soundtracks. One other good source of spooky sounds for Hallowe'en to be found under the "More Channels for Fall" genre is called "The Night Beckons" and is, to all intents and purposes, an Midnight Syndicate showcase but does offer some beautifully haunting soundscapes for your Hallowe'en party or yard haunt. If you're not familiar with Midnight Syndicate then you can find out more by visiting their Official Website VIA THIS LINK to get some perspective on their particular brand of gothic horror. It may not be for everyone, BUT... there's no denying it is marvellously macabre music for any spooky soirée !!

Meanwhile, if you'd like to discover more about the 'AccuRadio' music channel on Roku, you can visit their Official Website VIA THIS LINK. You can also connect with the 'AccuRadio' music channel via their Twitter Feed: @accuradio or else, get social through: AccuRadio (Facebook)

ALSO: As hinted at previously, earlier in this post, whenever you are out-and-about (i.e. away from your computer and/or Roku player) there is always the option for you to make use of any or all of the various FREE downloadable 'AccuRadio' apps that are available on the following mobile devices:-

'ACCURADIO' for iOS -  AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o iTunes UK App Store)

or

'ACCURADIO' for Android - AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o Google Play Store)

or

'ACCURADIO' for Kindle Fire - AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o Amazon UK Website)

or

'ACCURADIO' for Nook - AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o Barnes & Noble Website)

Speaking of being "out-and-about"... those of you who 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 any given moment... can always take care of things by simply LOGGING-IN to your Online Roku Account, scrolling to the 'Manage Account' section, & using the "Add a Channel" option. That way, when you do have access to your Roku player, the 'AccuRadio' music channel will be there ready for you to listen to whenever you so choose !! All you must do is type the following access code under "Add a Channel" & click the 'Add Channel' button:-

ACCESS CODE:- accuradio

Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to it, except to point out that the 'AccuRadio' music channel has been given an average score of "4.5 out of 5" from 1,850 ratings (so far) in the channel store description from the Official Roku Website. That alone should be reason enough to give this a try, plus ALL MUSIC IS FREE TO LISTEN TO and can easily be skipped, if you don't like it !!

Still, that's all I've got to say in this third instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" for 2015... but do remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Twenty-One' and for even more Hallowe'en-themed content, in "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal the next movie for "Wicked Watch Wednesday", as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015... and when you're done here, be sure to visit the other contributors to the 2015 Countdown To Hallowe'en and see what devilishly delightful Hallowe'en treats they have in store for you this year !!

Fangs again, for stopping by !!

Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku..... - Day #13 - TERRIFYING TUESDAY TUNES (Vol. 2)

Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...

... to 'Day Thirteen' of "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" and to the second instalment of "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes", where each week I recommend a source of 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", at this stage in the month... I've decided that for 'Volume Two' of my "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" series, I'm going to continue with some more macabre music (rather than clips of chilling audio "bites" & such like) so that you can carry on practicing the "Monster Mash" or doing the "Time Warp" (again!) to your heart's content for the next two weeks or so.

With that in mind, we have (again) searched through all of the available channels on Roku player and managed to (once more) come up trumps... with a channel that offers another huge selection of music, among which are many titles specifically tailored to the Hallowe'en season, that 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, then you'll definitely want to add this to your channel selection for the ultimate macabre music streaming experience this Hallowe'en and let your guests bear witness to the voodoo that you do... on Roku !!

As with the "TuneIn Radio" channel, mentioned in my previous post from this series... another great recommendation I can make is a PUBLIC CHANNEL called "Spotify" for streaming audio via your Roku player. This is particularly suited to any Roku owner who already happens to subscribe to the "Spotify Premium" service, as this channel will allow you to access your 'Spotify Premium' account & stream it via your Roku player(s) whenever you choose. However, there's no need to worry if you do not already subscribe to the "Spotify Premium" service, since those kind souls at 'Spotify' are offering a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL of their flagship service to all newcomers !! That means, you can still get all the benefits of premium membership through to Hallowe'en (and beyond) without handing over a single penny of the £9.99 MONTHLY FEE which is usually charged for the "Spotify Premium" service. Just REMEMBER TO CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP before the end of the trial and the guests at your spooky soirée will have access to as much macabre music as they can handle, without you having to pay top dollar for a "DJ", while you get to listen FREE-OF-CHARGE for the rest of the month too. Of course, if you enjoy the benefits of membership, you can always carry on using the service at £9.99 PER MONTH and you might even wish to consider taking advantage of the NEW "FAMILY" MEMBERSHIP PLAN from 'Spotify', which was introduced so as to allow subscribers to add up to FOUR ADDITIONAL PREMIUM USERS to existing "Spotify Premium" accounts at an extra cost of ONLY £4.99 PER MONTH EACH meaning they'll SAVE 50% PER PERSON off the cost of a "Spotify Premium" subscription and you don't even have to all be living under the same roof to benefit. In fact, you could group together with a bunch of friends or work colleagues and create a "family" of your own, solely for the purpose of sharing "Spotify Premium" at a reduced cost !!

Anyway, membership bargains aside... the "Spotify" channel was developed for Roku by 'Spotify' themselves and - if you haven't already got it in your channel selection - you can easily add it to your Roku player(s) using the recently introduced Roku 'Search' feature. Just start typing "Spotify" into the text entry box within Roku 'Search' and it will soon appear in the results column on the right. In fact, you will (most likely) only have to enter the letters "s", "p" and "o" before it pops up in the list of results to the right of your screen! For those who prefer to look it up the old-fashioned way, you'll find "Spotify" listed under the "Music" genre in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store - itself, found by navigating to 'Streaming Channels' from the home screen and scrolling through the options - then click "OK" to access the full list of "Music" channels and scroll up (or down) until you see the channel icon (as per the image below). The good news is... that "Spotify" is FREE-TO-ADD so, once you've located it in the list of channels, just click the "OK" button on your Roku remote to select it and then click "OK" again where it says 'Add channel' to install it on your Roku player(s). 

SPOTIFY.............COST: FREE (30-DAY TRIAL) + £9.99 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]

As with my regular 'Weekly RoundUp' posts... I have included links below the channel icon (above) to the channel description, from the "Official" Roku website, and the 'Roku Guide' review of the 'Spotify' channel - for those that may need further convincing. Should you happen to be a newcomer to 'Spotify' and wish to take advantage of the 30-DAY FREE TRIAL then you can do so, USING THIS LINK, by accessing the 'Spotify' website. On the other hand, if you already have a 'Spotify Premium' account, all you need do (once you've added the 'Spotify' channel to your Roku account) is 'Login' with either your 'Facebook' details, or those associated with your 'Spotify Premium' account (username / password) to access millions of songs instantly via your Roku player(s). After that, it's simply a case of searching for Hallowe'en / Horror-related content in the usual way you would search for songs, artists, albums, etc. using your 'Spotify Premium' account. My advice is to try using one-word search terms that are relevant to the season, e.g. Halloween, Horror, Haunted, Spooky, Creepy, Ghost, Zombie, etc, etc. and, from the results, use the "artist" or "album" options to discover other similar content. You'll be surprised at just how much halloween-themed music you can amass (and how quickly) using this simple method. 

In the event of your experiencing any difficulties with the 'Spotify' Roku channel, then may I suggest that you first visit the 'FAQ' section of the 'Spotify' support pages, 'VIA THIS LINK', which has answers to most of the 'General Questions' associated with the service. Failing that, your next port-of-call should be to search the dedicated discussion threads from the Spotify 'Community' Forums, 'FOUND HERE', which have more than one hundred application-specific discussion topics from Roku owners that have been using the channel since it was first developed. If, after all that, your question(s) remain unanswered... and you have been unable to find a solution in either the 'HELP SECTION' or via the 'COMMUNITY FORUMS' then your next best bet is, 'USING THE CONTACT FORM',  to submit a query to Spotify Customer Support. Aside from using the above links, to access 'Customer Service' and/or 'Support' from Spotify, it is more likely (on a day-to-day basis) that you will simply need to visit the "Official" Spotify Website, 'HERE', to login to your "Spotify Premium" account for one reason or another. If, for any reason, you'd like to interact with the folks at 'Spotify' on a more social level, you can always leave a message via their Twitter Feed: @Spotify or, if you prefer, there is also the option to connect with them through Facebook: Spotify (Facebook) as well as, in more visual terms, by watching their videos on 'YouTube': Spotify (YouTube).

Finally... whenever you are out-and-about, i.e. away from your computer and/or Roku player, there is always the option of using any or all of the various 'Spotify' apps available for mobile devices:-

'SPOTIFY MUSIC' for iOS -  AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o iTunes App Store)

or

'SPOTIFY MUSIC' for Android - AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o Google Play Store)

or

'SPOTIFY' for Windows Phone - AVAILABLE VIA THIS LINK - (c/o Windows Phone Store)

Anyway, that's all for today... just remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Fourteen' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, in "Alucard's Bat-tastic Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal the next movie for "Wicked Watch Wednesday", and then to come back again this time next week for more "Terrifying Tuesday Tunes" as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2015...

Fangs (as always) for reading !!