If you are looking for something to make people laugh at Halloween, get Dr. Elmo Sings the Boos. It will make even the most stoic, serious person laugh. Elmo Shropshire knows how to spin a yarn, with the writing assistance of Rita Abrams. I laughed aloud several times and found myself singing right along with Dr. Elmo.

I commend these two writers for replacing Frankenstein with "Global Warmin'" as the scariest manmade monster. I loved it!

The musicians are Frank "Killer Bee" Martin (keyboards), Gary Potterson (guitars, bass, mandolin, drums, and vocals on "Texas Chainsaw Halloween"), Reed Fromer (keyboards on "Bad Black Cat") and Annie Stocking, Randy Stumpf and Doug Adams on vocals.

Potterson gives a magnificent performance on the mandolin in "Texas Chainsaw Halloween." He may be equally gifted on the bass, but this music failed to demonstrate it. "Global Warmin'" has a romping boogie style that could have showcased his talent on the bass quite well and I was greatly disappointed when it did not happen. I suppose they did not want to detract from the storytelling, but couldn't we have both?

"Haunted Hoedown" is a marvelous story set to badly chosen music. The music is great -- nice composition and played very well. It just does not support a hillbilly hoedown. Being a hillbilly and having attended hoedowns, I am qualified to make issue of the hoedown music. (Wink). Again, my expectations, derived from the song title, disappointed me.

In spite of the disappointments noted, I love this collection of hilarious Halloween songs. I think every elevator and department store in the world should loop Dr. Elmo Sings the Boos for a week prior to Halloween. That would stimulate the economy, boost sales and put the world in a better mood. It might even focus attention on our environmental crisis! Buy this one and prepare to laugh for a while.