Dead Man’s Bones by Dead Man’s Bones, is a 13-track love fest with Halloween.
Backed by Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir, Dead Man’s Bones is a duo consisting of Ryan Gosling – appearing under the alias “Baby Goose” – and his friend Zach Shields.
The two friends met in 2005 – Gosling was dating his Notebook co-star Rachel McAdams, while Shields was dating her sister – and bonded over a shared fascination with the supernatural.
One particular mutual obsession was Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride – a late 60s attraction narrated in lilting rhyme (sample quote: “Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween/awaken the spirits with your tambourine!”) by the ghostly occupants of each room of a haunted house.
This unlikely inspiration became the basis of an ambitious musical theatre project, scrapped when it became financially unlikely, and reworked as a ‘do it yourself’ album on which Shields and Gosling played every instrument, learning cello, piano and drums as they went along.
