Get the CD album and the book for a bargain bundle price of £20.
Includes unlimited streaming of Bumper Book of Mystery Stories
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£20GBPor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Packaged in a gorgeous deluxe cross-shaped digipak, with ten panels of beautiful artwork finely crafted by Sarah Joy (Random Panda) and with full album lyrics, credits and sleeve notes in a 24 page booklet. This is the version of the album you need to have!
Pre order now for delivery on or around July the 7th
Images show a mockup of the artwork.
Includes unlimited streaming of Bumper Book of Mystery Stories
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£12GBPor more
Book/Magazine
CLIMB ABOARD THE GHOST TRAIN…
…where each stop will bring you to a new, terrifying tall tale.
Medical premonitions… vivid dreams… a musical instrument which renders its listeners catatonic… a curious invention capable of changing your thoughts… mysterious connections between the past and the future…
The fourteen short stories within these pages have been lovingly crafted by the members of I Am The Manic Whale to accompany the Bumper Book Of Mystery Stories album. Some are inspired by folklore and historic events; others are so fantastical that they can surely only be true… together they form a brand new compendium of mind-bending mystery accompanied, of course, by just a small drop of humour.
Join us - allow your very face to be startled and your mind befuddled at every engaging turn on a thrill ride where laughs, goosebumps, shudders - and perhaps the occasional nightmare - come fully guaranteed.
200 page paperback book containing 16 short stories written by the band.
It's a lovely burgundy-coloured tee shirt with the album title logo emblazoned loudly across the front.
You want one.
YOU WANT ONE!
Please note that our office team won't be able to post out tee shirts until Monday 7th of August due to holidays.
ships out within 3 days
£15GBP
Chose a song that you like and a member of I Am The Manic Whale (to be allocated at random) will have a stab at recording you an acoustic style cover version of it. Song must be under 5 mins. We're not recreating all of Supper's Ready for you!
£100GBPor more
One member of Manic Whale will chat with you on Zoom for up to 60 mins.
If you like, we can offer you an instrumental lessons. Michael, Ben and John are all music teachers for realz.
£100GBPor more
We will come to your house
We will bring acoustic instruments (and keyboard)
We will sing several songs
We will go away again afterwards (we promise)
If you are more than 100 miles away from London, could you drop us a message first?
We might still be able to do the concert, but may need a bit more for travel costs.
Grab one of the snare drum heads used on the actual recording or I Am The Manic Whale's Bumper Book of Mystery Stories. 2 available. We will all sign it for you.
Sold Out
Bumper sticks of mystery stories - PRE ORDER
Get your hands on a pair of Manic Whale drum sticks that were used to record the Bumper Book of Mystery Stories. We will attempt to sign them for you, though drum sticks are quite small.
Sold Out
about
The adventure stories of authors like Enid Blyton have inspired many young readers over the years. Michael enjoyed reading them as a child and now loves reading them to his own children. The Dolphin Hotel in verse two refers to the Gay Dolphin Inn in Rye, which is a prominent location in many of Malcolm Saville’s Lone Pine adventures. The lyric in the middle section is an adaptation of the Lone Pine Club rules; “Rule 5: the club is for exploring and watching birds and animals and tracking strangers,” and “Every member of the Lone Pine Club signed below swears to keep the rules and to be true to each other whatever happens always.” (Mystery at Witchend by Malcolm Saville, chapter 4.)
lyrics
Six from the left and two down, back in the study won’t you
Push on the wooden panel to find the space behind
Reveal the secret lever that opens up the floor
In the forbidden bedroom, back of the walnut wardrobe
Press top right in the corner, squeeze in the space behind
Swing back the board that opens into a hidden door
Iron staples in the rock face, some are rusty watch your step
Hold the torch between your teeth to keep your hands free
As we descend into the darkness
Where will this secret passage lead us? (the adventure has begun)
Into the ruined light-house or down the wreckers' way? (time for subterranean fun)
Where will this secret passage lead us? (where will it take us to?)
While there’s a story to be told, wait for adventure to unfold
Adventure will unfold
Back at the Dolphin Hotel, climbing the creaking stairway
Right up into the attic, inside our secret room
Who has the rusty key that unlocks the secret door?
Found a box of ageing papers, some are letters some are maps
Will we find the hidden clue that opens up the casement?
We descend into the darkness
Where will this secret passage lead us? (the adventure’s underway)
To an old castle on an island unexplored? (time for subterranean play)
Where will this secret passage lead us? (where will it take us now?)
There’s still a story to be told, and the adventure will unfold
Adventure will unfold
Free wheeling down the hillside, knapsacks on our backs (the dog can barely keep up)
No adult supervision for several weeks on end (we’ll stop for choc-ices soon)
Watching birds and trailing strangers, we’re lost in the catacombs
Crack another ginger beer, organise a rescue and be
True to each other, whatever happens always…
It’s the end of the adventure, escaped the crooks and foiled their plot
Sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, until this time next year when we descend into the darkness
Where did the secret passage lead us? (the adventure is all done)
Up to the lonely farmhouse and down to smuggler’s cove (no more subterranean fun)
Where did the secret passage lead us? (where did it lead us to?)
And now the story has been told and the adventure has unfolded right before your eyes
I hope the ending came as a surprise
Was it a surprise?
credits
from Bumper Book of Mystery Stories,
released July 7, 2023
Written by: Michael Whiteman
Ben Hartley: drums, percussion & vocals, Michael Whiteman: bass, bass pedals, lead vocals & electric 12-string guitar, John Murphy: keyboards & vocals, David Addis: electric guitars & vocals
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supported by 79 fans who also own “Secret Passage”
Absolutely hooked on this album from first listen. How rare is that with prog!??? Excellent songwriting and musicianship. Can’t wait to dive into the rest of the collection. Thomas Lock
