Horror Without a Head

One of my all time favorite precode Harvey stories is "Headless Horror" from the May 1952 issue of Chamber of Chills #8-- click HERE to read it in our THOIA Archive! It's surprisingly gory and superbly atmospheric, and seriously, I like it so much I put it in the "Scarifying Mr. Karswell Issue" of Haunted Horror #14! So again today we have an Eerie Pub remake/redraw, retitled "Horror Without a Head", and as usual we see an updated Harvey classic (this time with Nestor Olivera art) that is visually moody and cinematic, though I will say the 50's original is probably more effectively violent because we get to see all that glorious gore in FULL COLOR! Another interesting choice in the remake is to take the fabulous panel from page 6 of the original story and rework it a bit for the new splash. Like our previous posts this month, today's tale is also from the September 1981 issue of of Terrors of Dracula Vol. 3 #2. Anybody getting tired of these Eerie Pub remakes yet?

Jeb's Bloody Ghost

Yet another Eerie Pub remake / redraw of a classic precode horror tale, and from the same issue of Terrors of Dracula that we've been creepin' through all this month (see our previous posts) --now, where as most of you have been pleased with the updated artwork we've presented thus far, I am fairly certain this time you'll be less than enthusiastic-- though revamping anything originally illustrated by the vastly superior hand of Jack Cole is likely to never stand a chance of being on par, even from someone as interestingly talented as Marchionne. After you read today's post, click HERE to see the original Jack Cole version, "Hangman's Horror" which first appeared in the January 1953 issue of Web of Evil #2 --and more recently reprinted in our Jack Cole's Deadly Horror collection, as well as Haunted Horror #3, (IDW / Yoe Books.)

Ferry of the Dead / The Dead Demons

Doesn't seem right posting stories from an Eerie Pub issue without uploading at least one blood spurtin' Dick Ayers tale too! And like our last post, "The Dead Demons" is from the same Terrors of Dracula issue as our double vampire freak-out, though the story itself was originally a Harvey story as well, and titled "Ferry of the Dead" from the August 1951 issue of Chamber of Chills Magazine #22. And since I've apparently never posted that Golden Oldie here at THOIA, let's immediately correct that first, shall we? So read 'em and weep, fiends... which one is better?

Vampire vs. The Strange Vampire

We've unearthed the Sept '81 issue of Terrors of Dracula Vol. 3 #2 (which turned out to be the very last issue of this short-lived Eerie Pub series), for a double header of blood sucker fun. "Vampire" was originally a precode Harvey horror tale and was featured in the Jan '53 issue of Tomb of Terror #7 as "Shadow of Death"--compare to the original version HERE! --while "The Strange Vampire" originally appeared in the Dec '51 issue of Web of Mystery #6 as Ace's "The Vampire's Weird Duel", but unfortunately I don't have that issue for comparison. Anyway, which tale has more bite?

Stranger Tales

Someone tumblr'd this wonderful tribute to Atlas comic's Strange Tales, mashed with the wildly popular new Netflix original series, Stranger Things-- but it was unfortunately tumblr'd without giving an artist credit, arghh! Does anyone know who created this? Love it.

To Wake the Dead

We've seen this type of story around here before: a rich asshole schemer ignores eerie warnings and awakens the vengeful supernatural-- but Ernie Chua delivers a really petrifying panel of pissed off dead at the top of page 5 (it's somehow even creepier than Nick Cardy's awesome cover art), plus a really cool, freak-out splash too, and that my friends makes this post essential for the THOIA Archive! From the August 1973 issue of The Unexpected #149. FYI: Fans of The Spectre should keep their eyes peeled for a certain police officer guest star possibly implied in today's tale as well...