Thursday, July 12, 2007

Damned Introduction: The Running Ghost

Welcome kiddies to my bone chilling, cobweb coated, blood splattered blog of horror! This soul searing site is devoted to the finest Pre-Code horror comics ever created. My solemn oath is to supply you with an unhealthy dosage of severed heads and hacked limbs, and as many shambling dead as I can resurrect--- straight from the early 50's Golden Age! Each week I will scan in a couple creepy stories (not complete issues) from my own collection, and post them here for you to devour. My focus will be on lesser publications like Atlas, Ace, Harvey, ACG, Comic Media, St. John, Standard and so on. I'll probably steer clear of the EC titles only because there are plenty of other places on the web devoted to EC as well as affordable reprints at every funny book shack around the world.

All comments and suggestions are welcome, so tell me what you'd like to see and I'll work my old black magic to make this the best Pre-Code horror blog on the web.

Now, without further ado... from Standard Comics 1951 issue of MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES #12 comes: THE RUNNING GHOST!






16 comments:

Jeff Victor said...

Awesome idea for a blog! I'll link to it from mine and check back often!

Junker138 said...

Murder by foot what a way to go and all for just a few hundred dollars man what a rip...

Eyeball said...

I dont have a blog! I cant afford comics!

I'll just bookmark yours and get the best of both woilds.

Unknown said...

If I had a blog, I would dedicate numerous entries on how much I enjoy "The Horrors of it All". Gotta love those floating ghost limbs with their red, meaty end parts.

Mr. Karswell said...

Glad you liked it... I figured the best way to kick off this blog was with plenty of red meaty end parts.

So I'm trying to come up with good concepts or themes if anyone wants to donate suggestions I'm wide open for anything... examples: "A Week of Werewolves", "Vegetation Gone Wild", "Shrunken Head Sundays", stuff like that.

Anonymous said...

Man! I love this one. The narration in these things is the best. I like how the narrator calls the one guy an idiot! haha! Great scans too. This page is great. I am your biggest fan.

Mr. Karswell said...

Thanks Chris! Get set for a major ghoulish update in the next day or so.

Anonymous said...

I've been an EC fan since 1976. Reading these other pre code horror comics has opened up a new world for me. Its amazing how some of the artists seemed to emulate the style of the EC artists. I see the influence of Jack Davis (very definitely), Graham Ingels, and Joe Orlando.

blackwalnut2001 said...

This story is retold in Eerie Publlications' HORROR TALES V3#3 for May 1971. The text is practically identical in every panel; the drawings are of course different -- and much inferior to the original.

TheHolderOfTales said...

Whew, I finally reached the beginning.

Brian Barnes said...

Well, this blog is certainly incredible. I wonder what will happen to it in the future?

Fun gooey body parts horror story, though the colorist toned down some panels (like the completely dismembered body) but then used full color for the up-close shots (like the legs.) That's some weird choices!

nutsilica.blogspot.com said...

This is a great pre-code fifties horror story to begin the blog with.
This blog is the greatest thing on the internet. I'm serious. So much of the internet is just a little nibble of something. All of the imagination and thought that was in these stories is staggering, and they are all here for free for anyone in the whole connected world.
This blog is a service to art. The artists were so creative and imaginative that they created multiple worlds. Their work can live as a part of our living culture thanks to the Horrors of It All.

Mr. Karswell said...

Thanks again everyone for the awesome comments on this, the very first THOIA post ever! I love hearing that people actually bother going back (way back in fact) to the very beginning to see where we started! And of course we couldn’t have done it without you! As long as you keep coming back for more, I’ll keep diggin’ up the dirt! Much love and endless thanks forever! :)

Arben said...

I just got here the easy way... Meaning, I clicked through the earliest post on the sidebar. I started reading a bunch of scan blogs recently while laid up recuperating from illness -- *not* the infamous one making the rounds, thankfully -- and for the most part have opted to go in chronological order from the very start.

Slayla said...

What a fantastic first story and post Mr Karswell!

Mr. Karswell said...

Love seeing new faces around here! “Welcome children! Cross over children. All are welcome. All welcome. Go into the Light...”