Terror in Black Hollow

Bier (beer) – noun. A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial.
If you’re like me and not up on your funeral accessory terminology then this definition might be of some help to you before reading this creepy tale and thus getting an unintentional, mood breaker moment like I did. I was like, “Why are mummies singing about having no beer?” They're spooky mummies too, and The Evil One of this story, with his hypno-eyes, melty teeth, and arthritic claws, reminds me of something Bill Everett would have unleashed upon us; but no, it’s another grand nightmare courtesy of my new fave Jon Blummer to help us wrap up March nicely.

From the Jan-Feb 1953 issue of Skeleton Hand #3

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Coming Next in April: Cheesasaurus Rex #1 --- in it’s entirety!

The Imposter!

More scaly monster action, this time from ACG… home of the scaly everything, plus tentacles. AIIIIIII! From the December 1953 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #50.

Were-Panthers of London

Another totally true “NOW” story from the insidious London underground! And from the January-February 1953 issue of Skeleton Hand #3.

Valley of the Scaly Monsters

Neither man nor beast, but a spawn of evil! Starring Mamie Van Doren as Diane, John Bromfield as Roy, Susan Cabot as The Queen, Gene Roth as Dad. And ladies, introducing Malibo! ---the screen’s most exotic new actor!

From the January 1951 issue of The Beyond #2

The Thieves

Mr. Door Tree and I have apparently had another unintentional mental connection this week as I’ve been planning a Matt Fox story for over a week now and on Wednesday he began a spectacular multi-posting of Weird Tales covers and even a couple stories by Matt Fox himself! So after you read today’s sci-fi horror classic here, make sure to head over to the Golden Age Comic Books Stories blog for more works from one truly mad genius!

From the March 1954 issue of Adventures into Weird Worlds #27

The Great Garloo (VIDEO)

Who can stop him? Who can control this monstrous creature?! You can kids!

Helen's Husband

The great Ogden Whitney wraps up our 3-day glimpse inside the May 1952 issue of Astonishing #13 with yet another ultra-spooky, atmospheric Atlas terror tale. FYI to you completists, there are two more stories from this issue that I’ll probably post in the coming weeks, so keep checking back.

The Death Watch

Here’s another chiller from the May 1952 issue of Astonishing #13 with more excellent art, this time from Cal Massey. According to Lambiek, Massey worked from the late 40’s to the mid 50’s (the bulk of his output for Timely / Atlas) before turning his artistic focus to painting and representing the black community in the art world.

Ghoul’s Gold

We’re going to take a slightly extended look at a ghoulishly fun issue of Astonishing for the next few days, kicking things off with one of my all-time creepy favorites from Bernie Krigstein.

From the May 1952 issue of Astonishing #13

The Black Room

Today I have a Jay Disbrow guillotine story that someone requested a million years ago, (you can now STOP EMAILING ME!) and as I was repeatedly reminded, this would have been great had I posted it last week with all the other beheaded tales. Oh well. But actually the greatest thing about this one, aside from the classic art and many typos, is that it also doubles as a grueling drinking game. DIRECTIONS: Have all your friends over one night and read this tale aloud. Whenever you hear the words “The Black Room” everyone must down a shot. (If someone’s not bombed by the middle of page 4 then they’re obviously cheating.)

From the May 1952 issue of Blue Bolt Weird Tales #113

Grip On Life

You know those horror story endings with a murdered person coming back for vengeance and dragging their killer into a grave with them so they can “be together forever and ever” in eternal doom? Yeah? Well, what exactly happens in there? Seems to me it’d just be one big long hug as there’s barely enough room inside a coffin to scratch your knee let alone chew on someone’s soul or claw out their brain.

From the Nov 1953 issue of The Unseen #12

The City of the Dead

I mentioned in a previous comment section that because of time / space constraints after this month I was no longer going to have two story posts on Saturdays. Well, I lied… I’m going back to one post per Saturdays starting TODAY. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, but I believe today’s single post is worth the price of two anyway. Quality over quantity.

From the April 1953 issue of This Magazine is Haunted #10

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