Happy Walpurgis Night!

Tonight is Walpurgis Night (aka Witches’ Night), and as midnight ominously approaches, the lines between the living and dead get thinner and thinner… until finally evil is unleashed and the forces of darkness are free to roam among us!

It’s gonna be awesome… arrive early, stay late. I’ll bring the Chex Mix and Diet Mountain Dew.

Monster of the Mist

Here is more great art from legendary Jack Cole, this time about a giant bloodthirsty creature on the loose! It’s a wild story to end the month of April with--- enjoy!

From the May 1953 issue of Web of Evil #4

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Coming Next in May! A Full Week of Bill Everett!

The Flayed Hand

The great submissions just keep coming! Today’s post is from the July 1944 issue of Classics Illustrated #21 titled “3 Famous Mysteries” and contains a spine chilling re-telling of Guy De Maupassant’s excellent The Flayed Hand, featuring wonderfully weird art by Allen Simon. Other stories in this issue are the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Sign of 4, and Poe's "tale of ratiocination" The Murders in the Rue Morgue. (FYI: I'll be posting Rue Morgue early next month.)

Thanks to Todd Hunter for the scans!

Carolyn Jones

Happy Birthday Carolyn Jones, probably most famous in her timeless role as Morticia Frump Addams, but also many memorable performances in such classics as House of Wax (’53), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (’56), Color Me Dead (’69), Eaten Alive (’77), and more. Plus countless great TV roles in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ghost Story, Kochak the Night Stalker, etc… and least we forget her as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds on Batman!

Born this day in Amarillo TX, in 1930. R.I.P.

Like a Chicken Without a Head

Originally presented in the June 1953 issue of Uncanny Tales #9 (but scanned from my December 1973 issue of Uncanny Tales #1) comes this great mad doctor tale that, according to the Atlas site, is the second of two stories by Reed Crandall for Timely in 1953 before he joined EC. It’s interesting to compare his style here with the Ken Shannon story I posted last Thursday.

Horror of Mixed Torsos!

This was actually the story I was going to give you yesterday, that is, before the wife and I decided to take the kid to the Ozarks for the weekend. I suppose in light of the situation I should have an evil hillbilly tale for you here instead, but Brian Hirsch has again submitted one of the absolute most demented Dark Mysteries entries ever. Everybody show Brian some lovin’ for these scans! (And I don't mean "hillbilly lovin'!")

From Dark Mysteries #13

Murderer’s Row

It’s the final Saturday in April that means the last of the great Brian Hirsch submissions from The Thing! Anyone know the artist here? Also, as mentioned in yesterday’s comments there will be no new posts this Sunday, but there will be two story posts on Monday to make up for the loss of creepiness, (another story from Brian and the other from lil ‘ol me.) But for now, punch your ticket and enter the weirdest wax museum of them all…

From the Oct / Nov 1952 issue of The Thing #5

R.I.P.

The Horrors of Crime Week continues, and here’s Rex Lane again in his third and final THOIA appearance. Today’s story though is actually his very first appearance in Atlas Comics’ Young Men series, (I sort of posted them in reverse order--ooops.) But whatever, for anyone who’s a character completist you now have them all... you can re-read the other two spook-tacular “Solver of the Supernatural” adventures HERE, and HERE.
From the June 1953 issue of Young Men #21

Mucho thanks to Dave for the great looking scans!

The Corpse Grinders (TRAILER)

WARNING! DO NOT watch this if you’ve just eaten a hamburger!

Come Claim My Corpse

We’ve got corpses set to overload (and extra crispy) this week! Here’s a nifty little 2-page quickie bonus with a super hot ending.

From the November 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #12

Corpse That Wouldn’t Sleep

As promised, here’s another creepy chapter in the tough guy annals of my all-time favorite pre-code crime-busting private eye---Ken Shannon! Last month we saw him tackle the Weird Vampire Mob (read it HERE), but this time can he stop a creepy corpse on the prowl before his best girl Friday totally loses her marbles?

From the February 1952 issue of Ken Shannon #3

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And because I’m such a tease, here’s a few of my favorite Ken Shannon splash panels from some of his other various violent escapades. Someday soon I’ll post another one of these in its entirety, because with titles like Mansion of the Mangled Men, or Case of the Butchered Butcher, you know you’re in for 100% pure Ken Shannon ass kickings!