From the November 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #12
Monday, April 14, 2008
Detour: Lorelei on Highway 52
The request posts are over for the time being, but we’re sticking with Black Magic for a few more days. I particularly like this story as it’s yet another variation on the roadside ghost girl theme I love so much. Practically every little town in America has their own take on this legend / myth, and if anyone would like to share one from their own creepy part of the country I’d love to hear about it.
From the November 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #12
From the November 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #12
Looks to me like Kirby did the ghost girl in the opening splash of this story but nothing else.
ReplyDeleteCOOL STORY....TRUCKER HORROR! MY BORING CITY HAS NO MYTHS SO I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SHARE.
ReplyDeleteArt by Bob McCarty and it indeed seems Jack Kirby pencilled the woman in the splash - or somene swiped one of his women from another story.
ReplyDeletereally liking these Black Magic stories and need to pick some up myself too I guess. probaby go for the reprints
ReplyDeleteVery good story and art,it's even more disturbing,in my opinion,than Eisner's "Lorelei Rox" story(in fact given that DC now owns THE SPIRIT and reprinted BLACK MAGIC in the 70's,it could even be considered the same woman.)if not as well drawn,just as well-written.(then again who can top Eisner?)i really hope Steve got his comeuppance too.
ReplyDeleteJust tell 'em Large Marge sent ya!
ReplyDelete"I just had time to scream like a frightened schoolgirl!"
ReplyDeleteWell hell, there's ALWAYS time for that! :)
This one is strangely chilling--I love the narration from the hospital bed, all wrapped up deaf and dumb, reminds me of Johnny Got His Gun, which is a nightmare story for me. Also the writing here is great, even if it does go on a bit. I love the patient set-up and pay-off of his having a hearing aid, too. Even though most readers can see what's coming, it still makes for a nice conclusion.
Oh, and in my neck of the woods we have "The Woodson Lateral Ghost." Woodson Lateral is the name of a long rural road, which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a decapitated motorcyclist looking for his head. I never saw him myself, but several of my high school friends claimed to have seen the ghostly orange headlight rolling slowly toward them on the dark, tree-lined road...
ReplyDeleteWL was also supposed to be a prime spot for devil-worship ceremonies, because you know we have a HUGE underground Satanist population in central Arkansas... :)
Ah, someone actually bothered to tell a tale of their area, thank you Vicar! So bascially you guys have Johnny Blaze minus the flaming skull then eh? MO has a couple legends worth mentioning, Momo the Monster of course is our variation on the Bigfoot type hair beastie, and St. Charles County has an interesting legend about a horribly dismembered witch named Molly Crenshaw who simply refuses to rest in pieces... and somewhere down in southern MO is the evil Albino Farm that is (according to Fangoria) actually being made into a low budget movie as I type this.
ReplyDeleteOh, if we're not just talking road ghosts, we've also got a bigfoot-type creature: the Fouke Monster, immortalized in the low-budget somewhat fake-ish documentary and drive-in mainstay The Legend of Boggy Creek. Which I need to get round to watching some day. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is probably why Yellow Trucks paint their trucks ORANGE.
ReplyDeleteIf Ajax Trucking would just put the Comet logo on their trucks, they could fool the singing roadside hooker.