Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Ghostly Host

Okay, since you pulled my arm, here’s an ACG tale from Whitney (you’re getting 2 Atlas stories from him tomorrow since I already have the scans done.) The Ghostly Host ain’t a bad tale though, Oggie’s art is perfect, the crook's tough guy banter is hysterical, and it does have an eerie, atmospheric snowbound setting (played to the hilt with occasional sparse background detail to really bring out the illusion of isolation and cold.) Yeah, actually now that I’ve re-read it again I like this one a lot.

From the Sept '51 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #23











++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Plus, a couple neato ACG horror ads...


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the scenes of the car lost in the snow!really gives you a feeling of dread!.also love the scene where Death points the watchman to Borgnine and Carney(i mean Nick and Kenny)and he's grinning,brrr looks like the crimson ghost.my only problem is the multicolored title.

silvano said...

Good story , great art ! As HP pointed out , the multi coloured title on the spash page looks out of place , but LOVE that floating grim reaper !

THANKS

Chuck Wells said...

ACG stuff rules and Whitney ain't bad either.

Also, thanks for the glimpse at the "Family Karswell" that you gave us below.

Anonymous said...

PRETTY COOL TALE, I THINK THE ATLAS STORIES ARE BETTER AND SCARIER BUT THIS ONE HAS ALOT GOING FOR IT. I WAS GONNA ASK WHAT WAS UP WITH THE RAINBOW TITLE TOO BUT........

The Vicar of VHS said...

Golly! Oh golly! It's over! Wotta relief! :)

I kinda felt this one took its time getting to where we all knew it was going--a 9 page story that could have been 6. Which is not to say that there weren't some nice touches:

* If your security guard in charge of a fortune in jewels is both deaf AND a narcoleptic, maybe you should start interviewing for a replacement

* Criminals are a fearful, superstitious lot.

* Nice to see Solomon Grundy's Dad make an appearance.

* "Aw, these apple-knockers can take it!" I've heard that term before, but in a completely different context.

And those rakish cop outfits on the last page--stunning! Jodhpurs are totally coming back, mark my words. :)

BTW, I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping you have a copy of that story from the first ad, with the demons crawling out of the street, Karswell...although chances are you've posted it already! :)

Mr. Karswell said...

>Love the scenes of the car lost in the snow!

Those are some of my favorite panels too, from any precode story actually.

>LOVE that floating grim reaper !

You can't beat a cool floating grim reaper Silvano, in any context!

>thanks for the glimpse at the "Family Karswell"

Thank you Chuck, and have fun at the con!

>you have a copy of that story from the first ad, with the demons crawling out of the street

I do have that issue, unfortunantly the cover art has nothing to do with any of the stories inside. I might have a good demon invasion story somewhere though, and when I find it I will dedicate it to you as I unleash the Hell spawn towards Arkansas.

Tim Beard said...

I'm with some of the others. The rainbow title kinda threw me. It's like I'm going to a happy fun time party hosted by the grim reaper.

Tenebrous Kate said...

I'm with you on the cop jodphurs, Vicar. I'd like to see jodphurs make a comeback, along with swami turbans. Though probably not worn in conjunction with one another. That would be gauche.

And... I kinda like the multiolored title. Hott disco grim reaper action indeed!

Mr. Karswell said...

>Hott disco grim reaper action indeed!

My tomb... my tomb... my tomb is on fire!

Anonymous said...

I actually thought this was as good as any of the Atlas stories you've posted this week. The coloring and printing seems better too.