Fellow THOIA blood-brother Matthew Kirscht sends over an extra story for us today, a chilling Sid Check classic from the July 1954 issue of Beware #10. This one would have gone down really well with the Hangman’s Horror post from last Monday.
Thanks again to Matt for the scans!
11 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Good story with some really great art. The image of broken-necked phantasms walking (sorry, gliding) down the street just struck me as funny -- like a scene from a Bollywood movie or an 80s music video. "Come on everybody, won't you do the conga ..."
Maybe it's because of the lady in brown at the top of p6. She looks like she's practicing the pose because she wants in on the fun. "Now there are three of them. I don't want to be left out!"
And all this took place in two minutes? That's some fast work. Barstow is hereby nominated for most efficient corpse.
OH! GLAD I CHECKED BACK HERE TODAY FEELS LIKE DOUBLE POST SATURDAYS ARE BACK OR SOMETHING! AND LIKE JEFFOS SAID THIS ONE IS BOTH SILLY AND SPOOKY AT THE SAME TIME, FLOATING CORPSES CREEP ME OUT!! THANKS KARSWELL AND MAT!
Me too! Just like the floating old lady in The Drop of Water episode of Bava's Black Sabbath ('63), or the terrifying floating corpses in the mausoleum in One Dark Night ('83.) And need I mention the floating kid vampires in Salem's Lot ('79) that still to this day freeze my blood?! Makes one wonder why more horror films don't use this eerie approach, it's miles more unsettling than the stumbling or running undead.
The neck motif is fabulous. Like Jeffos mentioned, though it didn't strike me as silly, even the bystanders start to seem awkward and distended as the postmortem justice is meted. The whole mood of the universe has become effected.
This story touched on something I never even thought to wonder about before: how the perfectly "innocent" man at the beginning of this type of thing just immediately becomes a stone killer in the service of his own vengeance after death. In this one, even the bad guys switch sides to consummate this tenet of absolute morality. Pretty heady stuff.
Mr. Cavin Said "The neck motif is fabulous. Like Jeffos mentioned, though it didn't strike me as silly, even the bystanders start to seem awkward and distended as the postmortem justice is meted. The whole mood of the universe has become effected."
And that is one of the things that really made this effective for me. The mood is so palpable, and to me, Horrifying because all of the drawing is affected by this action. It's like a roller coaster ride that you can not leap off of, and are forced to be in this esperience for 6 pages.
I think the corpses floating down the street with twisted reddened necks is one of the freakiest things I have seen in a comic & never struck me as comical at all.
The Neck broken with the phone cord is BRUTAL. The whole story is brutal, maybe one of the scariest I have seen.
The original comic is scarce to begin with, and because of the Frazetta cover VERY pricey, so I have a feeling not too many have come across this before. I was stunned when I opened the book and found this inside.
One of the other great "Hanging" stories is in Strange stories from another World" #2, and it too is beyond belief, with the main character staggering around after hanging with his head backwards, and because he cannot see where he is going, he stumbles into a fire, and then walks around charred & half skeletal with his head facing the wrong way. Creepy stuff.
"Your smooth neck...your firm neck..." Wow, someone has a fetish!
I'm sorry I missed this one yesterday--this is a wild, creepy tale! Apart from the fabulous corpse drawings--that creepy panel at the bottom of pg. 3 blows me away ("What dread thing is this" indeed!)--something that really struck me here were the expressive drawings of hands throughout. Esp. noticeable on pg. 2, where Blondie McBrownsuit throws up the devil horns in one panel and then gives it the Lugosi Spread a couple panels further on. Cool stuff.
I was wondering how the innocent man was being treated in prison. Dig those torn up clothes! Looks like he was in the Bastille, not Sing-Sing!
Also--"He's been dead for exactly two minutes!" And yet he's accomplished so much! I guess the dead really DO travel fast!
The wild finish--three on a noose--just pushes the awesome-meter into the red. Great stuff.
This would not have moved me but for "And now I'll help you get your complete revenge!" Spooky ghosts trigger something in me scary ghosts do not. Eee.
11 comments:
Good story with some really great art. The image of broken-necked phantasms walking (sorry, gliding) down the street just struck me as funny -- like a scene from a Bollywood movie or an 80s music video. "Come on everybody, won't you do the conga ..."
Maybe it's because of the lady in brown at the top of p6. She looks like she's practicing the pose because she wants in on the fun. "Now there are three of them. I don't want to be left out!"
And all this took place in two minutes? That's some fast work. Barstow is hereby nominated for most efficient corpse.
"Get out of their way. Oooooh!"
OH! GLAD I CHECKED BACK HERE TODAY FEELS LIKE DOUBLE POST SATURDAYS ARE BACK OR SOMETHING! AND LIKE JEFFOS SAID THIS ONE IS BOTH SILLY AND SPOOKY AT THE SAME TIME, FLOATING CORPSES CREEP ME OUT!!
THANKS KARSWELL AND MAT!
>FLOATING CORPSES CREEP ME OUT!!
Me too! Just like the floating old lady in The Drop of Water episode of Bava's Black Sabbath ('63), or the terrifying floating corpses in the mausoleum in One Dark Night ('83.) And need I mention the floating kid vampires in Salem's Lot ('79) that still to this day freeze my blood?! Makes one wonder why more horror films don't use this eerie approach, it's miles more unsettling than the stumbling or running undead.
When Batman said "Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot" he called it about right.
The neck motif is fabulous. Like Jeffos mentioned, though it didn't strike me as silly, even the bystanders start to seem awkward and distended as the postmortem justice is meted. The whole mood of the universe has become effected.
This story touched on something I never even thought to wonder about before: how the perfectly "innocent" man at the beginning of this type of thing just immediately becomes a stone killer in the service of his own vengeance after death. In this one, even the bad guys switch sides to consummate this tenet of absolute morality. Pretty heady stuff.
a very big THANKS to Matthew for sharing with the rest of us this forgotten jewel ! Truly a great story ; but the artwork is REALLY OUTSTANDING !
my neck hurts
Mr. Cavin Said
"The neck motif is fabulous. Like Jeffos mentioned, though it didn't strike me as silly, even the bystanders start to seem awkward and distended as the postmortem justice is meted. The whole mood of the universe has become effected."
And that is one of the things that really made this effective for me. The mood is so palpable, and to me, Horrifying because all of the drawing is affected by this action. It's like a roller coaster ride that you can not leap off of, and are forced to be in this esperience for 6 pages.
I think the corpses floating down the street with twisted reddened necks is one of the freakiest things I have seen in a comic & never struck me as comical at all.
The Neck broken with the phone cord is BRUTAL. The whole story is brutal, maybe one of the scariest I have seen.
The original comic is scarce to begin with, and because of the Frazetta cover VERY pricey, so I have a feeling not too many have come across this before. I was stunned when I opened the book and found this inside.
One of the other great "Hanging" stories is in Strange stories from another World" #2, and it too is beyond belief, with the main character staggering around after hanging with his head backwards, and because he cannot see where he is going, he stumbles into a fire, and then walks around charred & half skeletal with his head facing the wrong way. Creepy stuff.
Glad you all enjoyed it! - matthew
time for the odd man out to speak up...... this is a decent fast paced story, but sid check has done better
"Your smooth neck...your firm neck..." Wow, someone has a fetish!
I'm sorry I missed this one yesterday--this is a wild, creepy tale! Apart from the fabulous corpse drawings--that creepy panel at the bottom of pg. 3 blows me away ("What dread thing is this" indeed!)--something that really struck me here were the expressive drawings of hands throughout. Esp. noticeable on pg. 2, where Blondie McBrownsuit throws up the devil horns in one panel and then gives it the Lugosi Spread a couple panels further on. Cool stuff.
I was wondering how the innocent man was being treated in prison. Dig those torn up clothes! Looks like he was in the Bastille, not Sing-Sing!
Also--"He's been dead for exactly two minutes!" And yet he's accomplished so much! I guess the dead really DO travel fast!
The wild finish--three on a noose--just pushes the awesome-meter into the red. Great stuff.
This would not have moved me but for "And now I'll help you get your complete revenge!" Spooky ghosts trigger something in me scary ghosts do not. Eee.
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