Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Recluse + THOIA (a poem)

Some of you might remember last month I had a “Stupidest Killers Weekend” special... and by golly today’s post falls into that ridiculously entertaining category as well. See how much sympathy you can muster up for these two geniuses as they try to take advantage of – The Recluse!
From the May 1954 issue of Out of the Shadows #13







COMING NEXT IN SEPTEMBER:
Strange Mysteries #9 in it’s ENTIRETY!

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As we wrap up the last day of August here at THOIA, we thank everyone again for their continued daily devotion, and in some cases, their continued contributions to the cause. Brian Hirsch for example started out as merely my favorite ebay seller of pre code comics, but over the last few years he’s become a good friend and one of my most popular donators of gruesome Golden Age goodies. Check my archives, some of the best stories I’ve ever posted here have come from him. Who could ever forget I MUST KILL!??!

Below we see Brian in his dank, dark dungeon. It’s a typical Saturday night in his doommain, sacrificing virgins and drinking their blood... and it is here he relaxes, head bowed, in morbid meditation, while casually burning the midnight fires to his Dark Lord, in eternal, evil servitude:


But wait... something is wrong. One mispronounced word in the incantation has altered his nightly ritual, and thus called forth some-thing he had not bargained for! Something black and corrupt, brimming with endless, diabolical terror! It now crosses over into our realm, possessing his angelic son, enveloping the child’s flesh with something from not of this world! It’s… it’s… a THOIA shirt! AIEEEEEE!


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THE HORRORS OF IT ALL (a poem by Brian Hirsch)

The witching hour has finally arrived
What once was dead is now alive
Spirits near and far, heed your Master’s call
And join me at THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
Get yourself ready and take a step inside
It will be painless, just like a swallow of cyanide
We are legion and always looking for a new friend
There’s a cemetery gathering that you just have to attend

Where skeletons can dance without any skin
And sinners are free to revel in their guiltless sin
Lost souls forever trapped between here and there
Are caught in a realm found in your worst nightmare

Inhuman screams come from a mother in unnatural childbirth
As a rotting zombie is spat forth from cursed earth
You might even catch a glimpse of an angel’s fall
Down here at THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
Where wrong is always right and the truth is full of lies
And the insane try to escape from a Hell of their own devise
An unholy place that reeks of charred flesh and brimstone
That will make every demon feel right at home

Blind eyes see all movement from behind the dead wood
You can come alone but I don’t think that you should
Here awaits you all the things that go bump in the night
That suddenly disappear when you turn on a light

Witches, werewolves, vampires and ghouls are just a few
Of the inhabitants looking forward to meeting you
Out of the swamps many hideous creatures crawl
To greet you at THE HORRORS OF IT ALL

(Thanks again, Brian! ---Karswell)

12 comments:

  1. Great unintentional humour , but great artwok too !

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  2. Teeth are apparently very flammable.

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  3. This is really the best blog an horror fan could find!

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  4. This was great! Possibly this isn't the best story in the last little spate, but god help me it's my favorite. I'm totally delighted.

    I don't know if my favorite frame is the one where the wrapped burn victim is smoking in his hospital bed at the top of page five, or the panel at the bottom of four where Gladys and Phil are flying whimsically from the burning house with their crotches on fire.

    Either way, wow, I've totally added these scans to my collection. Thanks!

    And I don't know from poetry, but those pictures of Mr. Hirsch are fabulous. Well done.

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  5. Anonymous8/31/2008

    REALLY REALLY GOOD STORY TODAY, THE ART REMINDS ME OF TOTH A LITTLE IN SOME PLACES. SUPER ENDING.

    AND WOW THOSE PIX OF BRIAN ARE INSANE! VERY NICE POEM TOO.......ITS NEAT TO SEE SOMEONE GIVE YOU SOMETHING BACK LIKE THAT. ALL THE COOL PEOPLE HANG OUT AT THOIA!

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  6. Anonymous8/31/2008

    Boyeee... no wonder Gladys looks shocked in the splash panel; the ol' guy's really fondlin' his candle, there. And in the first panel of page 2, while grabbing her hand!

    (And you just knew the ending the second you saw the loving couple in the hospital!)

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  7. Great art for this story. I love it. Yesterday at the cinema theater I have seen (with your fantastic shirt) the old style kaiju movie "Monster X strikes back: attack the G8 summit!", i recommend you it's very funny! This is the trailer:
    http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2008/01/31/guilalas-counter-attack/

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  8. Sorry, the triler is this one:
    http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/monster_x_strikes_back_trailer/

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  9. Anonymous8/31/2008

    Great poem,Brian.......it's original....uh...Walter Paisley is born?...nothing to say.

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  10. Well, thass it for August... be here bright and early in September for more bloody brilliance from the greatest era of comic books ever.

    And as usual email any additional comments, suggestions, submissions, and donations to karswell@hotmail.com ...leaving comments here at THOIA is also most welcome and highly recommended. Thanks gang.

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  11. Anonymous9/01/2008

    Brian rules! Excellent poem! I would like to see more of his sick, twisted, disturbing stuff!

    Mike H

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  12. Bandaged burnt Phil smoking in the hospital bed totally made my day.

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