Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Haunt from the Sea (CONTEST)

It's the last day of September and ::drum roll:: it’s contest time again! And here we have a strange sort of “love story” from the May 1952 issue of Journey into Fear #7. And as you shall see, this one ultimately ends on a weird, perverse bit o’shivery implication... hence the subject for our THOIA contest today (please read the details after the story.)

But first, dive into the sea, and fall in love with the---











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

CONTEST TIME!

Did you read today’s story? When you got to the excruciatingly vague narrative in the final panel, did your brain snap? So howz'about you do us all a favor and finish this mother out. In a nutshell, explain to everyone what it is that is “too intricate for mere man to comprehend.” Unless of course you are just a mere man or woman with no comprehension of what could have possibly happened next. And yes dearest contestants, that is my challenge to you.

You have until Friday, October 3rd MIDNIGHT to give us your best answer, it can be posted here on THOIA in the comments section, but please include your name---this is very important! Or be super secretive and email your stunning finale directly to me at karswell@hotmail.com So make it good, make it shocking, make it disturbing, or maybe make it sexy. Whatever you do though please make it interesting because people ::more drum roll:: Dr. Phibes will be judging! And, simply put, he is the most harsh and unruly of all THOIA Judges.

He even has a few words for you now, so listen up, yo:

To all my friends at THOIA:
Karswell has asked me to pass judgment on today's contest. (He also gave me a strange piece of parchment, but I'm not sure what that is about.) Anyway, I'm looking for creativity. Remember, I once killed a man with a unicorn head and a catapult. I want to hear the craziest logic, the most far fetched scenarios. Lay it on thick and heavy, like the makeup I wear to hide my hideous skull face. I look forward to your responses, which I'll have Vulnavia read to me while dancing to my Clockwork Wizards band.
Good Luck.
---Dr. Phibes
PRIZE: The lucky 1st place winner gets a THOIA tee shirt and some extra surprise bonus stuff... and one runner-up will get their bloody paws on something spooky cool too. If you’ve already won a THOIA shirt in the past I’ll give you something else, probably from my DVD or longbox collection. Winners will be announced on Saturday morning, October 4th.
Good luck to all! Now, play dirty…

17 comments:

Maurizio Ercole said...

"Haunt from the sea" love this one, the monster an the girl, also the tropical location. There is an italian movie "L'Isola degli Uomini Pesce" (aka Island of Mutations, Screamers, Something Waits in the Dark) with very similar situations.

silvano said...

I agree with Maurizio regarding the similarity with the Italian movie , but I might add the tale also bears similarities with several Lovecraft ( and Lovecraft-inspired ) short novels , like DAGON , to name one ,which could suggest weird and sinister meanings to the expression "too intricate for mere men to comprehend" ; but the sinplest thing could be that the gilled creature knew that the sun would have dried the rope inside the pearls strangling the girl who , after being buried at sea would have been finally his...
In this sase NECROPHILIAC CREATURE FROM TERROR ISLAND would be a really fitting and wild title...
Aw,great comic story in any way !
Thanks for sharing

Mr. Cavin said...

Interesting. I found the end of this one to be altogether less forced or opaque than some. A couple weeks ago you presented a story that seemed very much to be wholly missing it's last page, but this one seems neatly complete. See Silvano's comment above.

But oh well. Now that it's a contest I don't want to say anything. Not only do I not want to use any of the possible ideas I might incorporate into the end of the plot, but I also don't want to accidentally blast anyone else's plot points into the open, either.

Lovely weather we've been having, huh? Here in Viet Nam it rains every single day. The dry season isn't until November. Then it'll be, you know, dry for six months.

Tim Tylor said...

Hmm... The creature gazed with satisfaction on the "pearls", already softening and swelling to reveal the quivering specks of life within. By nightfall the creature's young would be hatched and gorging on the body of their unknowing human benefactor. Grown strong on this banquet, they would turn on each other in a fratricidal frenzy from which would emerge a single hardened survivor, heir to the island and its treacherous waters. The creature was old and near death, but it knew its line would never end while the tides flowed and stereotypically inept human heroines walked the earth. Tim Tylor

And on that last note, two bits of unsolicited advice:
* While advancing on an unknown enemy while armed only with a blunt stick, do not yell "Hi! I'm coming to kill ya!"
* When the monster is advancing on you, either attack it or run. I do not advise wriggling provotically while moaning "Oh oh oh! will someone not save me from this very slow-moving fish thing!"
Just saying.

The Vicar of VHS said...

Like Mr. Cavin I'm not tipping my hand on the contest front, but this is such a wild and AWESOME story I just had to comment...

*" It rose from the depths seeking companionship, and in return it offered DEATH!" Worst. Craigslist. Ad. Ever.

* That Marion is a tough strong woman--sailing alone, experienced cap'n, and those LASHES! I like.

* P2 onward: it's a total cheesecake buffet! Not to mention a legman/foot fetishist's dream! More, please.

* All those cave shots--paging Dr. Freud!

* At the top of p5--WOW! She was so scared she had an orgasm!

* The Fish man is kind of sweet, actually--trying to court her the old fashioned way, offering jewels, sparkin' in the parlor...

* p7 - "Frantically she sat..."--how does one sit frantically? I've never tried...

Anyway, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one, and not just because of all the luscious female flesh on display. Although, to coin a phrase, it sure don't hoit...

Now to dip my quill in the ink and come up with a fitting conclusion...

Frederick said...

OK, I don't think this whole story was going nowhere, with the creature simply being a cruel killer. It's obvious it loved her, so why kill her in such a way?

No, the last line reveals that the creature knew something we didn't. I'm postulating that the thing was once human, but his race possessed knowledge of arcane rituals that could bring back those that recently died as a mutated fish life-form. He didn't want to kill her outright, causing her to hate him, but he did arrange for her to die later, knowing he could afterward bring her back to life as one like him.

Marc Burkhardt said...

Nice good girl art.

As for the ending, well as a mere mortal I cannot comprehend the complicated thoughts of a fish-thing.

But let's try:

After retrieving the body, the fish creature - with the aid of the pearl talismen - transmitted its consciousness into the corpse and assumed the hapless victim's identity.

Making it back to the mainland - in a manner to complicated to comprehend - the creature is now free to walk among humnas and advance its agenda ...

Which is, you know, killing people and stealing their bodies and stuff.

Marc Burkhardt said...

Oops. I meant "humans."

Prof. Grewbeard said...

"FULFILLED a plot too intricate for mere man to conceive" seems to me to imply that he's already gotten what he wanted- whatever that is. maybe the creature just wanted a girlfriend, dead or alive, but i don't think he intended for her to die, seaweed just being the only thing around to string pearls with. what i suspect is that the writers wrote themselves onto Outcast Island and couldn't escape either. the last panel would've played fine without the narrator's comment. or else it contained a typo and should've read MER men and the creature didn't have any idea what was going on either! i'm not gonna win a shirt, am i?

Anonymous said...

COOL STORY AND FUN CONTEST, I'LL BE SENDING MY THOUGTHS TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS LATER THIS EVENING

Anonymous said...

o ye mere man/meremen/merewomen/meremer-etc..... a plot may well have been fulfilled - this does not necessarily mean that (even) the nameless one comprehended it or realised it had been fulfilled.....(exits pursued by a murmuring meremer.......)

Anonymous said...

We're off to a good start. I have a few that Karswell sent to me offline. I like the variety. Some are concise and at least one is so convoluted as to involve aliens, time travel, zombies and more! None have mentioned how the 700 billion dollar bail out adversely affected the creature's retirement portfolio, causing him to kill humans for their gold teeth, but that's ok. Keep them coming!

Mr. Karswell said...

Groovy... thanks to everyone who stopped by today and joined in the contest. Remember: get your Haunt from the Sea scenario to us before Friday by MIDNIGHT, win yourself a cool THOIA shirt and some other horror stuffs.

So October is finally upon us, OUR month, and though many of you know that everyday is Halloween in the THOIA Kingdom, this month I swear on all your graves that I'll bump up the terror level a notch or two. Stink of Death Weekend coming up the 4th and 5th, some ACG Tru-Vision 3D horror, another week of ACE horrors, Shrunken Heads, and of course the week leading up to Halloween will be HORROR OVERLOAD. S'gonna be scary, say yer prayers, and die die my darlings...

Anonymous said...

WOW.could the captions be any more descriptive?positively insane.i'd love to come up with an explanation but my brain hurts,i just hope that until her body gets soggy the creature can "dwell admidst(her)wonder and glory forever"....

Anonymous said...

"in the end it is the mystery that lasts and not the explanation"

sacheverell sitwell
"for want of the golden city"

Todd Franklin said...

Ok, I just read this twisted tale, so I'll email you my entry!

Captainadam said...

I think she complained more than any other character I've seen on this blog. Every other panel she was complaining about something. Maybe that's why the creature wanted her dead rather than alive.