Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Vampire With the Iron Teeth

As you may have figured out by now, Dark Mysteries #15 (1953) is a damn good issue… well, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad anyway. And what do you know--- I haven’t posted a Hy Fleishman tale since October, so now is the perfect time to unleash this terrifically oddball terror tale by one of my favorite Golden Age artists... AIEEEE!








NEXT: The Crimes of it All!

A THOIA reader requested that I print out the lyrics to The Horror of it All movie / theme song, so here ya go, Den! If anyone hasn't heard it yet then be sure to check it out, located in my jukebox on the righthand sidebar, up towards the top.


The Horror of it All (sung by Pat Boone)

When the bats fly free through the belfry
And I hear quick steps, soft and stealthy
Through a clammy fog, so unhealthy
I feel the horror of it all.

Add a doctor mad, (I mean ingenious)
With his fresh made lab (Frankenstein, yes)
Vampires eating lunch (intravenous)
I feel the horror of it all.

When the spiders crawl swift and hairy
Through the shadows tall, dark and scary
Just one bite and Obituary
I feel the horror of it all.

Still it’s been said
The best things in life are dead
I hear even monsters have their charm
So, what the heck?
Just a nip in the neck
And I’m back in my Mummy’s arms

Though there’s just one thing that can chill me
Nights without your sweet kiss could thrill me
Life without your love that could kill me
That would be the horror of it all.
That would be the real horror
That would be the blank terror!
That would be the stark raving---
Horror of it all…

14 comments:

  1. Faboo! A freaky comic about ye olde tyme dentistry, and swell song lyrics all in one post. A twofer to be proud of!
    I'm glad I don't have that guy for my dentist.

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  2. Anonymous9/16/2009

    1) Obviously, I need to see the Terence Fisher/Pat Boone movie "The Horror of It All." It is a gaping lacuna in my cinematic record-book.

    2) As a dedicated music snob of long standing, I assumed that your MP3 was some kind of contemporary pastiche. Jeez, that is a totally sucky attempt at a emulating functional tonal harmony in a minor key. Give me Lon Chaney's "Cannibal Orgy" any day. Sorry to be such a drag.

    3) Nice comic. Thanks for the share.

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  3. Anonymous9/16/2009

    Lon Chaney, Cannibal Orgy

    An active mp3 link. I aim to please.

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  4. But... the vampire didn't have iron... oh well, you have to love the portrait of 18th century Europe where people are traveling from miles around to see some friggin' dentures.

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  5. Anonymous9/16/2009

    VERY COOL WEIRD STORY AND HY'S ARTWORK IS TOP NOTCH AS ALWAYS. I REALLY LOVE THE SPOOKY GRAVEYARD PANEL AT THE TOP OF PAGE 5.

    AND THANKS FOR TYPING OUT THE LYRICS TO THE HILARIOUS THOIA THEME SONG.........I MUST SEE THE MOVIE NOW TOO!

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  6. "False teeth that do not clack." That sounds like an outstanding advertising line for a dentist, and I'll suggest it to my dentist next week during my checkup.

    This story adds to the vampire mythology, that the teeth make the monster. So why is Babette rotting in her grave when she's undead?

    I love a goofy story.

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  7. I was wondering how a vampire could have iron teeth, since iron implements were supposed to be anathema to vampires. No wait, she gets another set of teeth, The dentist looks to me like a skinnier version of Vincent Price.

    Great "SCREEEAM" sound effect on the last page, too!

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  8. i think Pat's singing "Frankensteenious", but i also though CCR were singing "there's a bathroom on the right" in Bad Moon Rising so there ya go...

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  9. >i think Pat's singing "Frankensteenious"

    You're probably right Prof, although when I looked it up in the dictionary...

    ...thanks for the comments so far today (even the one from the music snob), and especially th email from Hy Flieshman's daughter, it's always great to hear from you!

    Next up this weekend on THOIA we'll be looking at some crime comics featuring a slant towards the horror, or horrific... some really good stuff lined up so be here!

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  10. "Oh my dear, you're the Vampire, you have blood on your teeth! Oh wait, it's just rust. Never mind."

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  11. Anonymous9/17/2009

    I admire Pat's diction. He can say "horror" without it coming out as "whore." Every time I say the word horror, I get accused of saying something else.

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  12. Hy Fleishman's daughter Roberta writes in:

    "Just got off the phone with my father and we chatted about the "Vampire With Iron Teeth". He suggested that Yvonne Rae, who wrote a lot of the comic book stories he drew, might have been the 'author' of this story as well. Don't know if her name rings a bell with you, but a little bit of trivia that might be of interest. Saw your post on BBC Scotland!"

    Thanks Bobbie! Yvonne Rae's name is not familiar to me, and unfortunantly running a quick writer search on GCD provided no results as well. Maybe it's time she received a credit though?

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  13. Hi there!

    I'm an online reporter for STV News based in Glasgow, and I'd love to feature those comic strips in an article I'm currently writing.

    Would you be able to drop me a wee email: eleanor.duffy@stv.tv

    Thank you!

    Regards,
    Eleanor

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  14. I replied to your email, Eleanor, you can contact me through there if you need anything else. Thank you!

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