Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Honeymoon of Horror / Chamber of Death

Avon Publications made a strange cover blurb decision with the June-July 1954 issue of Eerie #16 by ignoring great story titles within like Wally Wood's "The Thing from the Sea!", or "The Stranger in Studio X!" and "Nightmare!" and instead mentioning "The Chamber of Death" on the cover, which is in fact a two page text story! But since it also falls into our Devilcember theme this month I've went ahead and included it below as a bonus... but first a chilling Louis Ravielli entry, it's---










10 comments:

Mr. Karswell said...

And that's Kinstler art on the cover too! A great issue...

Anonymous said...

I believe Neil's polka-dot pjs played a major role in his malady.

sfdoomed said...

This is a perfect pre-code story!

That car crash into the truck was hideous, and the description of the air reeking "with the overpowering stench of the decaying rot of the grave" was chilling. The tale is also well written and wonderfully drawn. Amazing.

On a side note, I wish I could sport a mustachio as bad ass as Big Daddy Beez-bub. I have tried in the past but ended up looking like a cross between Burt Reynolds and a gay porn star instead.

Thanks for providing all the greats, Karswell.

Cindy M said...

The ghosts are fantastic. Yes, I especially like the art work in this comic too. Definitely looks like good entertainment on a gloomy afternoon.

Cindy M said...

...as for Honeymoon of Horror, that was my sister's 2nd wedding night. :-p

Anonymous said...

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF LOUIS RAVIELLI BUT REALLY LOVE HIS ART ON THIS ONE. A REALLY GOOD STORY.

I ALSO FIND IT WEIRD THEY BLURBED A TEXT STORY ON THE COVER BUT AFTER READING IT I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD!

Costume said...

Love the posts. Keep it up!

Trevor M said...

Solid art. Nice original story touches with the therapist. A real displacement/nightmare feel. Good post, Karswell!

Jay Watson said...

Karswell, the Honeymoon of Horror is a hoot; loved it.
Ravielli, is pretty uneven though, he draws cars and trucks like it's 1940 at the cheap comic book company,HOWEVER, I love his men's suits (check out how cool Mr. Prim's looks on page 3 panels 1&2) and Doc Kubnor's rad leopard spot suit (love the bent back coat flap on page 6 panel 6).
"Anonymous" (above) stole my thunder on Neil's polka-dot pjs :)

Mr. Karswell said...

I like Ravielli's work alot too but not sure how much I've actually ever seen by him. Looking through GCD there doesn't seem to be much familiar to me and my collection except for the occasional pre-code horror tale and some detective stuff. He did illustrate Avon's "The Hooded Menace" one-shot that I've always wanted to see though! Anyone got it?

Lambiek entry about Ravielli:

Louis Ravielli worked as a comic book artist from the mid 1940s through the mid 1950s. His 1940s work includes crime comics for titles like Underworld for D.S. Publishing and features like 'Atoman', 'Golden Girl', 'Ibis' for Fawcett, and 'Shaman and Flame' for Spark Publications. In the 1950s, he drew many crime, horror, romance, war and western features for Avon Comics, and was a regular at Timely/Atlas with religious, war, crime, horror and 3-D comics (a.o. in Battle Action, Marvel Tales, Strange Tales, etc.). He also illustrated the 'Captain Atom Fun-Comics' premiums for Acme Supermarkets through Nationwide (1950-51), and worked as a pulp book illustrator for Street & Smith.