The Weird Dead

The last story of February 2009, as well as the last story from the February 1953 issue of Voodoo #6, and thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans. Reading this tale I was reminded of the Jack Kirby story called The Feathered Serpent from Black Magic #3. I wasn’t really familiar with this ancient deity legend until I did a wikipedia search and realized it’s the same thing as Quetzalcoatl (for more, or less, info about this see the Larry Cohen movie from 1982 of the same name by clicking the Q movie link after the story.)

TOMORROW: We kick off March with another full issue presentation, but you’ll have to come back in the morn to find out what it is. See ya then…

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Q The Winged Serpent (1982)

She Wanted to Know… The Black Future

Time for our third tale from the February 1953 issue of Voodoo #6, and this one features the timeless tale of a young girl dabbling in the mysteries of occult cake baking… sounds tasty, and what possible harm could there be? I'll have an extra scoop of ice scream too please thank you.

(Thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans!)

TOMORROW: SNAP! CRUNCH!

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Vintage Ad

Ghoul’s Bride

Story #2, (scans courtesy of Brian Hirsch) from the February 1953 issue of Voodoo #6... it’s another pleasantly grim, ill-fated entry that makes good on the ‘ol WTF?!, leaving you with a screwball closing panel that beckons: Laugh? Cry? Scream? Sympathize? The first 5 people to give me a good detailed reason behind their reaction today win a FREE TCM 31 Days of Oscar composition notebook, (courtesy of my friend Sakeenah Johnson at Turner Classic Movies.)

TOMORROW: She Wanted to Know…

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Barbara Steele fans will be happy to know that An Angel for Satan (’66) has finally received a US DVD release this week by some company called Midnight Choir. Paired on a double feature disc with Steele’s previously available, English dubbed, public domain staple The Long Hair of Death ('66), An Angel for Satan thankfully appears to be in its original Italian language w/ English subtitles.

Click the image below for more info and to order.

And if that’s not enough, Raunchy Tonk this week released a 50th Anniversary Edition of the William Castle classic House on Haunted Hill (‘59.) The difference here: A brand new widescreen transfer PLUS “Ninety minutes of mind blasting bonuses” (so says the cover.)

Click the image below for more info and to order.

Killer Lady

For the remainder of the month I’ll be giving my scanner a breather and Brian Hirsch hath returned to take over the story chores. So for the next four days he’ll be presenting the completely demented February 1953 issue of Voodoo #6, and half of those days will feature the theme we started yesterday with Killer Ladies.

Why, here’s one now…

TOMORROW: The Voodoo gets ghoulish!

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Plus! Lots of good reading lined up for release in April from publishers like Dark Horse, Pure Imagination, and more… click the images below for more info on each title.

Creepy Archives Vol. 4

Playboy’s Trump

Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman

Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Joe Shuster

Four Frightened Women

Step into My Parlour

One more tale from the November 1953 issue of Weird Terror #8 for today, this one from Al Tewks… and then tomorrow we begin another full issue presentation to finish out the month. But today also starts another theme, although I’m not going to reveal what it is until tomorrow.

TOMORROW: Gee, your hair smells terrific…

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Kwaidan

Ever wonder what a pre-code comic book would be like from Japan, but on film? Tonight TCM presents Kwaidan (’64), a truly awesome, gorgeously surreal TOHO terror classic containing four very dark and shivery Lafcadio Hearn tales of the supernatural: The Black Hair, The Woman in the Snow, Hoichi the Earless, and In a Cup of Tea. **Karswell’s Highest Recommendation!** ---don’t miss it!

Check TCM for more info and show times in your area.

Blood of the Bat

We're sticking with the Comic Media titles for a couple more days, and now we switch to the November 1953 issue of Weird Terror #8 for a knock-out 1-2 combination punch of boxing and—vampires?! If that’s not a bonkers enough concept for you then the typically weird ass, drug-fueled art by Rudy Palais should be.

TOMORROW: More Weird Terror!

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Death Song! / The Thing With Red Eyes

Our last pre-code story from Don Heck this weekend comes from the September 1953 issue of Horrific #7, but it’s actually a reprint from the Nov. ’52 issue of Weird Terror #2 (another Comic Media horror title.) Strange to see a publisher re-use its own story just one year later but I guess the competative newsstand times were tough back then so they re-used whatever they had when they could.

Plus, as promised, after this story we’ve got a fine example of Heck’s Silver Age work from his astonishing days at Marvel. Enjoy!

And in case you missed them the first time around, there’s plenty more Don Heck in the THOIA Archives! Just click the titles below:

Mark of the Brute

Satan’s Love Call

All the Shapes of Fear

And speaking of Comic Media’s Weird Terror mag, stick around on Monday and Tuesday for a couple examples from this series, including some tentacled terror from Al Tewks and a fabulously sweaty freak-fest from THOIA fave Rudy Palais!

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The Thing with Red Eyes
From the May 1961 issue of Tales to Astonish #19

Hirschel’s Hair

Remember those two crazy stories I posted last year called The Wig? Well, it’s back! Sort of… yes, as we kick off a Don Heck Tribute Weekend (as well as our continued look at Comic Media’s Horrific series) here comes yet another shocking tale about a demented bald barber with a real headful of trouble.

From the November 1953 issue of Horrific #8

Also see: The Wig: HERE… and HERE!

TOMORROW: One Heck of a Sunday!

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Vintage AD

Sewer Horror

February seems to be “Technical Difficulties” Month around here… but! my internet is finally working this morning and here’s your perplexing post for the day, from the November 1953 issue of Horrific #8 …and like yesterday’s tale this one is also by Pete Morisi. Commence with the complaining NOW.

TOMORROW: What the Heck?!

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Vintage Ads

A Glimpse of the Pit

We’ll be looking at some select tales from Comic Media’s Horrific series for the rest of the week and weekend... Saturday and Sunday will spotlight Don Heck, but today and tomorrow we’ll be looking at Pete Morisi, a guy that most comic fans know as the creator of Peter Canon…Thunderbolt. I’ve never read the Canon series but I’m a huge fan of Morisi’s ultra violent pre-code Johnny Dynamite detective stuff (click HERE for a classic example from the THOIA Archives.) But today we find Pete tackling the horror tale with his unique and bare essentials visual style and deceptively, non-innocent brand of story-telling.

From the January 1954 issue of Horrific #9

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TOMORROW: More-isi!

And for another great tale from this issue of Horrific #9, slink on over to Killer Kittens From Beyond the Grave sometime today where Princess LeClaw has a ferocious chapter from her own feline family to share with you!

The Thing on the Roof!

Let’s take a look at one more 1970’s Robert E. Howard comic book adaptation this week and then get back to the pre-code days, shall we? This one is from the March 1973 issue of Chamber of Chills #3, and like yesterday’s tale is also illustrated by Frank Brunner. Howard's original version of this story saw print in the February 1932 issue of Weird Tales and is another favorite of mine—enjoy!

TOMORROW: On with the Horrific Fest!

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Other forms of "ancient and deadly..."

THOIA Nominated for a 2009 Rondo Award

The Horrors of it All has been nominated in the SEVENTH Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, which recognizes the best in monster research, creativity and genre appreciation (click HERE and see #15 “Best Horror Blog” category.) If you have a second please vote for THOIA, (voting ends March 31st) ...all other rules and voting information can be found at the Rondo website.

Thanks to Rondo’s David Colton, as well as The Classic Horror Film Board for the nomination, and also to everyone out there who continues to support THOIA with great comments, endless inspiration, and a wild sense of daily fun and surprises.

The Monster from the Mound!

I’ve set aside the Horrific series fest for another day or two and by popular demand adjusted the coordinates of the THOIA Time Machine for the January 1973 issue of Chamber of Chills #2, where we find yet another great Robert E. Howard horror classic adapted by Roy Thomas for Marvel Comics, with art by Frank Brunner.

TOMORROW: More Robert E. Howard Horror!

More Frank Brunner too!

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Originally published in the May 1932 issue of Weird Tales as “The Horror from the Mound” this odd vampire western hybrid was actually one of the first REH tales I ever read… and when I did, it literally made my skin crawl! The vampire creature seems much more terrifying in the original than Brunner's more human-ish visualization for Marvel, here is an excerpt:

“At the window a face glared and gibbered soundlessly at him. Two icy eyes pierced his very soul. A shriek burst from his throat and the ghastly visage vanished. But the very air was permeated by the foul scent that had hung about the ancient mound. And now the door creaked—bent slowly inward. Brill backed up against the wall, his gun shaking in his hand. It did not occur to him to fire through the door; in his chaotic brain he had but one thought—that only that thin portal of wood separated him from some horror born out of the womb of night and gloom and the black past. His eyes were distended as he saw the door give, as he heard the staples of the bolt groan. The door burst inward. Brill did not scream. His tongue was frozen to the roof of his mouth. His fear-glazed eyes took in the tall, vulture-like form—the icy eyes, the long black finger nails—the moldering garb, hideously ancient…”

A Ghost Story! / Warning Voice!

Here’s a nifty spook castle classic from the February 1953 issue of Black Magic #21 (aka Vol. 3 #3.) This one reminds me of cool Italian horror flicks like The Virgin of Nuremberg and Baron Blood… you seriously can’t beat an old haunted castle with a dungeon full of handy torture devices.

TOMORROW: Things get Horrific!

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Prize Comics Group Ad

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Warning Voice!

And from the same issue, a typically fun 3-page Black Magic filler piece, also by Bob McCarty. I like his style… something in those big eyes is distinctly “McCarty.”

Dig Me No Grave!

Today our flashy Time Machine is set ahead for the October 1972 issue of Journey into Mystery #1, where we find a handful of my heroes all colliding in one great story*. To most of us, Gil Kane and Robert E. Howard need no introduction, but if you need a refresher just click on their names to get the scoop (all others proceed on your MARVELous mysterious journey...)

*Credits also to Roy Thomas and Tom Palmer.

TOMORROW: True, Amazing Accounts of the Strangest blah blah blah...

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Vintage 70's Ads

He Died Screaming

The great Jack Keller wraps up our Valentine’s Day Sweetheart theme today with this hot little tamale of a tale. You gotta love these kinds of stories featuring the greedy, old rich asshole obsessed with the lovely, greedier young lasso’frass… and this one has some inspired moments throughout, more precisely, the dialogue--- juss wait unteel you meet Ola, my lil enchillados!

From the October 1952 issue of Uncanny Tales #3

TOMORROW: Gil Kane meets Robert E. Howard in the 70’s Flashback Time Machine!

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Vintage Ads

Men From the Morgue / Boiling Point

Happy Friday the 13th! And skipping along with our Valentine Sweetheart’s Week Theme, today it’s a double header of Atlas classics... our first one from the April 1954 issue of Spellbound #21, a superbly creepy tale by Les Zakarin and Bob Bean. Anyone know anything about this team?

TOMORROW: Yer gonna die screaming...

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Vintage Ads

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Boiling Point
From the November 1952 issue of Suspense #24 (Carmine Infantino?)

The Day of the Vampire

Bill Benulis kicks off a couple days worth of Atlas posts starting with this tale about love, devotion, and evil blood suckin’, from the June 1954 issue of Spellbound #23 (filling a request for Carl in CA.) FYI: I have more Spellbound lined up for tomorrow, plus some Suspense and Uncanny Tales on the way this weekend too.

And tomorrow we may even pull a double header, not just because it’s Friday but to also honour our great friend Pappy and to wish him a speedy, healthy recovery. Get well chum!

TOMORROW: More Atlas!

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American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Zacherley to A. Ghastlee Ghoul. Hosts of all kinds were once a staple of television, and especially local television productions. But as production demands and the availability of cheaper syndicated material changed the local TV business model, local hosts were also one of the first things to go, no matter how popular they were with the viewing public.

With interviews and footage from major hosts from the 1950s to the present day, such as Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi and others, along with memories from celebrities and fans who were influenced by these hosts, you'll follow this American folk art form from its glamorous beginnings, through repeated waves of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, to its scrappy resurgence and survival in the current age of cable access and the Internet.

American Scary looks to remind people how much fun local TV could be - and maybe could be again. For more info click HERE.

Meet Me in the Tomb

You know you’re in for a good story when the very first page delivers two brutal drownings, a machine gunning, AND someone getting their head crunched into a bloody mess with a baseball bat! Hold onto your hats friends, the fun most definitely does not stop there! Some stories just need a drum roll…

From the Oct-Nov 1954 issue of Strange Fantasy #14

ON TOMORROW'S MENU: Vampires!

And for those of you already experiencing Bob Powell withdrawls, check out Pappy's today for The Girl in the Moonpool, click HERE!

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And late tonight on TCM, two masterpieces of shock cinema! First Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), in a California coastal area, flocks of birds unaccountably make deadly attacks on humans, starring Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, and Suzanne Pleshette. Followed by Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), a psychotic ex-child star is forced to take care of her invalid sister, starring Joan Crawford and Bette Davis! Two Karswell Faves!!

Check TCM for more info and show times in your area!

Excursion!

Another Black Cat Mystery for you today from Bob Powell, featuring yet another pair of Harvey lovebirds on a romantic ghost ‘n monster infested, one way Voyage of the Damned. I suppose if you board a ship called the “SATANA” then you’re pretty much just asking for it, although this one does have a happy ending. Umm, that is a happy ending, right?

From the June 1953 issue of Black Cat Mystery #44

TOMORROW: More watery demise-- and more!

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Harvey Filler Bonuses

Curse Castle

More Harvey Horrors from Bob Powell for you today, this time from the October 1952 issue of Black Cat Mystery #40. Also, today marks the start of Valentine’s Week, which means everyday until February 14th I’ll be posting tales featuring a cute, loving couple caught up in a shitstorm of supernatural shenanigans… starting with dumbells Dale and Mat Garland, you two were doomed from the second you thought that it was a good idea to “get away for some rest at the old ancestral castle in Scotland.”

TOMORROW: Wanna see more Bob Powell, or something else? You make the call!

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Vintage Ad

The Invasion

One last, bleak story from the October 1953 issue of Witches Tales #21, this one from THOIA fave Bob Powell... and need I mention here the obvious influence of Orson Wells or his infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast from 1938? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

More Powell tomorrow too as we kick off a full week of Valentine’s love… XOXO

Dead End

Another nifty crime tale today from the October 1953 issue of Witches Tales #21, this time from the great Howard Nostrand, and like yesterday’s tale this one also found it’s way into a TV adaptation on the Alfred Hitchcock Presents show… but I’ll be damned if I know what the episode is called. Someone wanna help me out here? I’ve probably seen this episode a dozen times but I’m totally drawing a blank on it, even glancing through the AHP episode guide at IMDb doesn’t prove to be much help. Wah!

TOMORROW: Invasion!

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Mother Mongoose Nursery Crimes

by Howard Nostrand

Revenge

For the next few days we’ll be looking at some stories from the October 1953 issue of Witches Tales #21. And coincidently, today and tomorrow’s tales both found their way to the small screen on the landmark Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series a few years AFTER this issue hit the stands. Today’s post in fact was made into the very first episode of AHP (airing on October 2nd 1955), also titled “Revenge” and based on the classic Samuel Blas story (watch the full episode HERE courtesy of Hulu!)

TOMORROW: Howard Nostrand!

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Vintage Ads

I Turned into a… Martian! / I Lived a Ghost Story!

We won’t be traveling as far into the future as we did last month on Time Machine Days… just a half decade or so to the early 60’s this time around. And I know, yesterday I promised a Joe Sinnott story, but when I got ready to scan it I realized I totally misplaced the damn issue somewhere. So to make up for this I’ll post two stories today, including a spooky ghost gagger by Atlas fave Paul Reinman.

But first, let’s fill a Steve Ditko request from THOIA reader Black Walnut with this classically titled S/F monstrosity from the September 1960 issue of Journey into Mystery #60.

“Possession of the mind is a terrible thing

It's a transformation with an urge to kill

Not the body of a man from earth

Not the face of the one you love, 'cause

I turned into a Martian

I can't even recall my name

Times I never hardly sleep at night

Well, I turned into a Martian today

I walk down city streets

On an unsuspecting human world

Inhuman in your midst

This world is mine to own, 'cause

I turned into a Martian…”
---Misfits

TOMORROW: workin' on it...

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I Lived a Ghost Story!

From the January 1960 issue of Tales to Astonish #7

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(Click the image for the details!)

Photos HERE: http://mjkpr.com/ForryAckermanArt/

Where the Undead Roam

Nice artwork from Benulis and Abel save today’s unfocused, plot hole riddled tale from completely derailing alongside the narrative train wreck… seriously, just tell the story next time—argh! But still, for this very same reason I actually like this tale, because as in lesser pre-code publisher style, it reaches high for moody, poetic flourishes but typically never quite manages to fully grasp the brass ring (can’t fault them for trying though.)

From the 1953 issue of Monster #2

TOMORROW: Time again to Flash Forward to the 70's, this time with Joe Sinnott!

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Vintage Ad

The Dark Abysmal

I’m not really the biggest fan of Fiction House pre-code comics from the 50’s… sure, Ghost and Monster have great covers and are full of top notch art, but nearly everything I’ve read from their horror titles so far contained very little in the writing department considered “on par” with the pretty pictures. So, for the next few days this week I tried to find a sampling of stories that are better than the usual FH fare, and oddly enough all of these examples come from the 1953 issue of Monster #2, starting with this fun little Monster-fest by Johnny Belcastro featuring 7 crammed pages of inspired art and ideas with a creepy, rampaging, tentacled Squiddly Diddly monster straight out of Lovecraft, (and totally keep your eyes peeled for the hilarious “Austin Powers-esque, Nudity Obscured” panel at the top of page 2.)

TOMORROW: A better example of bad Fiction House writing, (but cool art...)

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Fiction House AD

Ghoul’s Gold

As some of you already know Dick Ayers created volumes of superb horror work with many publishers of the Golden and Silver Age eras, from Marvel / Atlas to Eerie Publications… and here we find DA displaying his unique pre-code chops over at Ace with a spooky grave robber tale from the November 1953 issue of Web of Mystery #21.

FYI: If you enjoyed yesterday’s Beelzebub tale (which came out 5 months before this one), then today you may find yourself experiencing a serious case of déjà vu.

TOMORROW: Monster.

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Plus, a couple ACE extras...

Beelzebub! / The Rivals

Somehow we went the entire month of January without a single tale from Atlas, so to kick off February here’s two classics for you from a trio of underrated legends. The Atlas Tales site says Matt Fox and Larry Woromay joined awesome forces for the first story, while Al Luster kicks consistant ass on the second… both tales are from the June 1953 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #19.

TOMORROW: More graverobbing...

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The Rivals