Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Eyes! / The Hidden Graveyard
Eerie eyeballs are the theme for today's THOIA Saturday Double Header Shocker, and Werner Roth gives you the eye first, with "The Eyes!", originally presented in the February 1952 issue of Adventures into Weird Worlds #2, ...then, Bob Forgione drags you screaming through the stinkin' jungles of terror with "The Hidden Graveyard", originally presented in the August 1954 issue of Uncanny Tales #23.
I love it--the eyeballs surrounding him, staring at him, freaking him out! Speaking of which have you ever felt like someone was watching you only to turn around and find no-one there? Spooooky!
ReplyDeleteI have a question; Where did *this whole "elephants' graveyard" come from anyway? I mean; isn't logical to suppose that any animal just dies whereever it happens to die? Wat made people ever believe that an animal; (no matter how sick, old, wounded, whatever) somehow finds a way to make it to one particular spot in, say ALL of Africa to die AND that every such animal that dies of NATURAL* causes amkes it there*?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is there supposed to be a "elephant's graveyard in Asia as well?
*Unnatural causes such as native spears or "European" firearms would be totally out there; (even for natives)!
I like the theme today. Stories like this always get me interested in the creative process. I imagine the author saying this standard eye cliche himself, in some context or another, and then beginning to think of it in the context of a story instead. Then the whole thing snowballs. I'm always surprised when, like in today's examples, there is then evidence that real attention went to hanging some quality storytelling on such a slim frame: the great dialog in the second story and the creepy, stalkery Halloween-like tone of the first are just marvelous improvements to what are otherwise pretty much one-liners.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of the creative process, I was interested in the dime that falls to the floor on the second panel of the second page of that first story. It looked weird to me, so I looked it up. It's a Mercury dime that had been out of production for seven years already when the story was first published. That's a pretty neat choice, and it makes me think that during the process of drawing the story, the author just stuck his hands in his own pockets to find the model he used. This isn't a revelation of course, hell it's just a guess, but it is cool to think I can maybe detective up the contents of a guy's pockets fifty-nine years later.
dimes where much cooler in those days. sigh.
ReplyDelete"That's a pretty good trick, mister! You must have eyes in the back of your head... oh, I see, you were watching me through the bar's mirror."
ReplyDeleteOkay, so obviously there was more to link these two stories than just eyeballs-- it was eyeballs in the back of the head! Atlas sure loved to recycle their own ideas, and I am surely not complaining.
ReplyDeleteOh, I dumped out my old piggy bank and found a few Mercury dimes, since Mr C mentioned it I suddenly remembered I had a few mixed in there with the wheat pennies and Indian head half dollars.
And to answer Anon's question about elephant graveyards, I wiki'd it and here's some interesting theories (I for one was going to say Hollywood) -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant's_graveyard
Thanks, Karswell; but I think I read that already; (just after I read this!)
ReplyDeleteA thought; ever get an eyelash in your eye? Now just imagine a whole lock of hair! And, what about the barbershop? Or were these guys actually the first hippies; (at least as far as the hair goes? :)
DBurch7670@aol.com