Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Slasher! / The Witness!
Two cheap, but undoubtably fun Atlas style knock-offs, both from Toby / Minoan Publishing Corp's Dec. '53 issue of Tales of Horror #8. I was going to wait until August 24th to post these stories (for reasons you'll see on page 4 of "The Slasher!") but I didn't have anything else ready to go today so it's a double header, (Jack Sparling art on the second story), plus some cool old ads too.
Oh! Just realized this marks another complete issue posted here too... check the THOIA archives for these other two gems: "The Big Snake" as well as "Pool of the Skeletons."
ReplyDeletehttp://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2008/10/big-snake.html
http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2008/10/pool-of-skeletons.html
I liked the twist endings in *both* of these stories (even though I could kind of see the second a mile away; though I thought, probably because of the parakeet ad); that the witness might be a bird!)
ReplyDeleteBut, in the first one; (until the end, actually) I was thinking the killer was the main character; (sort of a "Walter Mitty's Evil Twin"*) type; and the whole sketch thing was going to be a attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the police, papers, ect!)
*For the youngsters out there Walter Mitty was this sort of middle-aged (you might say "wimpy") character in a famous story who spent the whole story he was in day-dreaming about being, say, a Patrol bomber pilot or famous surgeon!
DBurch7670
Mrs. Ruth Long was not good about actually delivering the promised creatures (parakeets, chihuahuas, &c), and was shut-down by the authorities.
ReplyDeleteLove Walter Mitty, thanks DB.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's an interesting link Daniel, in fact it's hilariously interesting... these comic book ads were frauds??!! haha
Dick Briefer is up next.
What a GREAT team Ted Templer and the stoolie's dog would have made!
ReplyDeleteNow there's a team that had possibilities! Darn it, how 20/20 hindsight is!
Templer the woos, backed up by the fierce Pit Bull (we could name him Teddy Bear). How obnoxious would Ted be, knowing Teddy had his front and back?
I love the ending wherein Ted believes the Slasher is standing before him. Were I to write the next page, he would be just a barber who'd had a long day. Besides, Ted just thought the Slasher looked like that.
Enter Teddy Bear, running from thhe dog catcher.
Wow! What a would-have-been idea that was never even thought about when it should have been!