As everyone works on adding an extra layer to their midsections and asses today, here's another story about a tubby individual with a whole other set of problems to contend with than just his weight! From the November 1952 issue of
Strange Mysteries #8.
Happy Fangsgiving, fiends!
Gave me kind of an eerie shiver towards the end. Probably because I actually cared what happened to this poor guy, and had some "investment" in the story. Liked this one.
ReplyDeleteIt's really kind of a shame his parents named him Tubby.
ReplyDeleteThat ... beautiful. It's sweet, and through all the bad luck, two lost souls with lives of pain finally find happiness, and jerks like the oil company guy gets what they deserve.
ReplyDeleteThe oil company guy was a macguffin to set it up so they could no longer live in the house alone, but even with some other plot trick, there wasn't a lot of horror, just sadness and a great redemption.
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ReplyDeleteI've heard that his movie career goes back to the ' 30s (I've even seen some of the films), but was Tor Johnson well-known in horror films when this was written? Because after the accident, Tubby looks a bit like him. Not in the face but in general - his clothing on Page 5 makes me think of that infamous "Time for go to bed" line.
ReplyDeleteReading again the comic and Mestiere's lines about his cousin suddenly made me understand why this story is so sad and touching.
ReplyDeleteIt gives us a glimpse of the "everyday's horror" of this world. The complete incommunicability between the "freaks" and the "normals", the fact that everyday millions of men and women realize that diyng is actually better than living in agony. And yet... when the ghost offers him the only possible solution the man cries "please don't kill me!" This life is a mistery, we are a mistery to ourselves. This is no vampire tale, ... a very mature story.
Glad to hear everyone enjoyed this one-- in fact, I'm so glad that I'm going to post another hot little number for you next-- better double check your fire extinguishers!
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