From the October-November 1954 issue of Out of the Night #17.
Monday, July 25, 2016
The Fantastic Fan
Behind a rather misleadingly tame sounding title, lurks one of the better, and more original satanic stories from ACG's precode 50's terror output. Illustrated by Robert McCarty, "The Fantastic Fan" would certainly be worthy of inclusion in DEVIL TALES VOLUME 2-- if such a volume were ever to exist (*crosses / inverts fingers!) Thanks again to William Zepf for pointing out this tale to me, and for donating the scans as well! FYI: THOIA is always open to submissions, if you've got a good story in mind (preferably one that hasn't already been posted) and want to share your scans here with everyone, just drop me a line.
From the October-November 1954 issue of Out of the Night #17.
From the October-November 1954 issue of Out of the Night #17.
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6 comments:
I suspect the entire thing was an elaborate plot by Satan to flood the market with cheap castles so ... er ... something!
I don't know why but I was very entertained by the horses plunging over the cliff. Love animals, have nothing against them, it was just this great chaotic panel.
Being the 50s, the plot couldn't turn this way, but what is more decadent and sinful then a threesome with two identical ladies in devil costumes? Come on, Out of the Night, you let us all down! :)
We can still dream, Brian!
Hey nice story. I really like the earnest and kind of friendly way the lady manipulated herself into all that trouble. Well, except for when she was calling herself names. Actually, that's just exactly how I talk to myself, too.
I'm not clear on this, the research has been inconclusive, but I do not believe horse-drawn carriages have foot breaks. I think, y'know, you just pull back on the horses' strap thingy and they stop. I guess that a diabolical multiple-personality spree killer could cut through the reins themselves, but that'd be pretty noticeable from the word go. Matter of fact, one of the benefits to using real horses, as opposed to steam robot horses, is that the real ones have a modicum of self-preservation in their small equine minds that will prevent them from just running into fire and off cliffs. I mean, you can probably whip one into a suicidal frenzy or whatever, but just losing the reins usually means they stop pulling that heavy carriage and start eating crass off the ground instead. Just sayin'.
ACG's supernatural tales are always fun--especially the pre-code tales where vampires, zombies, werewolves and Satan could run amok. (Although the later tales were quite creative and interesting as well)
I read all of the "Out of the Night" comics last year, which are great--a pity there were only 17 issues.
This tale is one of my favorites of the series--it just works so well--even when you start to realize just what is going on and who the mysterious stranger is who keeps visiting Marta and urging her to do horrible things.
About the only accidentally funny line is "That fan - how evil it looks."
It isn't such a strange line, but it's enough to make you wonder what makes an evil-looking fan.
One, I love that this artist knew how to draw horses. So nice to not see their eyes too close together or their hooves pointed the wrong way.
Two: not sure about hansom cabs, but stage coaches DEFINITELY had foot brakes.To stop a coach on a flat plane, all you had to do was rein in the horses; but on a downward slope, you needed a brake or the weight of the coach would literally bowl over the horses and, well, push them off the edge of the cliff. As you can see. :)
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