Speaking of wanton witchery...
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Horror of the Witch's Brush
Another tale from the Dec '51 - Jan 1952 issue of Dark Mysteries #4 ...if the evil eye glasses of our last post wasn't ridiculous enough for ya, get ready for a witch brush. Annnnnnd with this post I've included the super cover as well as a related ad at the end. Hmmm, for some reason this is one of three issues from this series that hasn't been indexed over at GCD. Well heads up to whoever does that sort of thing over there-- this full issue is now posted here at THOIA in its entirety-- see also "Horror in the Glass", "The Creatures of the Mist", and "The Dead Rise" in the archive.
Speaking of wanton witchery...
Speaking of wanton witchery...
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11 comments:
You're sure right about that cover! Love it. I enjoyed this story more than I probably should have. There was just something about the empty-headed Ken (as in Barbie) lead and the cavalier way in which he falls into this whole thing. And the weird details the illustrator throws in for no apparent logic to make it "scary". Like that weird face when the first guy gets hit. Or the two skulls thrown in -- one with a big hole in the forehead! Why?
Also appreciate the witchy negligee comic book ad! Who thought that was a good idea? It is awesome, though.
Thanks for posting!
Billowing sheer bottoms for rich luxurious lounging? Hell I'll wear that one. The Missus can have that exotic, bewitching, daring, bare-back sheer gown they describe as being "filmy". Ugh. I've seen highway-side Motel swimming pools that were filmy. Not for me or my peejays, thanks.
"Here, use this brush of mine. Dip into the red blood of a dying man. Then you'll have real success."
"It's kinda crazy, but it just might work!" Oh, Carl, Carl...
Now's the perfect time to use a quote from the series Llamas with Hats: "Carl! That kills people!"
Also, that paintbrush is pretty awesome looking.
"I felt a bony hand on the wheel -- a witch's hand!" I don't know if we were lucky or not to have a ghost/witch/skeleton hand expert driving that car!
The art on this would be a lot more serviceable if not for the garish coloring -- there's too much pastel and washed out bright colors in this one.
I googled, there is reference to Mary Jerkins/witchcraft in a book. The number of times they mention her name was a bit curious.
I dunno.... Stories and art from this period aren't known for being consistently good.... But this one felt especially arbitrary and bland.
The witch told him to dip the brush in the blood of a dying man, not to paint a portrait of the dying man. No wonder he was such a lousy artist, he couldn't follow the directions of his patrons or models.
Considering how courteous the police are in the rest of the story, that billy club across the forehead stands out like a sore thumb. Especially since you don't actually SEE Carl RESISTING arrest.
I was disappointed with how quickly Jane disappears from the story. I know that female characters in earlier horror stories are often picked on for being "damsels in distress" and nothing more, but it's still a shame when one leaves the story too quickly.
Could you post "Ohhhh, Brother!" from Voodoo #11? You haven't posted much non-Iger Farrell stories AFIAK.
I expected most of what Carl does to be done by him BEFORE he gets caught, so I was surprised by the idea of him doing almost everything in prison itself. But again, I wish Jane had gotten to be one of those horror story girlfriends or wives who have to watch the boyfriend or husband unravel. It's a cliche, but an entertaining one. But that's my ONLY complaint about the prison setting.
I haven't checked in for awhile. Skimming through the posts I hit this one and...my eyes being what they are, burned out from reading millions of badly printed comic book pages...I thought the title was the "The Horror of the Witch's BUSH," which made me think of something else, altogether.
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