Tuesday, September 12, 2017

The Mummies

If you look at the top righthand blog sidebar you'll see I have a new book coming out next month called MUMMES, (pre-order right HERE!) And leading up to the release, I'll be posting occasional mummy, or mummy related stories, sort of like this one-- which is actually not about the type of mummies the book speaks of. Anyway, you'll see. Originally presented in the February 1970 issue of Witches' Tales Vol. 2 #1, with art by Oscar Stepancich. (Cover art by Bill Alexander.)









5 comments:

Nequam said...

That was remarkably low-key for an Eerie Publications story.

Brian Barnes said...

I love this story. It's rushed, for sure (I'd be interested to see the original, I don't remember if you ever had it and/or published it Karswell.) The introduction of the murder happens way too fast, but other than that, it's a fun little horror story that's actually kind of sweet in it's own way.

The opening narration is one of the goofiest things though, with "A secret that shrieks to heaven of horror so nameless that only the dead can whisper it ... to the dead!!!" There's a good 3 or 4 black metal band names in there!

Grant said...

That was my reaction too.

BTX said...

Like Nequam said.... No blood.... No spurting eyeballs out of sockets... Just eerie....

JMR777 said...

I liked this story because of Emily's desire for solitude, to move out of the city and have a nice quiet place to live. This story's set up could go off in different directions-

Emily could have reanimated the dead through Voodoo and in turn would have taken revenge on the killer when he came back.

Emily could have imagined there were dead people in her house, Emily was in fact unhinged with a bizarre imagination.

Emily could have tried to bury the bodies in the basement only to find them back in the wall the next day. She would figure they preferred the wall to the ground so she would just let them be.

This is a quiet horror story similar to the works of M R James or Algernon Blackwood. quiet, l;ow key with the horror hiding in the shadows ready to spring on the unsuspecting reader.