Wednesday, February 28, 2018
The Teller!
Gypsy Goth wrote in asking if I could post The Teller! story from the November 1953 issue of Horrific #8. Apparently, it's the last one from this issue that I haven't archived yet, so here it is-- and it's a Don Heck tale too! It's possible I overlooked it as this story did find it's way into the Horror By Heck (IDW / Yoe Books) collection, and maybe you'll wanna click HERE if you haven't grabbed that particular chilling gem yet. And for the rest of this issue, check the archive for Sewer Horror, Portrait of Death, and Hirschel's Hair. Yes sirree, yet another FULL ISSUE presentation here at THOIA!
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12 comments:
This story always felt rushed to me. We begin with what obviously is the origin story of our horror host, the Teller of Tales. Yet it doesn't linger very long on what's happened to him--only that he can now read minds. Suddenly we end up with a completely different tale revolving around an evil shopkeeper--in fact, it feels like two different tales tied rather weakly together. Aside from learning of the shopkeeper's fate and attempting to warn one of his victims who immediately gets run over by a truck, the Teller of Tales really isn't needed in this part, although he does discover his purpose after this.
Sorry, but I can't trust anyone who wears a cravat. Garry Ghoul is the breakout star, imo.
The Teller's origin is similar to the origins of some super villains, freak accident, gain amazing powers.
Why not use such powers and become the ultimate insider trader on Wall Street or learn Carlo's secret concerning life candles? Of course if either happened it wouldn't have made for an interesting horror comic.
The Teller sports a skull earring, he was a man ahead of his time.
"Garry Ghoul" looks just like some extraterrestrial, but the kind you'd mainly see after Whitley Streiber's book came out. And as far as I know, almost no one was picturing them that way then, either in fiction or in UFO reports. So that's another way this story looks ahead.
I wonder how many horror comics have had the host injected into the story, even in a small way? Charlton comics would do that, especially with the "Dr. Graves" character who was the actual hero of them, but they would also do it with "Winnie the Witch," partly for "cheesecake" type pictures.
I have to disagree -- kind of -- with some of the comments above. I loved this one. Was it rushed and jammed together and a little scatter-shot? Yup. Did it read like an older 40s super hero story in parts? Yup.
But it worked! Sometimes pulpy and rushed stuff works in horror. It's goofy in all the right places, convenient in others, and who doesn't like a werewolf named Walter?
Great art, as always.
It's nice to see the "Jughead Jones" / "Goober Pyle" cap on the final page of a HORROR comic.
It was an unusual reading experience. At first I thought that the young man Walker in the first part of the story had somehow turned into the host, but looking carefully, he doesn't have a mustache or the same fashion sense. Plus the host said he's keeping his identity a secret! Yet -- he looks like him. And then the lead character is somehow discarded and we go into a different story. Almost David Lynchian in structure. I ended up pretty disoriented by the end of it.
However, I have guessed the identity of the Teller. He is none other than a young Baron Wierwulf. He's got the library, he's got the monster pals. Yep, it's the Baron in the 1950's before he gave up looking suave and went shaggy 70's style.
The Teller became Baron Wierwolf? I'm glad he found work after the comics witch hunt in the fifties! I guess he used his mind power to know to lay low during Wertham's evil crusade against comics. If any do-gooder deserved horror comics style punishment it was Wertham.
In my theory, which I've been working on this weekend with a bunch of sticky notes and flowcharts, Baron Wierwulf actually went into hiding in the San Francisco Bay area, grew out his hair and beard while living in a van by the river, then returned (like Baron Frankenstein in EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN) to his library and, with Charlton Comics' help, rebooted his horror host career.
Dear Esteemed Karswell,
Would it be possible for you to post a horror story by the greatly under-appreciated Don Newton? The man whom Baron Weirwulf allowed to revive his career? That guy painted one of the greatest horror comics cover I always thought on Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library #21. I don't see his name anywhere on your roll of honor, so maybe a story from him?
If it is your pleasure, of course.
morbid
My apologies to Baron Weirwulf for initially spelling his name wrong.
Don Heck sure gives good werewolf. I'm also digging the vampire in the splash, too. Next page, Victor looks a little like Eddie Munster, but on the first page he's like some wicked -ass Luis Guzman monster. There's a carved jack-o-lantern quality to the whole rogues gallery in that first panel, frankly--each face has some polygon feature or shadow that makes them look like emptied gourds. Or maybe I'm just on the wrong side of the year and missing Halloween....
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