When Werewolves Die

Werewolf Wednesdays (on any given day of the week except Wednesdays) returns, with a weirdly witchy one from the September 1953 issue of Beware #5. Does anyone else know of a precode horror tale that mentions exorcisms?

R.I.P. Russ Heath

Just learned of the passing of artist extraordinaire, Russ Heath, an incredibly influencial hero to many in the field of comics, and especially to the fearless fandom of pre code horror, most notably his top notch output for Atlas / Marvel. There are quite a few examples of his tremendous work in our archive, just use the keyword name tag (on the left) today, and pay your respects to a true legend. I've included one of my favorite Atlas quickies by him below from the April 1953 issue of Marvel Tales #113. R.I.P.

His Own Funeral

Here's a real spooker from the September 1954 issue of Beware #11, complete with an incredibly interesting ending right outta left field that's absolutely overflowing with eerie implication-- so much so, that it takes this somewhat routine mad undertaker tale and propels it to a whole new level. See what you guys think... and what the heck, maybe I'll toss in an added bonus prize to whoever comes up with the best epilogue to this one-- I really wanna know what happens after that final panel when the rest of the fluid is used up!













CLICK HERE!

The Fatal Note!

Another dreadfully drenched tale of death and drama (and sweat beads) on the high seas, from the Ziff-Davis summer 1952 issue of Nightmare #1. Real nice art by Syd Shores, with a possible sweat bead assist from Rudy Palais (just joking.) Sweat beads-- the beads of sweat!

Pursued / The Screaming Skull

Well, we've come this far with the December 1952 issue of Chilling Tales #13, might as well finish it out for another FULL ISSUE THOIA presentation! It's definitely been a while since we've had a screaming skull story, so here we go with a rather soggy double header (one by land, and one by sea, and both are pretty much the exact same tale o'vengeance), but first we'll dive into the eerie, dark depths-- just try not to get water up your noses! Classic cover art by Matt Fox.

The Hand of Glory

Had some requests for anything by mad Matt Fox, so today is the day that I oblige, which also just happens to coincide with my own unwitting need to wait a decade between glory hand story posts! So after you read todays terrifically cockamamie tale from the December 1952 issue of Chilling Tales #13, click HERE for another glorious hand that just so happens to be hanging around in the THOIA Archive...

Spider Hider

You wanted the grossest, and you got it! The grossest story in the land-- SPIDER HIDER! From the December 1952 issue of Chilling Tales #13, plus more mediocre art by Vince Napoli. Ugh...













Napoli even swiped himself in this one, compare the panel at the bottom of page 4 with the illustration he did for the 'The Insistent Ghost' found in the Sept '50 issue of Weird Tales: