Saturday, September 15, 2018
If I Should Die--
When you've read through enough of these pre code horror stories, you'll come to the predictable realization that if a character at any point in the story reveals what they are most afraid of, then 9 times out of 10 they will most likely die in that exact same manner. If being embalmed and buried alive is one of those fears, the odds change to 10 out of 10. And let's toss in millions of piranha worms just to make things even more hauntingly thrilling. From the November 1954 issue of Haunted Thrills #18.
I never expected Tony Stark to go out this way!
ReplyDeleteI love this blog, I love all the entertainment you put up for us, and I love this tale but boy is it one strange problem after another. From the bizarre figure in the coffin at the beginning, to the completely baffling ending (if medical error was a mistake worth otherworldly vengeance I don't think we'd have a hospital left!) to the wacky pacing and finally completely convenient timing of events.
WOW.
I love reading each and every one of these but this one ... wow!
Excellent. I totally dig the writing here (especially the the fact that all the side characters, even the ones Cravens dreams up during his nightmare, are pretty realistically fleshed-out. I also think the color design in this one was pretty brilliant. Cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteP.S., I especially love Henry's jammies.
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ReplyDeleteSorry, but I live in Japan and lived in South Korea and have never seen a 24-hour clock.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Canadians and Mexicans will love being implicitly dismissed as unimportant, too.
But, yeah, the American rabid hatred of the much easier metric system is pretty hilarious.
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ReplyDeleteLet’s keep the comments on topic here, ok? Comic books and horror— thanks
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ReplyDeleteBack to the comic, Poe's "The Premature Burial" comes to mind while reading this story, though in Poe's tale the victim escapes such a horrible fate.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of being conscious while deceased and buried has been touched on by other horror tales, it is one of those unconscious fears that still haunt mankind.
Hi Mr. K., That ending was out of the blue as are these poli-comments.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting!
That last panel is frickin' hilarious to me! I knew this one was going to end with the reveal that nothing was actually wrong with Henry physically--but that last bit where Henry's ghost just starts flat up murdering the doctor just feels like a 360 head spin of his personality. He didn't really seem like the vengeful type--even beforehand. He understandingly wanted to live longer--but the ending comes out more comical than it was intended to be.
ReplyDeleteI like that the ghost is wearing Henry's awesome jammie-jams.
ReplyDeleteThe splash is an EC cover swipe (TFTC #28).
Henry murdered his doctor because he was an American imperialist!
ReplyDeleteI am curious, though, how a ghost tears somebody's throat out.