Monday, January 27, 2020
The Fatal Strands
Wait, did you guys think we were done with the hair horror this month?! Well, lock your mops up tight-- cuz this terror tuft shock'r of coiffeured creepiness might just leave your split-ends frazzled forever! From the February 1953 issue of Adventures into Darkness #8, with art by Charles Sultan.
These kind of stories need a name -- the tell-tale heart with an ec twist. It's always great to see an artist have to put faces or other ghostly shadows all over the place, and having them show up in a mopped floor is a good image.
ReplyDeletePage 3 is a great pre-code horror page, a murder and then the follow-up "rub salt in the wounds" body usage, the kind of thing that makes these stories tick.
Silas needs to learn to hide bodies a lot better!
Great art in this one!
Here’s a little tidbit, Sultan’s brother-in-law was Lou Fine.
ReplyDeleteBrian Riedel
I wonder how many "battleaxe" landladies in stories have hair that's described as "soft and silky." I'm guessing she's the only one.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr.K. for this fabulous fever dream, I wigged out over it.
ReplyDeleteI guess hair is just like anything else. In some hands it's just a tool, and in other hands it can be a weapon.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the artist here was pretty competent at the usual stuff, but he wasn't quite up to the weirder imagery necessary for the ending. I thought the murder was brutal and dynamic, but the leering paranoia faces were a lot less effective. A little surreal anxiety spooky-doo might've jazzed the finale up nicely.
I sure would like to see one of these Tell-Tale-type horror ditties go all-in on the paranormal for once, though. Yeah yeah, guilt drives you mad. I get it. But just once I want to see guilt driving someone mad while all the other people in the apartment building are like "Hello? 911? Yeah, the second floor has a loud heartbeat. Kept me up all night. I suspect foul play."
What is this "hair" thing these people are obsessed about?
ReplyDeleteI'll bet this is the only time a "battleaxe" landlady character ever had her hair described as "silky and soft."
ReplyDeleteHaha, great comments as usual gang... and a super big thanks again to everyone that keeps coming back to this blog here in the new year. It's weird, every year we gain a few new followers, lose a few old ones, (unfortunately), and a few pop up every once in a blue moon to remind me they're still there just a'creepin' around. I certainly approve of the more positive comments, definitely over the negative ones that just bag on everything and make fun of the posts like this is MST3000. Please remember, this blog is about the celebration and APPRECIATION of these old comics, so let's keep it fun! I've got lots more to post here in THOIA's big unlucky 13th year, so cross your fingers (inverted), and away we goooooooo...
ReplyDeleteWonder why there were so many hair-horror stories in the '50's?
ReplyDeleteI believe in short/low upkeep...but those are my issues. ;)
I've just been reading this site for a few months, and it's just great to be able to read these stories and discuss them! There's some really sharp analysis.
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