Thursday, April 30, 2020

A Sight for Sore Eyes / Let's Face It

Quick question: When in need of a special medical procedure, how many of you are willing to just go to some random dude in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere who maybe knows a thing or two about maybe being able to help you out? Let me see your hands... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6?! ...oh, wow, a lot more of you than I expected! Okay then, you're gonna love this double feature, and both tales are also from the macabre March 1953 issue of Spellbound #13 --see our last post too!





















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And when you're done here, head on over to my other blog HERE for a very special "Halfway to Halloween" story, --because yes, today is indeed very much your lucky day!

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Death of a Puppet!

A superb Atlas entry from the March 1953 issue of Spellbound #13, with wicked art by Jim Mooney. Tales about puppets and dummies usually seem to contain the same old string-along story twists we've seen countless times before, but this one goes for the startlingly simple, yet highly effective extra implication gusto-- and all in 4 perfect pages too!







Friday, April 24, 2020

The Hypnotist! / Never Trust a Woman!

We'll never know if Stan had a thing against the men of the stage back in the 50's, but we do now know that he felt the need to bump off two of them in two separate stories found in the Jan '53 issue of Spellbound #11. And if that wasn't enough, both meet their wonderful ends under a very edgy, similarly sharp bit o'f circumstance-- hold on to your hats!





















Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Watch the Birdie!

Sid Greene really knocks it out of the old "maul park" with one of the best Atlas splash panels ever! Yes, smile and say "cheese", because it's another creepy classic from the jolting January 1953 issue of Spellbound #11.









Saturday, April 18, 2020

The Empty Coffin / The Madman

My plan is to keep you all spellbound for the month of April here at THOIA, so lets dive into another great issue of terror tales, and this time we'll kick things off with a deadly double feature from the January 1953 issue of Spellbound #11. And wait a sec, didn't we just have a story called "The Madman" last month?! We sure did, but here's another one because as mentioned before, Stan LOVED recycling story titles. Another thing these two tales have in common: unwitting saps who somehow failed to see the much bigger, much more petrifying picture. And don't scream too loudly over that scary Sol Brodsky cover illustration either-- EEEEK!!!

















Tuesday, April 14, 2020

The Man Who Couldn't Be Killed!

Back pedaling a bit to the August 1952 issue of Spellbound #6 again for the exceptionally well written, Krigstein illustrated lead-off cover story, one that may make you giggle just as hard as you'll no doubt gasp your little heads off over that final panel. *BANG!*











Sunday, April 12, 2020

Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

I posted this over at my other blog a couple of years ago, but aside from Mr. Cavin, I don't think anyone else that follows THOIA even noticed it. I also forget who donated the scans, but thanks again to that person who asked to remain anonymous back then anyway. So happy holiday, please enjoy this eerie Easter casket terror treat for 2020. From the September 1980 issue of The Unexpected #202.