In all the years I've been producing this blog, I've posted less than a half dozen stories from Warren's original b/w Vampirella magazine series. I'm not talking about Vampi's own ominous adventures, I'm talking the ones where she horror hosts the various tales of other macabre monsters and murderous mayhem. Maybe we'll finish out the month with a few frightening examples, and let's start it off with this hot lil specimen from the June 1970 issue of Vampirella #5. Yep, this plan also gives me an excellent excuse to post Frazetta covers too! Tough titties from Drakulon to any complainers...
Vampirella -- IMHO -- stayed the closest to the EC formula throughout it's entire run (not counting the Vampirella or Pantha or whatever.) Almost always your regular twist ending vampire/ghoul/wolfman etc stories.
ReplyDeleteCreepy kind of went sci-fi near the end -- you can't blame them Star Wars had just come out -- but still had interesting stories.
Eerie went all in with continuing "horror heroes" stories, which could be good and in some cases WTF.
So Vampi is a good place to source a lot of these. In the end, I think Creepy and Eerie had better classes of stories, but you could always get your good trick ending tale from Vampi.
The art on this is interesting if not a bit on the amateur side but I love all the half tone processes and impossible clothes like page 4, panel 2.
Looking forward to this!
Is the movie poster part of the issue or added on? I don't think I've ever seen a movie ad in a Warren magazine (as opposed to bigger things like reviews).
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those stories where I was waiting to see what the twist was since the girl claimed to not be a ghoul. Would she turn out to be something else entirely, like a vampire or a werewolf or would the handsome American turn out to be the true ghoul. Nope, t'was the villagers themselves the entire time. Also, I think that's one of the few stories I've seen where the protagonists just plain give up and just hold one another. Can you say, "Burn, Baby, Burn?"
ReplyDeleteDressed like that, I can see why people might want to think she's a demon of some kind. I mean, really, you want to go digging up graveyards in bare feet and a skimpy night dress?
ReplyDeleteI just added the movie contest image as an extra. I mean, it does include the words "GHOUL GIRL" after all.
ReplyDeleteYes, I see.
ReplyDeletenice little story. fan of that era. thanks
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this straight. One night three ghouls are dining out at the town boneyard when they come across a woman in a torn slip preparing their meal for them. Instead of thanking her, instead of giving her and hand (and then perhaps opportunistically eating her up), they immediately start accusing her of being the town ghoul. Was this an act to gaslight her into thinking she was the villain? A prank they were playing on themselves? No. They were just trying to fool the reader. That's why it feel like this story has a twist ending. Because the characters do something that, once you know the end, makes zero sense. And Vampirella straight-up lies in the intro to cover it up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teen I read Creepy and Eerie occasionally, but I really only picked up Vampirella for the covers (I collected the ones with Bodē and Torres art... yeah and Frazetta, too--it's rare that you post something that I actually own, but here we are!). To me, Vampi seemed like a whole different kind of book, more of a proving ground for the other mags. A farm league. This story is an excellent example. I mean nothing demeaning when I say that it feels like it belongs in a fanzine. When I was a teen I was easily frustrated by new creators who did not always work within established professional standards. The weird art and overuse of time-saving mechanical screens, the wooden dialog and awkward balloon placements. It all amounted to an obstacle for me back then. Over the years I learned to appreciate work that doesn't manage to be--or try to be--so conventional. Stories like this represent a fresh sort of nonconformity.
Speaking of tricking the reader, one SLIGHTLY misleading thing is that Kenneth is a little too "up" for a violent scene with the villagers, with lines like "The first one that tries anything gets a bullet through his brain!" and "If it's trouble they want, I'll be glad to give it to them!"
ReplyDeleteIt makes you wonder about him at least a little.
But then he and she become a "Romeo and Juliet" that you really feel bad for.
It's funny how that clashes with the dark comedy final moment, but clever.