Suppressed Desire

We have a few more tales to go with our spotlight artist of the month, Bernie Krigstein, and it's time for a unique, psychological doozy from the September 1953 issue of Spellbound #17. Brian will likely comment on the amount of "talking head" panels, and yeah, he's right. But see how Bernie again mixes it up with interesting angles, close-ups, and cinematic style perspectives, not to mention going against the usual Atlas norm here, and delivering the typical big "twist reveal" in the middle of the second to last page-- NOT the final panel, as so often happens in these types of stories. But as we've seen with some of our previous Krigstein entries, --there is always another evil card up his sleeve still yet to play too! YIIIII! This would have made a great Roger Corman quickie starring Susan Cabot as Genevieve, Russ Tamblyn as Herbert, and Richard Johnson as Doctor Hargreaves. 

Even After Death

As mentioned in the previous posts, we're experiencing another creepy case of Atlas over-analyzation this month, and more specifically for the next week or so with an in-death-- errr-- in-depth look at the wild work of bad ass Bernie Krigstein! And this golden era gem from the November 1950 issue of Suspense #5 may be short, but it certainly ain't sweet. That is, unless you're a fan of kissing wrinkled mummy lips, or perfect lines of narrative such as, "...the living hand jerked convulsively, like a giant spider on the grave's surface..." ::shiver! Great writing, and even greater artwork.

Water, Water Everywhere!

I promised you more Bernie Krigstein, and here he comes like a terrifyin' tidal wave of weirdness, via the August 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #12. Okay, the coloring here might be a bit off and washed out (I did my best to clean it up), but it's really such a wild and wonderfully written tale with a super clever and very funny double twist ending-- I believe it to be one of the very best Atlas crime horror posts on this blog now! So sit back and relax, kick up your heels and pour yourself a lil drinky for 'ol Kriggy, as All Atlas Month continues to pull you in, and drag you under... 

Kiss of Death!

With barely a dozen Bernie Krigstein stories nestled in the THOIA Archive, I feel like I've stumbled upon yet another back-stabbing travesty of epic proportions around here! I guess what I'm trying to say is: how can you have an All Atlas Fest August without some kooky spooky Krigstein?! His unique vision and expert sense of intense story telling really cuts to the bone-- so here we go, a whole new month of posts, and we're revvin' it right off the starting block with a couple of killer Krigstein klassiks! Wait, did I say a couple? Yep, stay tombed for him in our next post as well. But for now, enjoy this atmospherically wicked little walk in the park, from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11.

Frankie Was Afraid

Looking back at our awesome Atlas Fest earlier this month, I suddenly realized I made an inexcusable, and rather monumental mistake: How on Earth can we have an Atlas Fest without featuring my all-time favorite artist ever-- Bill Everett??!! Okay. Fixing that la boo-boo now with a real screamer from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11 (Everett also created that incredible cover design too!) And because of my awful, absent-mindedness, I've suddenly decided that we'll continue on this journey into even more unknown worlds by extending / reviving July's Atlas Fest --granted, if I can find enough worthy material-- for the entire month of August! Sound good? Oh, who am I kidding? Like I won't be able to find enough worthy material! It's Atlas after all... see ya's shortly in August for lots rots more!

The Grave Will Not Wait

Like our previous post, today's fateful story is also from the October 1952 issue of The Hand of Fate #12, and it's nicely illustrated by Chic Stone who always seems to totally crush it here at THOIA. So what do you all think? Could you deliver on what 'ol Fate has offered to this poor, doomed idiot? I've also rounded out the post with a graverobbin' one-pager-- a Sy Grudko "True Tales of the Supernatural" quickie from the July 1954 issue of The Beyond #27. One more post to go for the month of July, and FYI: I plan to correct a rather foolish bit of Atlas oversight on my part... I do hope you can forgive me!

Cauldron of Evil

Time for a macabre lil stroll through the ominous 'ol Ozark mountains, where wicked weird witchcraft still runs rampant-- and all just a mere hop, skip, and one jittery jump away from Karswell Manor as well! Ace Mag art pro, Jim McLaughlin, lays the atmosphere on thick as a hick with a tick about to explode on his di-- errrr, okay, --time to lay off the alliteration for awhile, I seriously do believe *gag! From the August 1952 issue of The Hand of Fate #12, plus we have one more from this eerie ish up next too-- so stay tombed!

Love Trap

My buddy Richard sent over this fun Iger Shop illustrated tale from the June 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #6.  He also profusely apologizes for the blurriness on page 4! No worries though, this scary space story is still a blast, and somehow fits nicely within our month of posts-- I mean, it certainly feels like Farrell trying their hand at an Atlas style sci-fi horror 5-pager, doesn't it? Annnnd if anybody is singing "Love Trap" to the tune of "Love Shack", I beg you stop it now. I mean it...

The Ugly Man

How about we finish up this Atlas Fest with another one from the October 1952 issue of Suspense #23. And similar to our previous post, it's another tale about lousy 'ol looks, looks, looks! But a story illustrated by joltin' Joe Maneely is of course anything but "lousy", because not only is this 4-page, mini-masterpiece of mad science also written by Stan Lee, it's got zombies, werewolves, ghosts, plus, a fantastically funny finale! Don't believe me, eh? Wanna bet?