Hot Stuf' House

Found a copy of the black and white anthology comic mag, Hot Stuf' #2 (Winter 1975), at my local shop the other day. It's full of sci-fi / fantasy tales and nude lady art (and just look at that gorgeous Ken Barr cover and Wrightson / Theakston team-up!) plus other random silly fun, and highlighted by 70's artistic big guns like Gray Morrow, Richard Corben, Neal Adams, Bob Keenan etc. Today's post seems to be the only actual horror oriented tale included, but it's pretty good and I'm always a sucker for a spooky tale told by an inanimate object. For more from this issue, CLICK HERE!

I... Want... My... Cupcake?!"

Those of you that have been following this blog from the beginning are, by now, fully aware of my undying love and restless obsession with the Stephen King film classic, Creepshow (1981) directed by George Romero. Having watched this incredible ode to precode comic book horror countless times, (and read the spectacular Wrightson graphic novel adaptation just as many too), I felt this was the year to finally have my cake-- and eat it too! Thank you Trick or Treat Studios for officially licensing the "Father's Day" Nathan Grantham (and The Crate's Fluffy) masks for CS fiends like myself, and thank you to the Goodwill for hooking me up with a totally affordable ($17) full funeral suit to properly destroy (with the help of a relative.) A big no thanks to Mattel though who now make Barbie Styling Heads so small that they are no longer appropriate for cake-size horror props, but Hell, I'll come back from the grave any day for a tiny tasty cupcake too, so eh, make due with whatcha got being my current Halloween 2017 motto.





































Enjoy the pix, we hope everyone had a creeptacular Halloween as well! THOIA will be right back with more golden moldies from the vault in just a few so stay tombed... and hey, get yourself a second helping of that cake-- it's awfully delicious!

Bernie Wrightson R.I.P.

It's never the end... true legends live forever.

Raise the Devil

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Unfortunately mine was a little too low key for my tastes, it was so low key in fact, that I completely biffed on the annual THOIA Halloween post --and I'm only just now getting around to it 3 days later! Apologies to all! And I promised another tale from the Jan-Feb 1978 issue of House of Mystery #256, because after all, as the awesome Bernie Wrightson cover art clearly shows, this one is indeed a Halloween issue! And what better way to celebrate than to don an 'Ol Scratch costume and raise a little Hell too! It may be November, but everyone who comes around here knows that EVERYDAY IS HALLOWEEN, so keep the fires burning, the candy buckets overflowing, and the dead bodies hanging from poles-- as we once again enter into the horrifying House of Mystery!

















Still slavering for more spine shivering Satanic screams? Check out my latest book, DEVIL TALES available everywhere-- or CLICK HERE to have it devil-livered right to your door!

Gargoyle Every Night

Creepshow fan "Tony" found his way to THOIA via a google search for the comic book adaptations  of the film that I've posted in the past (check the archives) --this in turn has created a new fan of Berni Wrightson as well, and Tony asked to see more of Berni's fantastic work. I've always loved this gargoyle tale that originally appeared in the October 1970 issue of Chamber of Darkness #7, reprinted here for our viewing displeasure in the August 1975 issue of Giant-Size Chillers #3.

The Crate

With Halloween right around the corner, I see a ton of "essential holiday horror movies" lists apparently compiled by people with a very narrow sense of The Horror Film. Yes yes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Psycho, Halloween etc., all incredible classics, ok? We get it. We've seen 'em though, and we've seen 'em a million times. Now another incredible film that I've personally seen a billion times is George Romero's Creepshow (1982), but somehow this film is strangely always absent from these "must see" hipster film lists. WTF?!! And like Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (another oddly slapped 'n shunned film), I can't think of a better movie for horror amateurs to get turned onto this season than the one with the five jolting Stephen King tales of terror! Seriously people, get your act together and revisit Creepshow, aside from the 70's Amicus EC adaptations, there's never been a better anthology horror movie ever made about horror comic books! Need something to refresh your rotten memory? How about the snarling, gore drenched centerpiece to the film, the one that made everyone in the world stop loving and start loathing Adrianne Barbeau-- The Crate! And how about Berni Wrightson's awesome version of it from the Creepshow graphic novel! If you need more reminders you can always revisit "Father's Day" and "Something to Tide You Over" in the THOIA archive, just click on the titles!

And oh yeah... just tell it to call ya "Billie!"