Baron of Death!

If the Creeping Death of our last post wasn't enough, here's another gruesomely bloody / sweaty Rudy Palais classic, this time from the Dec '51 issue of Black Cat Mystery #32. I'm not sure if I've ever seen another comic book story that featured the 'ol thumbscrew torture method, but it certainly adds a horrific touch to an already bonkers terror tale! The kookoo cover of this issue is exceptionally wacko too! Who's the artist?

Deadly Acres

If the horrible little acres of our last post didn't kill ya hard enough, here's a few more deadly acres that'll either put you totally six feet under, --or completely leave ya hangin'! *wink! Good 'ol Bob Powell has a blast-o-frightenin' fun with this ghoulishly haunting Harvey horror classic from the December 1951 issue of Black Cat Mystery #32.

Lucifer's Lush

An insane back-up horror tale found, oddly enough, at the end of the December 1946 - January 1947 issue of Black Cat #3. Yes, once you've finished allowing lovely Linda Turner, (alias The Black Cat) to whoop your sorry ass, you could then take an additional beating from some good 'ol black magic...

Bloody Red Rose

Like candy, cards, and cheap motels, flowers are a big part of Valentines for some. So with that, here's an insane Rudy Palais tale of torment from the Oct '51 issue of Black Cat #31.

The Demon Is a Hag!

Wednesdays are usually dedicated to werewolves around here, but this week we're conjuring up some witchcraft instead-- so welcome all, gather 'round the midnight fire for a rather bitchy, Witchy Wednesday instead! Now some of you might remember this precode Rudy Palais tale I posted back in April (CLICK HERE!), and so today we present the Eerie Pub remake from the May 1973 issue of Witches' Tales Vol. 5 #3, featuring all new art by Ezra Jackson. If you compare the two, you can clearly see the original is about 666 times more horrifically gruesome in nearly every panel (even the new story retitle is a bit meh.) But not all is lost, and it's still a perfectly fine little update... it's just gonna be a no win situation however hard you try to re-do that putrifyin' Palais perfection.

The Body Maker

A request for Warren Kremer fills today's post with a gorgeously goofball tale of mad science gone full-blown bat shit crazy cakes. A superbly sexy splash, plus the lovely good girl art mixed throughout with horrific ugliness raise this a notch or two above most precode terror tales. We featured this one in Haunted Horror #29, but it originally appeared in the September 1952 issue of Black Cat Mystery #39.















And don't miss the second part of my View-Masters of Horror dream series over at my other blog today too by CLICKING HERE!! The Talking Reels command you!

HE

After we complete a month of Atlas posts, the first non-Atlas story to follow has some bloody big shoes to fill to get us back into the swingin' mix of all things pre code horror! So let's turn the pendulum controls over to Rudy Palais and see how he does it with this surprisingly gory, cutting edge tale of a cute couple, a dark and stormy night, an old house in the middle of nowhere, and a very large, very sharp blade! From the August 1952 issue of Harvey's great Black Cat Mystery #38.

The Werewolf Must Kill!

Detouring back into the 1950's for Werewolf Wednesday with a snarling, toothy entry from the August 1951 issue of Harvey's Black Cat #30. Don't fret over the fact that this tale chooses to depict the werewolf as just a regular looking wolf animal, (I'm typically not a fan of this illustrative decision), because the lovely Lee Elias art, and especially the last page, more than makes up for it!