As we've seen in the last few posts, a scary illustrated skeleton in your story can really elevate the eerie factor! Take for example this rotten Rudy Palais crime horror quickie --which also contains the origins of Dr. Strange! --via the January 1952 issue of Witches Tales #7. Annnnd to all you fans of Lucio Fulci's classic, ZOMBIE, -- you may be surprised to learn today that an undead guy fighting a shark underwater (CLICK HERE for it) didn't originate in his 1979 cult film feature!
Sometimes the scariest place on your entire eerie estate can be that gosh-dang 'ol garden out back! Don't believe me? Check out this overgrown creeper from the April 1952 issue of Chamber of Chills #7. And if you need further proof, CLICK HERE for even more ghastly gardens of hellacious horror!
Valentine's Day is finally upon us, but we're far from the bitter end of our doomed love stories fest for the morbid month of February. And it doesn't get much more doomy than a whirlwind romance that suddenly turns murderous and suicidal in the simple span of 5 comic book pages, but here ya go none the less. From the December 1951 issue of Chamber of Chills #4, PLUS! a real gem from the Karswell Kard Kollection-- aka the saddest sunken lunk Valentine of all time! And if you're still hangin' around after that, an appropriate, though not very Valentiney, one-page bonus "True Tale of the Supernatural" from the Sept. 1950 issue of Challenge of the Unknown #6.
From one terrifying transformation tale beyond the stars (see our previous post), to another right here on Earth, let us now follow one man's ill-fated attraction to some bad pussy. From the Spring 1945 issue of All-New Comics #11, and with some ferociously fun art by Jerry Robinson, not to mention a funny little foreign sleuth of the supernatural, Professor Augustus Bonnard, who I'm not sure ever made another comic book appearance, (I didn't find anything related on GCD anyway, so please correct me if I'm wrong.) Yep, love is all around here at THOIA this entire month of February, it's even in the trees, and gasp! --here it comes now for your throat!
And here we go, kickin' off December 2024 with a fantastically fog enshrouded, fiery freak-out, --and seriously, when you need someone to kill off the cast (and even the venue itself) of a really bad theatrical play, there's no one better suited to this terrible task than rockin' Rudy Palais! How he always managed to pack so much master-class, hellish imagery into only a half dozen pages for these Harvey mags is mind bogglin', and today's cuckoo voodoo witch doctor of death post is no exception! Nice uncredited cover and bonus filler in this issue too! From the April 1952 issue of Witches Tales #9.
The weatherman says we're in for some cooler midwestern temps here starting tomorrow, and though we've spent the last two posts trapped in an incinerating chamber of CHILLS, it's now time to let 'ol Rudy Palais fling one last fistful of sweaty shade our way --and no, not that kind of shade! This is a really weird one from the August 1952 issue of Chamber of Chills #11, and good lord, please read the story carefully to avoid embarrassing yourself with comments like "is the last page missing?" or "ending feels too abrupt!" or whatever... the ending is rather brilliant if you ask me. And so is the smokin' hot Lee Elias cover illustration too.
Time for something a little more serious now from the same grave issue as our last Chamber of Chills #24 post. And for a brief 5-pager, Bob Powell fills every panel to the brim with outstanding funeral mood and atmosphere. If that ain't enough, check out that bone-chilling Lee Elias cover classic!
August arrives with eye fangs planted firmly in cheeks, as Howard Nostrand goes straight for the jugular in this amazingly illustrated, but seriously silly blood sucker satire via the July 1954 issue of Chamber of Chills #24. (Some of you might remember this one from our Howard Nostrand Nightmares collection from 2016.) Plus! More Howie hits with a couple of great CCM sing-a-long song parody one-pagers to round out your chills with even more kookball chuckles.
