Time for one of Lou Cameron's better, oft reprinted / reworked Ace classics, originally from the July 1953 issue of Web of Mystery #19 (as seen here.) This is a fast paced, ferocious tale of rampaging statues in a spooky old museum, and is seriously as funny at times as it is brutal. Tales of grotesque golems on the loose are no stranger to THOIA, or Hollywood for that matter, because once the military get involved here this story begins to remind me of IT! (1967) starring Roddy McDowell. Thinking about it even more, this Cameron crusher would have been a fun project for Ray Harryhausen to bring to life upon the silver screen-- what he created with the terrifying Talos statue in Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is unforgettable and forever frightening.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
The Corpse's Embrace!
We continue now with an eerily embracing mystery of awful wedded darkness, as legendary Lou Cameron puts another pretty little murderess through the wringer --and then really turns up the heat! And are we actually hiding inside a coffin to escape justice again?! Good lord, haven't we learned anything around here over the years? From the deadly, disease riddled debut issue of Dark Mysteries #1, via June - July 1951... with another wild one from this issue up next!
Thursday, April 23, 2026
She Stalks at Sundown
Time now for a lurid, Lou Cameron, cat-girl classic, clawing its way at you from the January 1954 issue of Web of Mystery #22. Full of juicy good-girl art, and jungle jitters galore, I'm actually kind of surprised that I've never posted this one here at THOIA before. And meanwhile, I'm equally as baffled as to why it didn't make it into Cameron's Unsleeping Dead hardcover collection, via The Chilling Archives. We also have another beautiful "blonde in peril" cover design by mad man Jim McLaughlin, --plus, tacked on at the very end to round things out nicely, a shivery "Tale of Unexplained Mystery" by Sy Grudko concerning a macabre magic mirror...
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
The Tomb of Terror
Most of us typically associate Lou Cameron with his amazing output of precode horror for Ace Magazines. But here he is at American Comics Group, churning out the same top-notch terrors, even though it's all wrapped up in the usual ACG "lover's in peril" plot. Lou really gives it the 110% treatment too with his weird monsters, great eye for cinematic framing, and highly detailed backgrounds. It's a fun, fast-paced romp from the March - April 1952 issue of Forbidden Worlds #5.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
The Bride's Borrowed Time
We're still barrelin' along in bridal beast mode here at THOIA, and leave it to legendary Ace Magazines great, Lou Cameron (with an ink assist by Rocco Mastroserio) to concoct this tale of newlyweds and witchcraft with secret bush country head hunter shrinking techniques! This is a wild one that is as wonderfully goofy as it is weirdly deranged! From the May 1952 issue of Baffling Mysteries #8.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
The Vampire of the Opera







Saturday, June 6, 2020
Over My Dead Body





