There's another fun sci-fi horror tale in the August - September 1953 issue of Weird Mysteries #6 (see our previous post), and this one comes loaded with plenty of EC Weird Science and Wally Wood style illustrative inspiration, right down to that crazy, uncivilized climax! Prepare yourself now for blast off...
Beginning a whole new madcap month of posts here at THOIA, so let's really live it up right out of the gate with this oddball, Ed Smalle, sci-fi horror mash-up from the August - September 1953 issue of Weird Mysteries #6. And to be honest, this feels like something goofy 'ol Ed Wood would've concocted, --and that is certainly not a bad thing! Also not bad at all is that murderously magical, brutal Bernard Bailey cover illustration!
Traveling across state lines to hook up with a minor is absolutely a monster level no-no, but some people have to learn the hard way! Wait a second, that's not what this story is about, --that's the other "Subway Terror" currently serving 15 years in prison. Anyway, the terrors presented in today's post are just as despicably awful, so hang on tight as Mister Mystery himself takes you down down down into an equally low level, where other unseen monsters live among us. From the Nov. '51 issue of Mister Mystery #2, art by Mike Esposito.
Our next not-so-fresh catch of the day as featured on THOIA's Monday Menu of the Macabre is from the January 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #8. I guess if you never imagined the thought of fishing and horror mixing well, then reel in this slippery sucker and see what's biting! Art by Mortellaro.
An interestingly simple little sci-fi horror premise from the September 1952 issue of Weird Tales of the Future #3: Two scientists working on a special generating fluid in an isolated desert castle accidentally spill the experiment on an ancient suit of armor, thus bringing it to violent life. Tony Mortellaro's koo-koo art works this one fast paced 'n full-tilt fun, and I totally adore the questioning climax with the bug eyed, bewildered scientist barely comprehending any of the possible outcomes to what he has just created. What have they done, indeed? What. Have. They. Done?!
Nope, it's not your imagination, --and you're not dreaming it! It's also not a premonition, even though it actually is, but what I mean to say is that we're looking at stories from the unbearably yellowed pages of the January 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #8-- and yep, here's another one to make you pull your hair outta your head in macabre screaming madness! Hope everyone's having a splendid Friday the 13th too!
Well, if you were paying attention in the intro of the previous post, then you probably saw this one coming next. Even more shocking than the story itself is that somehow, in all these years, I've never posted this original January 1954 issue of the Weird Mysteries #8 version until now (though I did post the very graphic Eerie Pub re-title / remake a few times in the THOIA Archive HERE, and we put it in Haunted Horror #22 too.) So how well does this story hold up today as a reflection of modern society ie: high schooler frustration levels, teen suicide, clueless parenting etc? Spot any Jack Davis swipes?
If you thought our previous post lacked a certain amount of heart, wait'll you get a load of this one! From the January 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #8, and like most of the stories from this infamous issue --which includes the SOTI classic, "I Killed Mary" --it saw over a half dozen different issue reprints, most notably in the later era Eerie Pubs Shiver Age!
Here's another horrific heartbreaker from the October 1953 issue of Weird Mysteries #7. And like our previous post (which I seem to be saying a lot), this one has also been featured HERE before in the THOIA Archive, but only in a re-titled, black and white reprint form. I think you'll all agree, this story definitely benefits from a bit of the feminine flesh tones and good 'ol spurtin' red stuff. And be sure to fully enjoy that classic Bernard Baily cover illustration too!
