A fun, comic book style ad for one of the best Kenner hand puppet toys of the 70's --you could even wear the interchangeable disguises on your very own face --it's Hugo the Man of a Thousand Faces! Dracula ("BLYAH!"), Frankie ("HYUCK!"), the Wolfman ("YIPE!"), and heck, even Peter Lorre ("SNERK! SNERK!") showed up for this one! BEHOLD:
Buried in the back pages of the July - August 1948 issue of Exposed #3, (among the typical sort of bang bang gangster crime stories) lurks this hair-raisin' Harry Kiefer illustrated tale of vicious voodoo ultra violence. Swirling with demons, death dolls, and brutal torture, this is a wild little ghastly gem of grisly horror from south of the blood-soaked border...
Time for another cursed entry in the superbly spooky "Ghost Gallery" series from Fiction House. If you remember the weirdly macabre Drew Murdoch adventure from a few posts ago HERE (yeah, I think Drew's gonna be our featured Character of the Month here in April), well, he's back and really has his hands full with an alluring apparition (illustrated by none other than joltin' Jack Kamen), --a super sexy spook that's even stolen the haunted, haggard heart of 'ol Mr. Karswell! Why, I almost actually shed a tear when: "For one brief second her tortured face writhed in the flames... then faded..." From the Sept. 1951 issue of Jumbo Comics #151.
After a quick skim through the pertrifyin' possessed puppet archive of THOIA's past posts (there are a lot more puppet stories than I thought!), I'm fairly confident I've never uploaded anything about one that drinks blood. So here we go, The Vampire Puppet fills not one, but two requests that came in this week, one for something puppetty, and one for the weirdest vampire story I've read in awhile. And both requests came from my friend Chris, who also admitted that he's not a fan of puppets or vampire stories. This tale on the other hand, came from the May - June 1952 issue of Witchcraft #2. And despite the nice art from Ed Goldfarb throughout, plus that iconic precode cover by Gene Fawcette, I'm sure Chris will still hate it...
Okay. Mr. Karswell played nice in our previous post, and yeah, you all loooved the happy ending and cutsie wootsie cuddly kooties, --but! It's a new month now, and it's time to get back to the good 'ol depressing stuff that makes me, errr, I mean him (Mr. Karswell) so happy! Like this gruesome entry from the supernaturally great "Ghost Squadron" back-up filler stories, (this one found in the October 1947 issue of Wings Comics #86, published by Fiction House), and features a cold-blooded psychopathic doofus who has no problem killing a man that just wants to see his wife and new baby-- hurrah! There's also a ghost possessed wax doll, a few more shockingly cruel murders, and finally, one of the all-time goriest, and most brutal pre-code climax panels ever printed. Seriously, I hope you saved your breakfast for afterwards! And if you did save your breakfast for afterwards, don't eat it quite yet! *record scratch sound! Because over at AEET today, I've spun yet ANOTHER propular way to get yourself something disgustingly scrambled in the morn! Yeah, it's a whack way to spend your mourning, --but then again, that's why ya'll love me, right?
If you're one of those people who actually clicks on the hyper-linked issue name / number that I always provide here in these intros, then maybe you noticed in our previous post that our requested Artist of the Week, Lin Streeter had not one, but two stories featured in that issue! And here is the other— a naughty little night train ride into terror, also from the June - July 1954 issue of Out of the Night #15! But up first, let's lovingly look at two nicely illustrated issue fillers, both featuring some really terrific work by Streeter, from the August - September 1950 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #12. Witches! Ghosts! Zombies! Satan! This is what you come to THOIA for, right?
Shifting gears now as we run screaming from old-time horrors, and head right smack dab into the jungle for some zombified voodoo doll madness. From the Fall 1953 issue of Ghost Comics #8... say, does anyone recognize the illustrator? There's some really interesting art in this one.
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.
