Love from the Grave

Here's a rare, and rather curious reprint / retitle / redrawn story found inside Scotland's Suspense Magazine #1 from 1952. Aside from the "Jeremy Dufy" signed splash, GCD doesn't really have any other info listed about it, but super sleuthy Mr. Karswell notes that the 10-page story length, as well as the memorable splash and various other bits of art make it easily recognizable as one of Fawcett's 1950's classics, namely, Sheldon Moldoff's, The Dead Lover Returns, originally featured in the May 1952 issue of World's of Fear #4 (check it out in the THOIA Archive HERE!) But what's actually most curious about this black and white re-do is how or why it even exists at all, considering the other reprint yarns in the same issue are all Dick Ayers' weird western Ghost Rider tales and simply reprinted exactly as they appeared in their original run, (though this time in black and white.) Whatever the reasoning, Dufy's new art is certainly no Moldoff, but to be honest, it's pretty spooky too, and a few of his scratchy, altered panels which change up the perspective / angle, occasionally seem to make things a bit more interesting, oddly enough. Also, the coloring problems of the original version actually make this redo a bit more atmospheric, in my opinion. Compare for yourself-- and everyone have a happy holiday too!

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.

Horror Without a Head

One of my all time favorite precode Harvey stories is "Headless Horror" from the May 1952 issue of Chamber of Chills #8-- click HERE to read it in our THOIA Archive! It's surprisingly gory and superbly atmospheric, and seriously, I like it so much I put it in the "Scarifying Mr. Karswell Issue" of Haunted Horror #14! So again today we have an Eerie Pub remake/redraw, retitled "Horror Without a Head", and as usual we see an updated Harvey classic (this time with Nestor Olivera art) that is visually moody and cinematic, though I will say the 50's original is probably more effectively violent because we get to see all that glorious gore in FULL COLOR! Another interesting choice in the remake is to take the fabulous panel from page 6 of the original story and rework it a bit for the new splash. Like our previous posts this month, today's tale is also from the September 1981 issue of of Terrors of Dracula Vol. 3 #2. Anybody getting tired of these Eerie Pub remakes yet?

Jeb's Bloody Ghost

Yet another Eerie Pub remake / redraw of a classic precode horror tale, and from the same issue of Terrors of Dracula that we've been creepin' through all this month (see our previous posts) --now, where as most of you have been pleased with the updated artwork we've presented thus far, I am fairly certain this time you'll be less than enthusiastic-- though revamping anything originally illustrated by the vastly superior hand of Jack Cole is likely to never stand a chance of being on par, even from someone as interestingly talented as Marchionne. After you read today's post, click HERE to see the original Jack Cole version, "Hangman's Horror" which first appeared in the January 1953 issue of Web of Evil #2 --and more recently reprinted in our Jack Cole's Deadly Horror collection, as well as Haunted Horror #3, (IDW / Yoe Books.)

Ferry of the Dead / The Dead Demons

Doesn't seem right posting stories from an Eerie Pub issue without uploading at least one blood spurtin' Dick Ayers tale too! And like our last post, "The Dead Demons" is from the same Terrors of Dracula issue as our double vampire freak-out, though the story itself was originally a Harvey story as well, and titled "Ferry of the Dead" from the August 1951 issue of Chamber of Chills Magazine #22. And since I've apparently never posted that Golden Oldie here at THOIA, let's immediately correct that first, shall we? So read 'em and weep, fiends... which one is better?

Vampire vs. The Strange Vampire

We've unearthed the Sept '81 issue of Terrors of Dracula Vol. 3 #2 (which turned out to be the very last issue of this short-lived Eerie Pub series), for a double header of blood sucker fun. "Vampire" was originally a precode Harvey horror tale and was featured in the Jan '53 issue of Tomb of Terror #7 as "Shadow of Death"--compare to the original version HERE! --while "The Strange Vampire" originally appeared in the Dec '51 issue of Web of Mystery #6 as Ace's "The Vampire's Weird Duel", but unfortunately I don't have that issue for comparison. Anyway, which tale has more bite?