Going - Going - Real Gone!

Okay now, we've been doing "April Fools" around here since 2007, so at this point in the blahhguh game there's really no point anymore in me, errrr, I mean Mr. Karswell, trying to pull a fast one over you guys! Instead, we'll just take a look at another fun MAD magazine wannabe yarn featuring some silly supernatural spirits (including a funky Frankenstein's Monster, boney 'ol Death, a headless Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Horseman, and a super stoned Casper clone midget), doing their absolute worst at scarin' a buncha haunted house invadin', hip cat college kids and their fast yappin', jump ' n jive nonsense. It's kooks 'n spooks a'plenty, and it's from the Fall 1954 issue of Madhouse #4, with art likely by those krazy be-boppin' Iger Shop kool kats. Ya dig?

On With the Dance!

If you've been a member of any type of social media platform for the last few decades, ie Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, etc., then you know at this point that "doom scrolling" for some eye pleasingly quick entertainment imagery is pretty much the norm in this age of increasingly shorter attention spans. The smaller anthology horror tale, as the kind featured regularly here at THOIA, play out well to this kind of audience, and even better (unfortunately) when someone takes a single panel out of context from one of these stories and posts it all over the internet for an even quicker laugh. And that's all fine I guess, but it kind of sucks that most people will never bother to dig a little deeper for the rest of a truly great Stan Lee / Russ Heath tale, like this one for example from the April 1953 issue of Menace #2. These isolated panels (first image below) have been floating around the web for years-- but now you finally get to know the full story!

Dance of Death

You know you've found the perfect summertime screamer when the off-register coloring actually adds a bit to the visuals for a minor plot point moment, haha. Top notch work from Russ Heath of course, and despite the rather predictable conclusion you'll see flapping its way towards you from page 3, this tale also provides a few moments of very lovely good girl art, dance action, and atmosphere. From the September 1951 issue of Suspense #10, --and get a load of that weirdly masterful Joe Maneely cover! But FYI: I also included a creepy Carl Burgos cover, courtesy of the March 1953 issue of Adventure into Weird Worlds #16 at the very end of this post too because it seems to fit that final story panel pretty nicely-- now don't peek until you've read it to the end though!

Phantom of the Disco

THINGS THAT GO AND DO THE BUMP IN THE NIGHT DEPT: Yes, it's Saturday, and if tonight you find that you have the fever for the flavor of something frightening, --then you've hustled on over to the right place! Okay, maybe this post isn't that frightening, but this fun 'n funky attempt by DC at cashing in on a particularly popular, nightclub cultural movement of the time, and in an eerie sort of three-page quickie (aka the July 1980 issue of Ghosts #90), really doesn't seem completely lost, or at all out of place for this comic book / music lover, --and I always appreciate a good polyester pair-up, haha. So come on everybody, --get down tonight!

Don't Dance w/ Me When I'm Dead!

Did you come to THOIA today looking for something hilariously grim to totally grime up your Saturday afternoon with? Well good, cuz here's a perfect example of how precode horror occasionally went to batty bat with a truly preposterous concept, and with the help of some very uneven, but totally likable Sokoli art, still manages to hit an oddly surreal home run like no other. Actually, pop culture took this "carry the corpse" concept and went wild with it over the last century, --you've all seen Weekend At Bernies for example by now, right? From the October 1952 issue of Beware #12.

The Isle of the Dead

Mardi Gras reared its drunken head last week, and with the overload abundance of boobs 'n booze on display, no one hardly noticed that just at the edge of town, the dead were having a dance celebration of their own in the local cemetery! Reminds me of a story I once read in the Nov '73 issue of Twilight Zone #53... featuring a much better intro by a typically off model Rod Serling illustration.

Zombie Magic! / Thing from the Grave

Despite the oddly cool science fiction cover painting (and not a single story even remotely approaching S/F within the pages inside), the May 1971 issue of Horror Tales Vol. 3 #3 is chock full of gruesome goodies... take for example these two terrifying yarns about the living dead. From the contents page intro: "The stench of the open grave comes to life..."

["Zombie Magic" is a remake of "Corpses On Cue", which was posted to THOIA after this story's posting. Read it here! -- Nequam]

Need more monsters, ghouls, and assorted creeps today? Head over to AEET (Karswell's other blog) by clicking HERE!