Perfect Mate / Once Upon a Corpse

If you're suddenly overcome with a creeping sense of deja vu, it's because yes, just last month we had another post also called "The Perfect Mate" (Atlas had a thing about re-using story titles!) But you have my word that this "perfect mate", from the August 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #12, is quite different than the last one! And as mentioned in our previous post, today's Double Header is also a double shot of Marty Elkin eeriness, two atmospheric entries from the glorious, golden era of comic book shock spookery! Now, "Once Upon a Corpse", from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11 might leave a few of you less imaginative fiends scratching your head in the end. But I like to think that 'ol Marty simply delivered one of the more original supernatural tales-- featuring a vampiric grave with an appetite all its own! Oh, did I just spoil it for you? Too bad...

Suppressed Desire

We have a few more tales to go with our spotlight artist of the month, Bernie Krigstein, and it's time for a unique, psychological doozy from the September 1953 issue of Spellbound #17. Brian will likely comment on the amount of "talking head" panels, and yeah, he's right. But see how Bernie again mixes it up with interesting angles, close-ups, and cinematic style perspectives, not to mention going against the usual Atlas norm here, and delivering the typical big "twist reveal" in the middle of the second to last page-- NOT the final panel, as so often happens in these types of stories. But as we've seen with some of our previous Krigstein entries, --there is always another evil card up his sleeve still yet to play too! YIIIII! This would have made a great Roger Corman quickie starring Susan Cabot as Genevieve, Russ Tamblyn as Herbert, and Richard Johnson as Doctor Hargreaves. 

Civilized!

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...

Hugo at the Monster Rally (AD)

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:

The Case of the Missing Tombstones!

Well, Tombstone Tuesday just moved to Monday, all apologies folks! My pre-planned schedule has been thrown off since the big 'ol storm that blew through the midwest a few days ago and knocked out our power for a spell. But everything's slowly back to (ab)normal around here, and since nothing else could possibly go wrong (could it?), how about something a bit more fun yet still equally abnormal with a kooky spooky Inspector Klooz case from the Oct. - Nov. '46 issue of Young King Cole V2#2. Fans of silly slapsticky horror, as well as Terrytoon's Heckle & Jeckle will surely enjoy the distinct illustrative stylings of Connie Rasinski / JAC / Jason Comic Art.

Grave Story

I'm sure that many of you consider a cemetery to be a nice, quiet, uneventful place. But today's terror-ific Tom Sutton tale from the February 1973 issue of Midnight Tales #2 tells quite a different, action packed story, indead-- errr, indeed! Not only that, but you're going to hear all about it from a very different perspective too! I've also included a vintage comic book ad page absolutely packed with mail-order magic...

The Thing in the Vault!

Following up our previous werewolf story with a terrifyin' tale about a trio of ancient vampire bros unleashed upon a small village --because three Nosferatus are always better than one! The title probably should've read, "The THINGS in the Vault", but no matter, this is one of the earlier, lengthier Marvel anthology entries, and at a whoppin' 11 pages, we get a more fleshed out story than the usual Atlas 4 or 5 pager. And though the climax feels a wee bit rushed, it's still a rollickin' ride through the 'ol creep infested countryside. From the July 1949 issue of Amazing Mysteries #33. Cover / story art by--???