Dripping Fangs / Vampire Bat Kill!

At THOIA, we prefer our detective mysteries laced with a dripping, double dose of horror, --and here are two that fit the frightening bill nicely. First up, King O'Leary and his frisky sidekick Kitty are on the chiller-diller case of murder at a midnight monster movie, via the December 1945 issue of Zoom Comics #1! Followed by a 3-page, not-so-perfect quickie crime, utilizing a bloodthirsty bat as a murder weapon (ummm, the flying mammal kind, not a baseball bat!), from the April 1950 issue of The Perfect Crime #2. George Appel's art on the first story is quite nice though, and loaded with atmosphere, even reminding me of King Ward in a few places, most notably the freakish faces, and interesting angles. So get ready! Match wits with the coppers, and see how quickly you can solve these crazy crimes!

The Domain of the Doomed

Time now to finish up November 2025 right where we sorta started-- with even more King Ward weirdness! This is one seriously silly, sci-fi horror adventure, via the November - December 1951 issue of Forbidden Worlds #3. And while it's off the charts in terms of convoluted craziness, it's also packed with a wild assortment of concepts and cool creature designs. You likely won't forget this one, just as Bruce and Betty never forgot it after they returned to Earth and tried to recapture a little bit of that arousing alien action in the bedroom (see their own amateur home photo attached below!) I've also rounded out the post with yet another ACG "True" ghost quickie, --yep, illustrated by Ward-- and this time from the January - February 1953 issue of Skeleton Hand #3. We'll be heading back to Earth in a few for lots more, --stay tombed!

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Last Monday's "True Ghosts of History" bonus at the end of our doomed post HERE was indeed (as Brian Barnes pointed out), based on a a very well documented haunting that took place in the 1830's, though the actual origins of The Brown Lady, aka The Grim Lady story itself goes as far back as the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. (CLICK HERE for more information from the eerie Wikipedia entry.) And alas, the great King Ward version you saw last week was just one of three filler comic book adaptations uniquely rendered over the years and telling the terrifyin' tale of poor Dorothy Walpole's wandering apparition. Our first version below is from DC's "Tales of the Haunted and the Damned!"  a then new series of true stories (concerning cursed castles, haunted houses, and macabre mansions) and originally appeared, in this case, in the Feb. 1974 issue of Ghosts #23. Also included below-- the infamous "real" photo of damned Dorothy descending the 'ol staircase of Raynham Hall, --and finally, another illustrated version, this time as a one-page quickie from the April 1953 issue of Adventures into Darkness #9, though this scan was actually already posted at THOIA way back in 2010 HERE!

"True" Zombies of History: Hugo Ormsbeck / Strange Spirits: Voodoo

Time to put a wrap on our killer King Ward Fest this week with a couple more ACG AdvUnk fillers. And first up, a whoppin' weird 4-page historical account of Hugo Ormsbeck, 13th century oddball alchemist, and magician, who apparently discovered the power of the living dead, --and thusly became a "true" zombie himself! Ward delivers some great panels here, I just wish the coloring was a little more inspired. From the March 1953 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #41, followed by a one page voodoo quickie from the Fall 1948 debut issue of Adventures into the Unknown #1. GCD attributes the art here by Ward as well, but it honestly doesn't look like his work to me... I'm sure you will all let me know your opinions on this matter as well.

Fangs of Horror

It's King Ward Werewolf Wednesday here at THOIA, and yeah, I've decided that we'll just spend the rest of this week looking at some of Ward's weirder horror output for ACG --see our previous post as well, in case you missed it! And speaking of weird, this might just be one of the weirdest, graverobbin' werewolf stories ever! King's art is absolutely astounding, as always, and he can absolutely draw a menacingly slinky, wicked wolf pack like no other! But as beautifully drawn and written as some of the narrative is, Charles Verral's scripting here is oddly shoddy, ridiculously packed with illogical details that would make even Ed Wood laugh out loud. So if you can forgive all of that stuff, and still try to have fun with today's entry (from the August 1951 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #22), then you might just etc etc... uhhhh... well... okay, yes, that's right-- sometimes a story can leave even poor 'ol Mr. Karswell at a complete loss for words. AAARGH!

Dead Man's Doom / True Ghosts of History: Grim Lady of Raynham Hall

We had a request last month for more King Ward, and I am of course more than happy to oblige, --I mean, he is The King, after all! It's also quite the convenient request since the 'ol ACG long boxes were already still resurrected for our previous post! And I feel like we haven't featured a "True Ghosts of History" quickie in a while either, so please try not to shriek too loudly at the horrifically stern visage of "The Grim Lady of Raynham Hall" from the December - January 1949 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #2. But first up, it's time to turn the tables on a supernatural faker with some honest-to-badness REAL supernatural, from the September - October 1951 issue of Forbidden Worlds #2. Ward is certainly in fine form on both entries in this post, each swirling with spooky, drippy atmosphere, and maybe like me, you'll learn some deadly new terminology for fine lobster dining and seaweed!