Death Song! / The Thing With Red Eyes

Our last pre-code story from Don Heck this weekend comes from the September 1953 issue of Horrific #7, but it’s actually a reprint from the Nov. ’52 issue of Weird Terror #2 (another Comic Media horror title.) Strange to see a publisher re-use its own story just one year later but I guess the competative newsstand times were tough back then so they re-used whatever they had when they could.

Plus, as promised, after this story we’ve got a fine example of Heck’s Silver Age work from his astonishing days at Marvel. Enjoy!

And in case you missed them the first time around, there’s plenty more Don Heck in the THOIA Archives! Just click the titles below:

Mark of the Brute

Satan’s Love Call

All the Shapes of Fear

And speaking of Comic Media’s Weird Terror mag, stick around on Monday and Tuesday for a couple examples from this series, including some tentacled terror from Al Tewks and a fabulously sweaty freak-fest from THOIA fave Rudy Palais!

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The Thing with Red Eyes From the May 1961 issue of Tales to Astonish #19

Hirschel’s Hair

Remember those two crazy stories I posted last year called The Wig? Well, it’s back! Sort of… yes, as we kick off a Don Heck Tribute Weekend (as well as our continued look at Comic Media’s Horrific series) here comes yet another shocking tale about a demented bald barber with a real headful of trouble.

From the November 1953 issue of Horrific #8

Also see: The Wig: HERE… and HERE!

TOMORROW: One Heck of a Sunday!

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Vintage AD

Sewer Horror

February seems to be “Technical Difficulties” Month around here… but! my internet is finally working this morning and here’s your perplexing post for the day, from the November 1953 issue of Horrific #8 …and like yesterday’s tale this one is also by Pete Morisi. Commence with the complaining NOW.

TOMORROW: What the Heck?!

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Vintage Ads

A Glimpse of the Pit

We’ll be looking at some select tales from Comic Media’s Horrific series for the rest of the week and weekend... Saturday and Sunday will spotlight Don Heck, but today and tomorrow we’ll be looking at Pete Morisi, a guy that most comic fans know as the creator of Peter Canon…Thunderbolt. I’ve never read the Canon series but I’m a huge fan of Morisi’s ultra violent pre-code Johnny Dynamite detective stuff (click HERE for a classic example from the THOIA Archives.) But today we find Pete tackling the horror tale with his unique and bare essentials visual style and deceptively, non-innocent brand of story-telling.

From the January 1954 issue of Horrific #9

The Thing on the Roof!

Let’s take a look at one more 1970’s Robert E. Howard comic book adaptation this week and then get back to the pre-code days, shall we? This one is from the March 1973 issue of Chamber of Chills #3, and like yesterday’s tale is also illustrated by Frank Brunner. Howard's original version of this story saw print in the February 1932 issue of Weird Tales and is another favorite of mine—enjoy!

TOMORROW: On with the Horrific Fest!

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Other forms of "ancient and deadly..."

THOIA Nominated for a 2009 Rondo Award

The Horrors of it All has been nominated in the SEVENTH Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, which recognizes the best in monster research, creativity and genre appreciation (click HERE and see #15 “Best Horror Blog” category.) If you have a second please vote for THOIA, (voting ends March 31st) ...all other rules and voting information can be found at the Rondo website.

Thanks to Rondo’s David Colton, as well as The Classic Horror Film Board for the nomination, and also to everyone out there who continues to support THOIA with great comments, endless inspiration, and a wild sense of daily fun and surprises.

The Monster from the Mound!

I’ve set aside the Horrific series fest for another day or two and by popular demand adjusted the coordinates of the THOIA Time Machine for the January 1973 issue of Chamber of Chills #2, where we find yet another great Robert E. Howard horror classic adapted by Roy Thomas for Marvel Comics, with art by Frank Brunner.

TOMORROW: More Robert E. Howard Horror!

More Frank Brunner too!

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Originally published in the May 1932 issue of Weird Tales as “The Horror from the Mound” this odd vampire western hybrid was actually one of the first REH tales I ever read… and when I did, it literally made my skin crawl! The vampire creature seems much more terrifying in the original than Brunner's more human-ish visualization for Marvel, here is an excerpt:

“At the window a face glared and gibbered soundlessly at him. Two icy eyes pierced his very soul. A shriek burst from his throat and the ghastly visage vanished. But the very air was permeated by the foul scent that had hung about the ancient mound. And now the door creaked—bent slowly inward. Brill backed up against the wall, his gun shaking in his hand. It did not occur to him to fire through the door; in his chaotic brain he had but one thought—that only that thin portal of wood separated him from some horror born out of the womb of night and gloom and the black past. His eyes were distended as he saw the door give, as he heard the staples of the bolt groan. The door burst inward. Brill did not scream. His tongue was frozen to the roof of his mouth. His fear-glazed eyes took in the tall, vulture-like form—the icy eyes, the long black finger nails—the moldering garb, hideously ancient…”