The Man Who Lost His Head!

Here's another good terror tale from one of the early issues of Suspense, a rather lengthy, but still exceptionally well scripted, shivery, shrunken head horror adventure that's sure to leave you shrieking and shrinking in your skin with eerie exhaustion! And after you've finished this Atlas classic, via the May 1950 issue of Suspense #3, head off / on over to AEET HERE and get a load of another lost head that is now in the possession of macabre Mr. Karswell (WARNING: It is highly recommended that you wait an hour until after you've eaten!)

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!

Saturdays with Madam Satan

Double Feature Day at THOIA, and let's take it way, waaay back to the June / July 1941 issues of Pep Comics #16 and #17, for the origin of Madam Satan-- the meanest mama to ever evilly stalk the Earth in six back-up pages of a superhero comic book anthology series! She only lasted 6 issues total, but Tyra's (aka Iola's) terrifying time spent amongst humanity while moonlighting for her Master is certainly worthy of a place here on this blasphemous blog, and fyi-- we'll be spending the next few Saturdays checking out more of her devilishly, delicious deeds! Really nice artwork by Harry Lucey too, it's spooky and sexy, and full of interesting, uniquely 40's style visuals. So make a note of it, and come back here every Saturday this month for more of the Madam!

Call Me Monster

Time for another installment of weird ass, Werewolf Wednesday, from the January 1954 issue of Mysteries Weird and Strange #4. Nuff said.

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!

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!