Night Air

Sometimes I think I've already posted a story here at THOIA, like this creature feature from the March 1953 issue of Weird Terror #4, when in fact I haven't, --though we did feature it in the February 2016 issue of Haunted Horror #21. And it's believed that Rudy Palais may have done the pencils here, but that is clearly not his distinctive sweaty ink style... does anyone out there recognize the possible artist?

High Voltage!

From the Oct '52 debut issue of Weird Mysteries #1, it's a highly charged Hy Fleishman classic about two brothers from the same mother (there's your THOIA Mother's Day connection) with a rather shocking relationship! Have a great horrorday, fiends-- and don't forget to give your mummy a big 'ol kiss!

Full Moon!

It's time for the 'ol hitch-hiking / victim switcheroo, as Fanged Fridays at THOIA deliver a quickie monster tale from the August - September 1953 issue of Weird Mysteries #6. I don't know about you, but some of these hairy horror theme staples never seem to lose their appeal to entertain, no matter how many times we've been clawed to death by them-- although I'm sure there are some of you that find these types of stories to instead be quite draining! Illustrated by Tony Mortellero.

Vampire Castle

As promised, another handsome, non-costumed hero versus ancient evil horror tale, also from the July 1940 issue of Slam-Bang Comics #5. And similar to the previous post, it's a wildly fun, but somewhat stiffly stilted written / illustrated mix of action meets vampires, with early artwork by Gus Ricca that looks strangely simplistic and empty, though at the same time sort of adds an enjoyably weird surrealness to everything. Also similar to the Mark Swift story is the inclusion of a couple surprisingly eerie moments mixed in with the overall light hearted, colorful look of things vibe. I especially love the castle to graveyard transformation at the end, but less successful are the occasionally cuddly lookin' teddy bear demons. And what's Diamond Jack's deal, you ponder? Well, he seems to possess a vast array of plot convenient powers that all stem from an old magician's ring. If you wanna know more about DJ, just click HERE for the brief lowdown. Enjoy!

Witches of Salem

Satanic Saturday's at THOIA sometimes happen on Sundays --especially when Mr. Karswell can't quite get his atrocity act together-- and today we have what might possibly be one of the oldest stories ever posted around here. It's a wild 'n wicked Mark Swift (and his unfortunately named time machine) tale, from the July 1940 issue of Slam-Bang Comics #5. Yep, another bizarre adventure into witchery and the supernatural, and yeah its VERY old-timey, and very yellow, and OMG WTF is up with putting narrative blocks at the bottom of panels?! Yet despite all of that, this is a highly entertaining, two-fisted, slam-bangin' adventure into eerie evil, with a few surprisingly sinister moments, and one super, laugh out loud bit towards the end (first panel, last page.) Have fun, fiends!



















There's another great yarn from this same issue too that I might post next, stay tombed...

The Witches' Tale

I had originally planned a TRIPLE wicked witch feature for Walpurgis Night, unfortunately I ran out of time, plus the third story scans (witch were kindly donated by Will-- thanks man!) required a wee bit of clean-up. So yeah, apologies, but I basically just ran out of time. So here's the third sinister story finally, somewhat slightly fixer-upper'd, from the January 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #8. GCD notes that this one was reprinted / remade more than a half dozen times in the 70's by Eerie Pubs, K. G. Murray, Gredown, and even Stanley Morse himself. Looks like pretty much everything in the original precode issue was reprinted numerous times as well, including the gory shock classic, I Killed Mary! (witch we reprinted in Haunted Horror #22.) Witch. Witch. Witches.

Witch Killer vs. Deadliest Witch

Live! From our Coven of 13 witches in beautiful downtown Gehenna, THOIA presents the 13th post of April 2019, and we're doing it on Walpurgis Night too! Now if for some reason you don't believe that's black magical enough, it's a damned double header, doomed double dose of Rudy Palais as well-- and both stories deal directly with ::drum roll:: witches! The first is a drippy trippy classic from the September 1952 issue of Black Cat #39, closely followed by a REALLY tasty terror tale from the July 1954 issue of Horrific #12.

Everyone have a wonderful evening, burn the midnight fires-- and celebrate wisely!