The Grisly Ghost of Ghastly Grange!

October was packed with so many grisly, ghastly story posts, I figured the least we could do is keep that same shivery spirit alive here in November as well! And with that, we enter the December - Jan. 1966 issue of Unknown Worlds #52, to find a trio of aged supernatural sleuths encountering some-thing they hadn't quite bargained for! This is a very funny post-code tale via ACG, and might even remind some of you of the old back-up cinema spookers from the 1930's and 40's. Artist, Edd Ashe has a unique visual style, and checking THOIA's Archive I see only one other credited post HERE. I'll have to see what else I can dig up by him, his stuff is a scream...

Tricks & Treats!

Time for a trio of terrifyin' tricks 'n treats, (also don't forget to check out AEET today too!), and we're kicking things off here with a nightmarish Dickens-esque twist by Sanho Kim-- a spooky Samhain holiday horror hit from the September 1969 issue of Ghost Manor #8. And it just wouldn't be Halloween without a visit from 'ol ever reliable, Edgar Allan Poe, with not one, but two legendary classics courtesy of The Master: "Telltale Heart" via the February 1955 debut issue of Charlton's Win A Prize #1, (sorry, no artist info available at the moment), plus, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" from the April 1945 debut issue of Debbie Dean Comics #1, art by Chad Grothkopf. My ultimate plan has always been to archive all comic adaptations of Poe here at THOIA, and it's amazing to stumble upon older illustrated variations such as these that I was previously unaware of. Hope everyone has a hellacious Halloween, and we'll see you again very soon in the coming month with lots rots more. Stay tombed...

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"Don't Wear That Suit"

We hope by now that everyone has figured out what they're dressing up as for Halloween. If not, you better get hustlin', cuz the big night is quickly creepin' upon us! We at THOIA also have a few shivery do's 'n do nots of our own, starting with this rather non-casual, fashionable affair, concurrently taking place in a cemetery coffin near you, via the February 1953 issue of Chilling Tales #14. Does anyone think the final panel here is a flipped swipe of the closing panel from the Atlas horror classic, The Man Who Steals Gravestones (Jan. '53?) Published a mere month apart, so it seems pretty unlikely, --but man, that's some kind of chilly coincidence if not! Okay, see ya'll soon on Hallo-scream!

The Smell of Death

Halloween is so close now you can almost smell it! And oooo doggy, can someone crack open a window or something, because seriously now, wow-- WTF is this?! From the February 1953 issue of Chilling Tales #14 comes a story so magically messed-up and downright disturbing, that I almost can't blame Wertham for trying. Maybe some of you thanatophiles can relate, --and ohhh, I'm not forgetting the olfactory obsessors out there as well! So hold on to your hairy scary nostrils, cuz this one might just reek up your week something fierce! Boy, I do believe I just ruined Halloween, hahaha...

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Fear*

*But were afraid to ask! And indeed, for many years now, we at THOIA have asked, answered, and even argued over what actually constitutes as "fear." Everyone has their own defining ideas on this subject matter of course, and no one is entirely wrong either. And this is exactly what makes us such a freaky little, tight-nit-wit family. But today, let's crack open the April 1972 issue of The Unexpected #134 and see what a very different kind of family has to say about all of this...