Phantom of the Films

For many of us, classic horror movies are as much a part of October as all the fun, spooky comics regularly presented here! And whoever your idea of a scary, Silver Screen star is, you can be sure that Boris Karloff tops the lists of many people's favorites. But what about Allen Grimm, aka El Specter? Oh, not familiar? Then let BK fill ya in, as Grimm's tale is one perfectly fraught-filled with terror and tragedy! You know what they say about the film industry... from the June 1965 issue of Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #10.

"Meet the Haunted Horror!"

It seems hard to believe, but on this day 14 years ago in 2012, Haunted Horror (IDW / Yoe Books) was unleashed upon the world. Running 35 issues until its final breath in June of 2018, Haunted Horror wasn't just your typical, run of the mill reprint comic series. Nope, it literally captured the beating heart and blackened soul of The Horrors of it All blog, producing a scary spin-off series or two, as well as a handful of great hard and soft cover collections to boot. And the countless hours of gore, sweat, 'n fears in the 'ol horror hosting / editing processes be damned, because despite all of the headaches and soul crushing financial aggravations, it still feels oddly "worth it" today. Plus, it's still a blast to hear from the many collector fans out there who continue to write in asking what's next. I wish I had some answers for you, cuz apparently it's just this blog for now. Anyway, I thought I'd repost a few of the better stories from the landmark HH #1 here today, but ya know, why retread old ground? I mean, all of those stories are already in the THOIA Archive after all! Instead, let's meet a very different kind of fun, "Haunted Horror" from the July 1944 issue of Wow Comics #27. We haven't done a silly super hero story yet this month anyway, --so here goes! And once again, a big Happy Birthday salute to the very late, eternally great Haunted Horror series too!

The Living Dead

Another top notch terror tale originally published in the April 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #13 (see our previous post HERE!) is this incredibly icky, super-smelly spooker by the always awesome, Art Gates. The superb splash, and almost alien final panel are really something, and I seriously regret not adding this to my Haunted Love mini-series. Later silver age reprint publications though, including the Eerie Pubs, brought it back from the dead in the 70's, and even Australia's Gredown resurrected it a few times too, most notably in Tales of Torment #2 (1978), all wrapped up in a rockin' rotten zombie cover design, --as you shall see below!

Death Comes in Small Pieces!

Last month we featured a few frightening tales set in a funeral home, and now today we descend down into yet another eerie embalming chamber for a sickening sneak peak at the lonesome, psychotic life of the absolute most deplorable mortician of all time. Yep, he's definitely got a few problems with a few people, not to mention a few rather macabre momentos hanging in his f-f-f-freezer. If you've ever wondered exactly how hard one person can literally F up everything they touch, well... here ya go! Marty Elkin goes full blast on the gory deets, and Dick Beck delivers one of the most iconic precode horror covers of the 50's, ever! From the April 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #13...

Escape from Hell!

The January 1954 issue of Fantastic Fears #5 features a couple of really hot numbers, including (as some of you may remember) the early Ditko classic, "Stretching Things" which can be found rather deep, deep down in the THOIA 2007 Archive HERE! Well, here comes another atrocity from this issue, with GCD believing this to be the work of joltin' Jack Abel. It's a quick little fearsome 4-pager that actually offers no real escape-- sorry for the spoiler, but OMG this is HELL after all! Yep, Satanic Saturday is back, --and don't be surprised if we hear more from 'Ol Scratch and his minions en masse before the month is out!

Holloween Horror Time!

October is here! Time to roll out the orange and black carpet of creeps for our usual month-long Halloween celebration which is actually not that much unusually different than any other month of the year, tbh! Hey, speaking of, do you know anyone who still calls it "Holloween?" Lol! Occasionally I'll see someone spell it like that on social media, or wherever, and I just have to think to myself, "Why, that dumbbell must have holes in their head!" And then sometimes, that's right when the REAL fun begins! So buckle up and take a few tips from Swilber Smith and the March - April 1954 issue of Fantastic Fears #6 --cuz things is just gettin' started 'round here and ya oughta not miss a single post, no sir!