Witches Never Die!

We be inchin' closer and closer to the night of witches, --so time say we now be unleashing a double feature full of 'em! Stuart Taylor and company travel back in history to sinister Salem, --nearly making a macabre mess of their masquerade party plans! From the January 1944 issue of Jumbo Comics #59, and highlighted by some eerie fine early Iger Shop artwork. But first, let's dig back into the April 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #13 for a brutal lesson in just how evil the bloody, beating heart of a wicked witch can be! THOIA pays a terrifyin' tribute to the witchier ways of ominous October, with many more cantankerous old crones a'creepin' up and a'conjurin' on the way, --stay a'tombed!

The Unholy Satanists

I mentioned earlier this month that we'd see 'Ol Scratch and his minions of evil again-- and here they come now, via the November 1971 issue of Psycho #5. (Oh my, how gorgeous is that Boris cover painting by the way?!) I suppose it's not really much of a spoiler to notify you all right now, --the closer we get to Halloween, the more wicked things will certainly get around here! You have been warned...

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!