A Man Named Satan

Time to crack open a hot one, as THOIA celebrates Easter 2026 in the only infernal way we know how-- with a tribute to Satan! More than anything, I felt like the coloring of this story, with its heavy use of purples and greens, seemed a bit Easter eggy. Though lo and behold of course, illustrator legend, Bernie Krigstein's evil uniqueness shines through! From the December 1950 issue of Marvel Tales #98. And just for the hilarious Hell of it, I've also added a devilishly funny gag by HAM! Have yourselves an especially evil Easter!

Dripping Fangs / Vampire Bat Kill!

At THOIA, we prefer our detective mysteries laced with a dripping, double dose of horror, --and here are two that fit the frightening bill nicely. First up, King O'Leary and his frisky sidekick Kitty are on the chiller-diller case of murder at a midnight monster movie, via the December 1945 issue of Zoom Comics #1! Followed by a 3-page, not-so-perfect quickie crime, utilizing a bloodthirsty bat as a murder weapon (ummm, the flying mammal kind, not a baseball bat!), from the April 1950 issue of The Perfect Crime #2. George Appel's art on the first story is quite nice though, and loaded with atmosphere, even reminding me of King Ward in a few places, most notably the freakish faces, and interesting angles. So get ready! Match wits with the coppers, and see how quickly you can solve these crazy crimes!

House of Wax!

APRIL FOOLS! It's not "House of Wax" at all-- it's "House of Whacks!" hahaha from the December 1953 debut issue of Mad #1! APRIL FOOLS! It's not from the December 1953 issue of Mad #1 at all either, it's actually from the December 1953 issue of Eh! #1 published by EC-- errr, April Fools uhhgain, --from Charlton. Eh! ran 700 issues... April Foo... ehhhh... that's to say, 7 issues total before calling it quits, just like I'm calling it quits with this rather annoyingly foolish gag o'my own! And if you think this intro is full of tired attempts at humor, wait'll you get a load of this vampire story, because it's incredibly funny, and totally unique and oooo boy... April freakin' Fools for probably the last goddamn time ever. Yeesh, even the Sam Spade Wild-Root hair tonic advertisment that I tossed onto the end of this post is somehow way sillier!

Mystery of the Missing Mummy

Something slightly different for our final March of the Mummies Monday, and we're going waaaay back to the March 1939 issue of Funny Picture Stories Volume 3 #2, from Centaur. It's a spooky old detective mystery full of fun, Saturday matinee serial thrills, and stiffly superb artwork by E. F. Webster, who also penned the script. GCD notes that aside from this foray into comics, Webster was also a fine arts painter, as well as a former federal agent. Maybe that explains the natural knack for weird mysteries, such as this. 

Hope everyone enjoyed this month of macabre mummery!

Curtain Call

Surpisingly, we've only seen a few posts here over the years from DC's great Secrets of Haunted House series (click HERE for more!) And today's entry falls under the "Tales of Destiny" banner, featuring the purple cloaked, Hand of Fate-esque horror host, Destiny himself actually interacting with the story characters as a foreboding warning to the shivery love shenanigans that await. It's a far-out Jess Jodloman illustrated tale that also adds in some mad science and sweet sci-fi elements for the final climactic, galactic cherry on top. From the August 1979 issue of Secrets of Haunted House #15. One more March post still ahead— stay tombed!

Triple-Header!

If the ancient Egyptian Karnak Curse in our previous post didn't do it for you, then how about a curse from the creepy old Carnoc Castle grotto instead? This story originally appeared here at THOIA in a black and white reprint version way back in 2017 (HERE), --but everyone hated the scan quality so I swore on the blood of thy ancestors that someday I would re-feature the proper, original story from the October 1951 debut issue of This Magazine is Haunted #1. George Evans art definitely deserves to be viewed in this manner, any 'ol way. Annnnd because the story is a whoppin' 13 pages long, I thought, hey, why not make this post even longer with some additional TMIH filler quickies, like even more fun Facts About Witches and Witchcraft (from TMIH #20), as well as a two-page Ditko horror adventure, via TMIH #17. This blog is pretty damned haunted too, you know?