On this day 19 years ago (aka 2007), I cracked open the 'ol comic book long boxes and got to work scanning everything I had accumulated over my many decades of fiendish, fan boy collector existence. The point wasn't so much to just have everything backed-up on disc (which it is now, finally-- whew!), but to also begin something I had been mulling over in my horrible head for a few months prior-- and that was to not only start a big bad blog about horror comics, but to even turn my own dork ass self into the horrorest online host of 'em all. The initial game plan was to primarily focus on the Golden era of terrifyin' precode titles. Then over the years that concept changed a bit, and we "flashed forward" occasionally to check out Silver Age screams, as well as throwing Bronze Age bloodbaths upon our alter of evil too.
The response in those early years of THOIA's existence was incredibly positive, and very rewarding too! And even though the fanbase of the blog has slowed down here a bit over the last decade, it's never ever stopped being a fun ride. As many of you know, THOIA helped me fulfill my dream of producing and publishing award winning hardcover books, including two separate, and critically acclaimed comic book series' with Yoe Books and IDW, --plus, a string of Rondo Nominations, as well as winning the highly honorable Last Drive-In Bolo Award in 2020 (thanks again to Joe Bob and Darcy!) A couple of terrific trips to participate in SDCC discussion panels, autograph sessions, and even gigs with a handful of other publishers as well, were all icing on the creep cake.
So yeah, I guess I'm pretty proud of what I've created here over the years. But honestly, through it all the biggest perk for me has been meeting so many great, devoted horror comic fans who continue to follow this blog (as well as AEET), and these friendships created will undoubtably last for allll eternity. But the inevitable question persists: how long will THOIA last? I don't really have an answer for that, nor do I have plans of killing it off anytime soon --if that's where you suddenly thought this lengthy intro was heading! But as we all get older and the collection runs thinner of usable / worthy material, it's bound to happen eventually. Hopefully later than sooner! So in the meantime, happy birthday to us all, --and yes, you too! Please have yourselves a nice big slice of that creep cake because you're all an equally important mechanism of this functioning, monsterama machine too!
Now, enough blab about Mr. Karswell, let's move on to what this blog is really all about, featuring two tales concerning a couple of other horror host chums o'mine. As you'll discover, neither are the sharpest blades in the 'ol sacrificial knife drawer though, so apologies in advance if this post hurts a bit! From the December '73 issue of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery #4, and the Dec '74 issue of Red Circle Sorcery #10.
