Saturday, February 16, 2019
Terror of the Vampires Kiss
Like an undead bloodsucker creepin' out of its grave, we're keepin' the love alive around here for a few more V-Day inspired posts, so pucker up and get ready! And okay, I'll admit up front that this story actually holds no real twist ending surprises (no big deal though it is pretty great none the less), but what today's post does possess is a rather refreshing lead male character who, --unlike the typical monster pummlin' macho manly men we find in these types of supernatural terror tales-- is actually just a big 'ol screamin' weenie pants! From the June 1952 issue of Mysterious Adventures #8.
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7 comments:
The Add-ams Fam-i-ly snap! snap!
Distant relatives of Morticia and Gomez I take it.
A quickie ghost story involving a cemetery-
An older lady was walking home late from work one night and found herself with the difficult choice of walking through the cemetery or walking four blocks around it.
She decided to walk through the cemetery since there was no one to harm her, she hoped.
When she was halfway through her walk she heard a voice say "Do you mind if I walk with you?"
She turned and saw a young woman behind her. Thinking their was safety in numbers, and figuring the young lady was going through the cemetery for the same reason she was, she agreed.
When they reached the other side of the cemetery the older lady turned to her companion and said "I was glad you showed up, walking through the graveyard gave me the creeps."
The young lady replied "I know what you mean, I used to be terrified of cemeteries, when I was alive."
And then she vanished.
And then the older lady did the four minute mile in three seconds flat.
;)
Got us a real, walking, talking, living daywalker....
The Addams may have had their revenge, but does that mean their bodies will be moved back to the cemetery now? I mean, Lenore did kind of prove why they were all exiled from it in the first place. Killing everyone responsible for it doesn't exactly fix anything.
It's neat that this one is written from the POV of well-meaning but parochial townies who come off as affable even as they doom themselves through intolerance. I mean, it's pretty easy to imagine that it's the privilege demonstrated, their very suspicion and narrow-mindedness, that has been the mechanism for creating supernatural comeuppance here. In legends, it takes very little to offend god in this way--being born on Christmas Day, say, or dying at a crossroads. Being excommunicated was frequently sin enough to remake a dead man into a revenant in Slavic folklore, as was being buried improperly or inattentively. There's no real evidence to suggest that the Addams family was particularly evil back when they were still alive; put there is plenty to demonstrate that village prejudice that shunned them, burned their house down(?), and ran them outta town. It's the definition of tragedy. It's like a conspiracy theory version of Field of Dreams: If you build it, they will come for you.
OK, why even take vengeance on this father and son team? They are such dopes you probably just needed to wait a week and they'd probably die sticking a fork in an outlet!
"I will take all precautions against vampires" ... except this lady I just met the moment after we moved the graves and was a young woman just like the lady that started it all.
Even the cops are dense ... when a murder happens and the only person around says "I was just taking a walk" I think it's time to just take her into lock up. Come on!
I love the splash and the fake-out vampire, and the random skull guy who seems startled by the whole business.
Like Karswell, I really appreciated the idiot hero in this story. He reacts like most normal people would -- locking himself up in the house. The last couple panels are great, the whole last page, actually.
Mr. Cavin's first comment makes a lot of sense. There are so many horror stories where "the 'normal' people are the real monsters" that that's become a real tradition. And in a way, this story is one of them.
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