Wait a sec... did some of you think the previous post was the big 'n weird Thanksgiving wind-up? Not blood-drainingly likely! No sir, that was just the 'ol un-appetizer-- because today we have something much more deadlicious planned for you! And guess what? Like the previous two posts, this tantalizing turkey of a tale is also from the December 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #17 (you HH Heads might even remember it from when we reprinted it in Haunted Horror #3 way back in 2013!) I really do hope you can stomach this story though, cuz the ending might leave ya feelin' stuffed --for allllll eternity...
Happy Thanksgiving!
6 comments:
This is a great little story. I love your more methodical and plotting vampires; they have a decent thing going (even though the law was closing on them, they didn't know it) and kept it together only giving into their hunger when it got too much.
And I love how ... loving? ... they are? No sniping, no hate, just having one good meal after another. Kind of a good change from some of the couples we see in these stories!
I'm surprised the embalmed them and didn't do some vampire bit like put silver in the body, but either way, it's a clever ending and I feel sorry for our poor vamps.
Nice good girl art on the splash, too. The art work is gorgeous on this entire story.
The "cheesecake" type victim in the splash - who has nothing to do with the story - is entertaining.
It's funny to see a town called Riverdale in a HORROR comic.
And seeing them murdering a traveling salesman immediately conjures up Dick Miller in NOT OF THIS EARTH.
It's a rather big leap from "34 men disappeared after visiting the Norris house" to "the Norrises are vampires". You'd think the sheriff would consider the possibility of their being serial killers or kidnappers first.
Being a longtime Spider-Man reader, it's always hard to see crosshatching--especially used like a tone rather than a shading--as anything but webbing. But why shouldn't a vampire have spiderweb wings? Related: Ross Andru, huh? Man, this stuff is lovely--especially the figure drawing and caricatures. All those wrinkly clothes and faces! I love the splash and that long panel of the dead salesman on page three. Also the cemetery on five and all those poison intoxication bubbles on the last page.
You know, I think the couple persisted in killing for so long because the town really appreciated them. The story's like a terrible isolationism fantasy. The Norris family were basically operating as a bug light out there, zapping spammers and outsiders who came nosing around. I don't think the Sheriff meant to ever do anything but provide top cover for them--right up until they took out a local. Then all bets were off.
This was an interesting twist on vampire lore, they fed on their victims blood and then their flesh, were they vampires or vamp/ghouls? Vamp/cannibals? Its a mystery all right.
In the story, it mentions that lost truck drivers arrive at the Norrises house from time to time. What did the Norrises do with the trucks? Sell them in another town? Had they been smart, they would have hidden away the truck, used it to travel to the nearest big city and offered alcohol to the local winos in exchange for a donation of blood, among other items.
On page two, upper middle panel, where Martha Norriss mentions blood juice cocktail and broiled clots, it reminded me of the anthology movie "Vault of Horror" 1973, first segment 'Midnight Mess'. A man is searching for his sister residing in a small, strange town. He orders a meal from a restaurant where roast clots are on the menu. He finds out too late that the restaurant caters to the likes of the Norrises, and he ends up as the specialty of the house.
I think this is one of the few pre codes that builds sympathy for the monsters. They are in the end a loving rural couple who look out for each other. They kill only when hungry and make each kill last so they won’t prey on their neighbors. But they hardly seem to be vampires… more like cannibals or ghouls…
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