Something evil is bubblin' down below-- and I'm not talking about your stomach after chowin' on too many White Castle burgers last night! It's a double dose of watery weird doom for you to dive right into today, and Frank Springer again returns to THOIA with a terrific spin on an 'ol resurfacing ancient curse, from the March 1966 issue of Ghost Stories lucky #13. But first up, Karswell fave, Vernon Henkel delivers a deadly deep discovery with every breath youuu take, via the September 1952 issue of Suspense #22. Better call The Police! And just to make things even more fun, I've included a one page tale about another young lady who wants to drown, via the I Forget Where I Found This Thing #-0. Sorry.... anyway, I'm pretty certain that the saucy artwork is by the always great Bill Wenzel, at least!
3 comments:
> Each Night I Drown in the Pool
I love old Albert, it's played up that he's going to kill his wife (which I don't think ever gets a name, unless I missed it) but that look on his face is actually just how absolutely sick he is of her, and then the minute she's safe you can see why!
Usually these end in zombies or unintended consequences, and while this is the second one, it's neat to see the corpse still hanging around mocking her.
Decent underwater art, which can be hard to pull off.
> Dow Wan
Again, women drawn realistically, as if the life guard, and our poor slapped shlub drawn like a cartoon.
> In the Pool
Why does a lot of things we see from Ghost Stories look like the title is never integrated into the art? I know you can make that same complaint for Atlas but in Atlas they are big and bold and usually have a style. Here, it's like a font was just dropped in.
I like "Mr Brutus" (a little on the nose) but ... yeah he's awful but did he really deserve that death? And I had no idea the Romans were so monstrous!
"You would rob a graveyard you ghoul" is a great bit of foreshadowing, and I really did like the Roman monster / ghosts. And cheesecake! Follow the normal ghost story plot where after the horror happens, there is a discovery that explains the ghosts.
For the first tale- On the first page we get the impression that the husband is going to kill his wife, with his dark, sunken eyes and sinister look, his words stating he will be rid of her for the rest of his life, it is the set up of a seabound murder. Then, the plot is flipped where the husband reveals his plan to become a merman and the wife reveals herself to be a gold digger, and a murderous one at that.
The plot of this story was modified and published in Web of Horror #2 titled "Sea of Graves"
The ability to breathe underwater and a dead professor's body, floating and taunting the murderer beyond the grave, were kept in the newer tale while the setting changed, namely the search for a sunken city.
The one pager was cute, and listing it as "I Forget Where I Found This Thing #-0" that describes me when it comes to trying to remember random facts. Sometimes i think my brain is 80% memory hole 20% useless trivia.
The last tale 'In the Pool' it feels like the kind of story featured on the 70's TV shows 'Tales of the Unexpected' or 'The Evil Touch.'
These were great aquatic horrors for January 2026. Thanks as always.
Darn it, I forgot to mention a detail from 'In the Pool', had the graves been the resting places of Roman criminals, practitioners of the black arts or killers the impact of their revenge would have had more impact.
Either way, the watery revenge still works.
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