The Great God Pan

As long as we're fishin' it up in this wicked sector of the weird, wooded wild (see our previous post HERE), we may as well get in a little hunting too! And now, not to be confused with the same named horror classic by the awesome great, Arthur Machen, but this time around the Great God Pan has to share his vengeful, shirtless tale via the January 1947 issue of Four Favorites #27 with some oddly intrusive narrative pop-ins from "The Unknown", a cloaked, Death-like horror host figure who would eventually get his own Ace Magazines comic series in 1951, (aka The Hand of Fate.) Paul Parker's artwork doesn't seem as tightly streamlined here as it is on his awesome Kirk of Scotland Yard tales (check the THOIA archives!) but its still pretty fun none the less. And, if you did come here looking for something Machen related, I went ahead and added a one page "Phantom Bowman" quickie from the December 1952 issue of Weird Horrors #5 at the end. If you're not hip to how or why it's related to Mr. Machen, well CLICK HERE for the full scoop-- it's a very interesting WW1 story. And finally, if anyone needs more sinister Satyr action, CLICK HERE as well-- whew!

The Little Man Who Wasn't There!

One of the weirder Kirk of Scotland Yard mad science / crime mystery puzzlers, from the July 1948 issue of Manhunt #10, featuring: eyeball violence, a shrinky-dink formula, flying hypodermic needles, and lurid implications of fate for our lovely leading lady! Hold on to your pipes and fear-doras!

The Stone of the Dying Druid / Maid in the Morgue

Sprinkled among the macabre mix of assorted monsters, horrors, and mind numbing murder posts all this month, we've also been occasionally visiting the ominous, occult "Manhunt" case file adventures of Kirk of Scotland Yard, and this time it's a tale concerning a centuries spanning cursed object that could possibly spell doom for our 'ol crime bustin', pipe chompin' chap! From the March 1948 issue of Manhunt #6, and yesss, I am forced to post yet another great Ogden Whitney cover illustration too, one that ties in with the terrific text story inside the front and back cover-- and just like our last post is also written by Gardner Fox. And hey, after today's post, head over to AEET HERE for yet ANOTHER great tale from the pages of Manhunt! You won't be sorry...

The Monster in the Mist!

Brian wrote in squawkin' for more sexy snake lady tales as featured here a bit towards the end of last month. So while I dig around for more of those, let's take care of another very long over due request from Shannon Walsh who wrote to me back in January asking for more creepy Kirk of Scotland Yard action! Sounds good to me as the other Kirk posts in the THOIA ARCHIVE HERE are some of my absolute most favorite precode detective horror stories of all time! And to make matters even cooler, Shannon's grandfather is actually Paul Parker-- the fabulous artist of these great golden age fright classics! I sincerely apologize for the delay-- please enjoy! From the June 1948 issue of Manhunt #9.

The Man with the Beast-like Face

We're a day early, but Werewolf Wednesday is here and already howlin' at your moon (huh?!), and today it's a ferociously fun fright-fight courtesy of the April 1948 issue of Manhunt #7. Yes sir, Inspector Kirk is back (see another perplexin' post HERE) and ok we agree, it's pretty light on story, but man oh wolfman is it ever rockin' with the Scotland Yard copper trading fisticuffs vs. lycanthrope action! So don't ask any questions, just sit back and enjoy the ringside (and rooftop) seat as we all learn another valuable lesson in how to stop a weird ass werewolf!











This story even graced the full cover on a later 1954 reprint! POW! 

The Horror of the Hearse

What's that you scream, not enough chemical vat torture stories here at THOIA? Well, let me rectify that NOW. Fans of mysterious detective tales (like Dr. Drew for example) should enjoy this eerie expedition into macabre murder and vengeance, as Kirk of Scotland Yard faces one of his most facelessly evil adversaries! From the Dec '47 issue of Manhunt #3, with perfectly petrifying art by Paul Parker!