Don't Let Me Kill

Pines pretended like their 1953 one-shot, "Who Is Next?" was a comic book series, labeling the sole issue as #5 (a sly fast one that quite a few publishers actually practiced), and-- assuming no one bought it-- umm, nobody was next! It's a real shame too because it's a thrilling issue of intense crime tales, featuring beautiful work from the likes of Ross Andru, Nick Cardy, and especially the Alex Toth classic "The Crushed Gardnia" which has resurfaced half a zillion times in countless collections since the 80's reprint boom. To me though, the overlooked stand-out tale here is the disturbingly brutal cover story by Mike Sekowsky about a remorseful psycho killer.

The Shrunken Heads of Dr. Death

Another wild one from the March 1954 issue of Web of Evil #12, and it's a viciously violent, wonderfully kooky expedition into the jungle of terror-- PLUS, a rather downbeat ending untypical of this type of horror comic tale, best grab a hanky.

R.I.P. Richard Sala

Seriously have no words for this one... R.I.P. Richard Sala

The Uninvited Corpse

A not-as-rotten-as-it-seems tale from the madcap March 1954 issue of Web of Evil #12-- one that's a lot more funny than it is frightening. And living dead aside, listening to these two doofuses argue themselves to death is definitely worth the price of admission alone, haha...

Liquid X / Accident in Devil's Gorge

May Madness means it's time for a couple of mad scientist tales, and first up it's a Leonard Starr sizzler about a city destroying substance, from the January 1944 issue of Lucky Comics #1, followed by a queer little quickie from the back of Avon's cool Robotmen of the Lost Planet #1 one-shot issue from 1952. And I've rounded it all out with a mad little scientific minx by the ever sensational, Shubina, too!



















There's no artist credit at GCD for the Devil's Gorge story, but I'm leaning towards maybe Everett Raymond Kinstler... anyone else have a thought about it?

The Viyi

We're kicking off May with a slight change of pace, a very condensed, though no less beautifully illustrated (by Esteban Maroto) version of Nikolai Golgo's supernatural folklore classic from the Ukraine, The Viy. Appearing in the November 1972 issue of Dracula Volume 5 #1 from New English Library, it's a terrifying tale originally about a priest who kills a witch and is then forced to watch and pray over her body for 3 consecutive nights in a haunted chapel. Of course each night gets more and more intense as she simply will not stay dead. If you've ever seen the tremendous Russian horror film version from 1967 --full of flying coffins and an army of demonic creatures literally crawling out of the woodwork-- then you already know why Mr. Karswell is posting this. And if for some reason you haven't seen the film yet, it is currently available on Shudder as The Viy. But for now, let this shortened / altered version whet your freaky fanged whistles...

A Sight for Sore Eyes / Let's Face It

Quick question: When in need of a special medical procedure, how many of you are willing to just go to some random dude in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere who maybe knows a thing or two about maybe being able to help you out? Let me see your hands... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6?! ...oh, wow, a lot more of you than I expected! Okay then, you're gonna love this double feature, and both tales are also from the macabre March 1953 issue of Spellbound #13 --see our last post too!





















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And when you're done here, head on over to my other blog HERE for a very special "Halfway to Halloween" story, --because yes, today is indeed very much your lucky day!

The Death of a Puppet!

A superb Atlas entry from the March 1953 issue of Spellbound #13, with wicked art by Jim Mooney. Tales about puppets and dummies usually seem to contain the same old string-along story twists we've seen countless times before, but this one goes for the startlingly simple, yet highly effective extra implication gusto-- and all in 4 perfect pages too!