The Werewolf of Woonsocket

Like our previous post, we're keeping things cool 'n breezy, this time with a frisky fun Gail Porter "Girl Photographer" horror entry (our first Werewolf Wednesday post of 2025, too!), via the July 1944 issue of Blue Circle Comics #2. Gail only appeared in a half dozen adventures in her short-lived, comic book investigator / photographer career, fighting crime with a naturally smart ability, not to mention her neato infra-red camera! Her bitch ass editor boss seems to be from the same school of jerky blowhards that produced J. Jonah Jameson though. GCD believes that Bob Oksner is the artist here.

Still Life

The October 1962 one-shot issue of Tales from the Tomb #1 (published by Dell) is 84 freaky pages of varied anthology horror about ghosts, monsters, and all manner of eerie bumps 'n boos in the night. It's a fun, though somewhat mixed bag, with the real stand-out story for me being this engagingly casual 8-pager about an artist and his friendly female neighbor discussing the man's recent return from the cursed countryside. Their breezy cool, flirty conversation in a big city loft feels nothing short of a spooky stage play, slowly turning more and more ominous with each chilly page turn, until that single... final... panel...

The Desert Castle

An interestingly simple little sci-fi horror premise from the September 1952 issue of Weird Tales of the Future #3: Two scientists working on a special generating fluid in an isolated desert castle accidentally spill the experiment on an ancient suit of armor, thus bringing it to violent life. Tony Mortellaro's koo-koo art works this one fast paced 'n full-tilt fun, and I totally adore the questioning climax with the bug eyed, bewildered scientist barely comprehending any of the possible outcomes to what he has just created. What have they done, indeed? What. Have. They. Done?!

"The Demons of Death"

In the comments of our last post of 2024 (HERE!), it sounded to me like Brian was maybe revealing to us his love for devil villains in underpants. So, enter The Deacon and Mickey, an action packed horror crime back-up tale from the December 1943 issue of Cat-Man Comics #22. Yes, I do believe these "Demons of Death" will surely satisfy Brian's fever for the flavor of more rockin' red, hot-pants fashion. For those unaware, Dean Denton, aka "The Deacon" was a former bad guy turned faux holy man crime fighter, making up for his pitiful past by dressing the part, as well as teaming up with sidekick Mickey to battle the denizens of the underworld. There are 32 appearances in all, occasionally dealing with spookier subject matter, thus qualifying The Deac for inclusion here at THOIA. Also, if that pulp perfect splash page doesn't immediately make it worthy, then nothing will. And again-- Happy 2025 to everyone who helps keep this blog chuggin' along with comments and suggestions-- you guys are the best!

Dream of Horror

The big 13th post, THOIA finale of 2024 is a deliriously gory decapitation nightmare presentation from the December 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #9! And what a way to end out the fear, err, year-- and hello, this entire issue is now finally archived here btw, just check the two previous posts, as well as "Hair Yee-Eeee" originally posted way back in April 2012! Hope everyone enjoyed the last 12 months of curated horror comic fun-- and my plan for 2025 is to take a few new twists 'n turns to really spice things up! So as usual (or unusual!) --stay tombed for tons more-- and HAPPY NEW YEAR, 'natch!

Portrait of Doom

Here's another whack-a-doodle story from the December 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #9 (see previous post), concerning a very mad artist who-- to be honest-- doesn't seem that much different than most of the actual mad artists that I know in real life! As noted in the comments of the last post, every tale from this issue was reprinted, and a few even reworked a few decades later for the Eerie Pubs... I'll try to dig those out and we'll take a look at them sometime in the coming new year. Also of note: before becoming a doomed studio model for Tony in today's yarn, beautiful blonde Susan also appeared in various advertisements featured in Golden Age comics. I've included a few below after the story...

Mirror of Death

The ability to see into the future seems like a good idea to some people, but they have clearly never read Stephen King's "The Dead Zone", or another example is this story from the Dec. 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy 9. Another word to the wise: never take presents from strangers, --no matter what!