The Halls of Horror

From the April 1951 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #18, comes this weirdly exciting kooky spooker, and crisply illustrated by Emil Gershwin, a guy whose style seems a bit ahead of its time (there really are quite a few excellent panels in this one!) I totally need to do a spotlight on him one of these days.

Love Story / A Real Dish

A couple of stories about love and hunger for everyone on Valentine's Day, both from the awesome "DARK TALES" ('91) collection by Jordi Bernet and Sanchez Abuli (the masterful creators behind the super stunning "Torpedo 1936" gangster series.) ADULTS ONLY!

The Face on the Floor

Time now to finish up with the last, but most certainly not least, of the stories from the September 1952 issue of The Tormented #2. You've seen THOIA post some crazy ass tales here over the last three years, but what in the world could possibly prepare you for a story about a killer mop? Well, there's a little more to it than just that, but here ya go... (and once again, thanks to Brian Hirsch for the scans of this entirely great issue!)

R.I.P. Tura Satana (1935 - 2011)

Design for Death / Honeymoon Horror

Double Header Day at THOIA, with two more tales from the September 1952 issue of The Tormented #2. "Design for Death" is a typically insane pre-code story with nice art from Bill Ely... this one really reaches hard for the big twist ending but I'll leave it to you on whether it succeeds or not. Followed by Mike Sekowsky's second story in this issue "Honeymoon Horror", yet another re-telling of the classic Samuel Blas revenge tale, as previously told by EC (of course) and also as the very first fantastic episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) television
series called "Revenge."

[While working through the archives, I was surprised to find that a story posted about 3 years earlier, "The Store by the Cemetery", appears to be a close remake of "Design for Death"-- they definitely share the same central premise, and "The Store..." was published roughly a year after "Design..."! Coincidence? Deliberate swipe? Read it here and let us know what you think! -- Nequam]

The Devil's Circus

After recently posting some stories from The Tormented #1 issue, I had an inquiry / request for something from the September 1952 issue of The Tormented #2, and with that we kick off a new month with another FULL ISSUE PRESENTATION! And, because the cover demands that "You Must Read The Devil's Carnival", we'll start it off with this screwball classic (pencils by Mike Sekowsky.) And don't forget-- more Tormented tales all week... thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans!