Hand of the Devil

BONUS STORY! Angles O’Day was a screwball dick-for-hire filler character also found in the pages of Ken Shannon. Probably written, and definitely illustrated by the late great Jack Cole, this is, as far as I can tell, the only supernatural-ish adventure that O’Day and his beady-eyed sidekick Shagmore ever encountered as most of the time they took on the usual gangster goon or double crossing client. Fun stuff with tremendous artwork and great writing. More comics should have “filler” like this.

From the February 1953 issue of Ken Shannon #9

I Must Kill!

Today’s insane post comes from the pages of Harvey Comic’s 1940’s Green Hornet series. It’s a truly jaw dropping Bob Fujitani back-up tale featuring a cornball crime fighter (calling himself “The Zebra”), whose typical superhero stylings completely take a backseat to the bone chilling psychotic villain in this piece. This is seriously one of the most disturbing, cold-hearted killers in all of comic book history, so hold onto your hats while reading this one folks--- seriously! It's all so lurid and grimy I didn't even bother to pretty up Brian's scans...

From the September 1945 issue of Green Hornet #26

Want more Zebra action? Try heading over to Pappy’s blog by clicking HERE, (yes, he’s got a Zebra story planned for later today too!) And many thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans.

Simone Simon

Happy Birthday Simone Simon, gorgeous star of Val Lewton’s mesmerizing classic shock double header The Cat People (’42), and Curse of the Cat People (’44), The Devil and Daniel Webster, and more… born this day in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France in 1910.

The Lady Killer Returns

Today’s Lou Cameron classic marks the start of a crime / horror theme I have planned until Friday. We’ll also see the return of Ken Shannon vs. the undead, as well as the third and last Rex Lane “Solver of the Supernatural” story. Plus an exceptionally odd submission that you’d never expect from this blog, but one that fits right in with our other horrifically hardboiled blood curdlers.

From the January 1952 issue of Fight Against Crime #5

Living Dead

Tales about dirty drug pushers and frazzled dope fiends was another grim, exploitable subject for pre-code comics. Today’s post in particular is clever for the time, and quite obvious in its “horrors of drugs” anti-abuse message. But as time has shown it’s unlikely that comic-haters of the era like Wertham would have even taken this kind of illustrated message from a horror mag seriously.

From the February 1954 issue of Mister Mystery #15

Frazetta on Dope

Just Say “No” to Drugs ad (50’s style), featuring art by Frank Frazetta.
From the January 1952 issue of Fight Against Crime #5

Dolls of Doom

Today’s ACG post is a bit reminiscent of the great M. R. James short story classic Casting the Runes, only this time it’s not a parchment curse gone to blazes, but instead a voodoo doll that uniquely unleashes the demonic force of death and destruction. For obvious reasons this tale gets Karswell’s highest “Seal of Approval”, and to those of you who don’t know why, your time allowed is 2 weeks…

From the Jan 1952 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #27

Read Casting the Runes, as well as other M. R. James horror classics online by clicking HERE!

Beyond the Past!

As mentioned in yesterday’s comment section, Brian Hirsch submitted two more stories from Charlton’s great The Thing series, so I thought that for the remaining two Saturdays in April I would designate those days as “Thing Days.” And today’s efficient invocation of evil, though a bit short, still delivers a weird wallop of dreaded Necronomicon horror, (as well as a couple nice leggy lingerie panels!)

From Nov/Dec 1953 issue of The Thing #11

Thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans.

Doom in the Tomb

I've decided to declare today as National Mummy Day! And what better way to celebrate than by violently practicing your very own ancient embalming techniques on someone you don’t love. Need a quick refresher? Maybe this gruesome Joe Maneely tale can help…

From the August 1953 issue of Mystic #22

Mummy Madness (Trailers)

And here’s a whole gaggle of classic mummy trailers for you to make National Mummy Day even more enjoyable, and to help us “wrap up” this never-ending work week--- TGIF already!

Hazel Court (R.I.P.)

More sad news in 2008 as today we learned legendary scream queen actress, Hazel Court, passed away in her home of a heart attack at age 82. Star of many of my all-time favorite horror films like The Raven, The Premature Burial, The Masque of the Red Death, The Curse of Frankenstein, Doctor Blood's Coffin, Devil Girl from Mars, as well as countless great appearances in spooky TV shows like Twilight Zone, Invisible Man, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and more. R.I.P.

Read more HERE.

Man-Eater!

I’m not sure but I think this is the first time I’ve posted a shark story. There was of course the one about the barracudas but I’ll have to further check the archives. And of course this Al Eadeh classic is not just about a killer fish either, as you will see…

From the August 1953 issue of Mystic #22

Hanged by the Neck

We started the week off with stories from the great Black Magic series, and now we switch to a tale of staged magic… and yes folks, this one guarantees to leave you hanging!

UPDATE: Kenneth Landgraf writes in: "Steve -Hanged by the NECK is penciled by Reed Crandall- he didn't ink it ... it may be the guy who inked him on some of the Buster Brown comic books he drew. best, KEN"
From the July 1953 issue of Out of the Shadows #9