Al Williamson (1931 - 2010) R.I.P.

We interrupt Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror with sad news about the passing of comic book legend Al Williamson. For more on his incredible life and legacy please click HERE.

And for a great pre-code Williamson werewolf story from the THOIA Archive, click the image below:

The Mark of the Beast (Johnny Craig)

No, you're not seeing double... oh wait, yes you are. Yeah, it's the same story as our last post, but this time from Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror paperback (Pyramid Books) and featuring stunning art from the great Johnny Craig! In Lee's own words from the introduction: "...The Mark of the Beast couples the age-old savagery of the East with unnameable suggestions of the power of evil." So let's consider this a comparison post, which comic book adaptation version do you like best? And for god's sake, someone please tell me what Strickland did to the poor leper with that red hot gun barrel already-- my imagination's running overboard!

The Mark of the Beast

Legendary author and poet Rudyard Kipling is probably best known for The Jungle Book, Gunga Din, and The Man Who Would be King, but with today's post (and our second story from the June 1953 issue of Chilling Tales #16), we find Kipling tapping into the shadowy nightmare regions of Eastern Hindu horror and delivering one truly weird tale of blundering British Imperialism and its consequences.

NEXT: We'll take a second look at this Kipling horror classic as presented in Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror paperback--- with art by the great Johnny Craig!

The Creeping Hand

It's been awhile since I've posted a creeping severed hand yarn, and this one from the June 1953 issue of Chilling Tales #16 (art by Steve Kirkel) grabs you from the first page and never lets go. FYI: I'll have another story from this issue later this week which leads us into multiple postings for our first big theme of the month.

Vintage AD

Oil!

Ripped from today's headlines with a relevant bit of Harvey horror for you, and as the cover of the June 1953 issue of Black Cat Mystery #44 boldly states, "Steady Yourself For the Gushing Impact of--- OIL!" Seriously, you'd have to be living on an oil covered island to not know about the real life monster slowly spreading like some black plague across our Gulf of Mexico waters and coasts as we post this...

Zombies March by Moonlight

Over the years we've posted a few stories from the wild 'n weird June 1952 issue of Strange Terrors #1: "Vampires Dance at Dusk" and "The Ghost of Karloff Castle" and guess what? Yep, here's another! So whether it's actually zombies marching by moonlight, or "zoombies" as the cover typo hilariously states, one thing is certain: the living dead don't necessarily have to be tearing into a skull and munching on a brain to be creepy.

Ashes to Ashes! (x2)

Two hot stories with the same "Ashes to Ashes!" title today, our first from the March 1953 issue of Mystery Tales #9, (pretty sure the art is by Al Eadeh), and our second roaring classic is from the August 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #9 [15] (art by Bill Draut). May is finally coming to a close, and as the season turns warmer THOIA is officially turning up the heat on you-- burn, baby burn!

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Haha, bet you didn't see that ending coming! Does the last panel remind anyone of Boris Karloff's blackened fate in the gruesome climax to Michael Reeves' 1967 thriller "The Sorcerers"?