Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Karswell’s Night Gallery #6

Anyone know where this originally came from or who painted it? Or why the little girl is obviously trick or treating but not wearing a costume?

Trick or Treat

Well this is it, the grand finale wrap-up to our first Halloween Week here at The Horrors of it All. Did we go out with a big Silver Shamrock bang, or a weasily Fox Kids whimper? It’s your call… I guess the thing I learned the most about this past week though is this: If everyday is Halloween here at THOIA, then next year I ain’t gonna bust my ass so hard to find stories that fit into a goddamn holiday theme.

From the May 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #10





HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It’s almost time kids, the clock is ticking…

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I Married A Witch

Speaking of Halloween movie classics, here’s an appropriately themed photo of gorgeous, peekaboo blonde actress Veronica Lake in a witch costume. This is most likely a publicity shot from one of her best non-noir films called I Married A Witch (1942), a great film that was supposedly the inspiration for the Bewitched TV series.

What are you watching on Halloween? (LIST)

We did the readers list, now how about a movie one? What are you watching to get in the mood for Halloween? Most of us here typically watch fright films all year round, but what are the films that sum it all up for you and really get you excited around the end of October? My tastes are old school: Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Fly, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Curse of the Demon... I do so love the first Phantasm film, Evil Dead and The Thing though too of course. So let’s hear it, your TOP FIVE FAVORITE HORROR FILMS for Halloween.

Halloween Nightmare

Countdown to Halloween: Post #6! I had 4 people email me about this story last week because everyone was trying to help me find Halloween tales to include for All Hallows Week. Typically, if you use GCD then you know that the keyword search engine makes it easy to find specific subject matter contained in specific back issues. Brian Hirsch knows this too, he even has the scans to prove it--- and here they are! Thanks BH! And thanks again to everyone else who made the attempt! One day to go!

From the April 1952 issue of Black Cat Mystery #34




Monday, October 29, 2007

Monster Ads

Some silly monster fun from the Nov 1961 issue of Archie Comic's Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats #1



I Was Locked in a Haunted House!

Countdown to Halloween: Post #5! I’ll say it before someone else does, technically this is not a Halloween story. But! This story contains a theme that happens alot on Halloween night, kids daring each other to go up to, or into a spooky old abandoned house, one that may or may not actually be “haunted.” I had one in my neighborhood as a kid, it was Halloween 1979, I was indeed guilty of trespassing, and it was SCARY. To make matters worse I was dressed up like Paul Stanley from KISS, and part of the costume I was wearing included my mom’s black go-go boots with 4 inch heels. Folks, these are not good shoes to go haunted housing in...

Originally presented in the April 1953 issue of Uncanny Tales #7





Sunday, October 28, 2007

What Are You Reading on Halloween? (LIST)

List time! Besides the obvious pre-code comic books, what else do you read that really gets you in the mood around Halloween? I tend to stick with the short horror story collections, anything really, but those especially by M. R. James or E. F. Benson. Call me old fashioned but I like the way the scholarly antiquarian gents from 'Ol England do up the scares better than anyone else. So let’s hear it, your TOP THREE FAVORITE READS for Halloween.

Karswell ’71b (ANOTHER PHOTO)

Digging around in a different box of old photos I found another one from Halloween 1971. As you can see here I’m conducting a Black Mass with my beautiful Princess Bride at my side. Also, my two most loyal witch servants are onhand, as well as my Hellhound Snoopy and 3 succulent babies ready for the midnight sacrifice. If memory further serves me correctly, the Frankenstein monster (as usual) showed up totally uninvited, so everyone just casually ignored the ‘ol crybaby blockhead.

Scarecrow’s Revenge

Here in the midwest scarecrows go hand in hand with Halloween as much as ghosts, goblins, black cats, and toilet paper in the trees. And if it’s a Rudy Palais story with a tricky killer scarecrow then you know you’re in for a spooky treat.

From the Sept 1952 issue of Witches Tales #14





Saturday, October 27, 2007

4 Covers

While we’re at it let’s give credit to four great Modern Age Halloween comic book covers, three from Eclipse (love that Dave Stevens!), and one from Fantaco Publication.

The Wishing Hour

Countdown to Halloween: Post #4B! Our second post for today also comes from the Modern Age. I hope you don’t mind, but as previously mentioned it was a real struggle to find Halloween themed stories worthy of posting here for an entire week since the golden era is pretty dry on the subject… but I’m sure you’ll agree, this tale fits the bill nicely.

I can still remember the first time I ever saw a fully painted story by John Bolton... totally blew my mind. From the 1993 issue of Millennium Publication’s Asylum #1




Karswell '71 (PHOTO)

1971 was the year I found Satan, or vice versa. It’s all quite a blur in my memory really, but the picture of me (below) on my first day of school is indeed a testament to my endless, continued devotion to not only the one true Dark Lord, but also to the mystic black arts that I practice and abide by daily.

Kidding! This picture is actually just me in costume on Halloween. Everything else I said though is true.

All Hallows

Countdown to Halloween: Post #4A! In the 80’s and early 90’s there were several excellent attempts by independent comic book publishers to re-capture the spirit of Golden Age pre-code horror. Some were successful; many were not, but what matters most is that at least someone gave it a shot. And with that here's two Modern Age halloween horror story posts, our first for today from Bruce Jones’s terrific Twisted Tales #1, released by Pacific Comics in November 1982.







Friday, October 26, 2007

Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up (No. 147)

Need some help with that werewolf disguise this Halloween? We’re here to help!

From Gory Stories Quarterly #2 ½

Hoof Beats of the Devil’s Horse

Countdown to Halloween: Post #3! GCD currently has no entry for this issue so my link below merely takes you to the main Black Magic cover gallery instead. To makes things even more frustrating my own copy of this issue is also missing it’s cover! So until everything gets updated let’s just hang on tight with a chilly night ride into Sleepy Hollow territory instead.

From the October 1952 issue of Black Magic Vol. 2 #11




Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Day Vincent Price Died (R.I.P.)

Vincent Price, one of the greatest actors of all time, died on this day in 1993 of lung cancer and emphysema at the age of 82.

"I sometimes feel that I'm impersonating the dark unconscious of the whole human race. I know this sounds sick, but I love it."
---Vincent Price

October Shadows (ART)

Creature Features has an amazing online gallery of artwork from some of today’s most gruesome talent, showcasing and celebrating Halloween in it’s many natural and unnatural forms.

Check it out HERE!

The Vampire Cat

Countdown to Halloween: Post #2! More beastly, feline transformations for you today from the ghouls at ACG. Why is it anytime some jealous dame wants a guy she goes running off to the nearest witch for help?

From the March 1953 issue of Forbidden Worlds #15