The Passing of Samantha B

Film history has shown us that on this day, April 21st, in 1880, the 6 founding fathers of Antonio Bay, California deliberately wrecked a clipper ship off the coast so that its wealthy, leprosy-afflicted owner could not establish a leper colony nearby. All crew and passengers were killed, and the sunken ship was eventually salvaged of its treasures by the same men responsible for this senseless tragedy. I'm sure many of you that follow this blog know the rest of John Carpenter's classic, gory, ghost story. So as long as we have the SSS collection handy (see our previous post too), let's take a look at a terrific terror tale possessing quite a few similarities, via the July 1969 issue of Strange Suspense Stories #8. Spectral ship, vengeful spirit, a lonely lighthouse, lots of fog, and a care-free couple suddenly caught up in the clutches of a screaming supernatural spook. Joe Gill script, Vince Coletta illustrations, and Jim Aparo cover art, too!

House of Wax!

APRIL FOOLS! It's not "House of Wax" at all-- it's "House of Whacks!" hahaha from the December 1953 debut issue of Mad #1! APRIL FOOLS! It's not from the December 1953 issue of Mad #1 at all either, it's actually from the December 1953 issue of Eh! #1 published by EC-- errr, April Fools uhhgain, --from Charlton. Eh! ran 700 issues... April Foo... ehhhh... that's to say, 7 issues total before calling it quits, just like I'm calling it quits with this rather annoyingly foolish gag o'my own! And if you think this intro is full of tired attempts at humor, wait'll you get a load of this vampire story, because it's incredibly funny, and totally unique and oooo boy... April freakin' Fools for probably the last goddamn time ever. Yeesh, even the Sam Spade Wild-Root hair tonic advertisment that I tossed onto the end of this post is somehow way sillier!

Triple-Header!

If the ancient Egyptian Karnak Curse in our previous post didn't do it for you, then how about a curse from the creepy old Carnoc Castle grotto instead? This story originally appeared here at THOIA in a black and white reprint version way back in 2017 (HERE), --but everyone hated the scan quality so I swore on the blood of thy ancestors that someday I would re-feature the proper, original story from the October 1951 debut issue of This Magazine is Haunted #1. George Evans art definitely deserves to be viewed in this manner, any 'ol way. Annnnd because the story is a whoppin' 13 pages long, I thought, hey, why not make this post even longer with some additional TMIH filler quickies, like even more fun Facts About Witches and Witchcraft (from TMIH #20), as well as a two-page Ditko horror adventure, via TMIH #17. This blog is pretty damned haunted too, you know?

Curse of Karnak

Wow, it's already Mummy Monday again, --time to open up another time-rotted tomb of ancient horrors! And this one is absolutely loaded with eerie Egyptian god freaks, as well as various bad decisions on the parts of our heroes. But it's a fast paced, fun yarn none the less, plus Bob Forgione (again already, too!) adds a healthy dose of cleavage to the chase so that kooky Mr. Karswak doesn't have to! On top of all that, dig the ghastly cover decap design, and rather lovely B/W table of contents page, both courtesy of Lou Morales. From the October - November 1952 issue of The Thing #5.

Hellfire of Doom

Time to wrap up Fearsome February with a devilishly hot tale, direct from the burning gates of The Thing #1 (see our previous post as Hell, errr, --as well, too!) It's another smokin' pairing of Forgione / Tyler, teaming up and screaming up our final post of the month! And along with this macabre mystery lies yet another-- a wild picture to share (courtesy of the cool ass Carny Feet facebook group), featuring the Devil's Cave, a 1960's spook house or carnival dark ride from Ohio. And good 'ol Mr. Karswell himself figured out that some of the artwork on that fabulous attraction facade appears to be lifted from a couple of precode comic book covers, no less! Take a look at the end of this post, and if you recognize that hooded / bearded gentleman also painted on there (on the left), let us know where it comes from! Thank you in advance, and we'll see you in March for lots rots more!