Curse of the Devil Doll

Time for another cursed entry in the superbly spooky "Ghost Gallery" series from Fiction House. If you remember the weirdly macabre Drew Murdoch adventure from a few posts ago HERE (yeah, I think Drew's gonna be our featured Character of the Month here in April), well, he's back and really has his hands full with an alluring apparition (illustrated by none other than joltin' Jack Kamen), --a super sexy spook that's even stolen the haunted, haggard heart of 'ol Mr. Karswell! Why, I almost actually shed a tear when: "For one brief second her tortured face writhed in the flames... then faded..." From the Sept. 1951 issue of Jumbo Comics #151.

Cagliostro Cursed Thee

I know that some of you are still trying to catch-up with our previous April Fool's Day post, but I wanted to get in this goofy great tale from Fiction House's "The Ghost Gallery", aka the September 1952 issue of Jumbo Comics #163 --you know, for a long awaited Werewolfery Wednesdayery installment, 'natch! Packed with loads of luridly beautiful Bob Webb artwork, this time our lycanthropy problem feels a bit weirder than usual, and when the wild mad science angle finally runs amok in the final pages, you'll be wondering when Santo or the Blue Demon will bust through the walls to save the B-movie day. Fantastic cover illustration as well, we even have a freaky lookin' Gomez-esque doctor that certainly seems inspired by the famous Charles Addams character. So fire up the serpent skull incense burner and dive into one heckuva chaotic monster mish-mashin' spook-a-rama!

The Flying Dutchman

Time to end the month with one more weird war tale from the pulse-pounding pages of Fiction House's Wings Comics, our spotlight series for March 2025 (check the archive if you missed any.) And though I typically tend to fly clear of stories created in a sort of historically factual, narrative style as this one, I do find the highly efficient story-telling and surprisingly chilling final panel to be very worthy of a THOIA post. Hope everyone enjoyed this month of high-flyin', hair raisin' hits from above, stay tombed in April for more hits coming up from below! From the November 1941 issue of Wings Comics #15.

The Thin Ones of Skeleton Island

We've been randomly looking at the spookier sides of Fiction House's wild, WINGS COMICS war series throughout the month of March, and this Suicide Smith (and the Air Commanders) on a cursed island entry from the February 1948 issue of Wings Comics #90 fits our THOIA bill nicely. Smith was one of the longest running back-up characters from this series, and today's post features great art by precode fan fave, John Celardo too, loadin' every page with fast paced adventure, a few tricky horror overtones, plus gorgeously illustrated ladies to really spice up the action. Also, if you ever wondered what the silhouette of a bad guy getting smooshed by a giant boulder looks like, well then --you came to the right island!

Jane Martin vs. The Undead Nazis

After our Wings double blog-a-thon at the beginning of the month HERE and over at AEET HERE, a few of you wrote in asking to see more wild 'n wicked, war weirdness. Meanwhile, I always gets requests for more Lily Renee art, so here we go, killing two birds with one post! Jane Martin was a reoccurring back-up feature in Wings Comics, going all the way back to the very first issue in 1940, and thus, strutted her high flyin', long leggy stuff for well over 100+ issues. First appearing as a nurse, then a spy, and eventually a pilot over the expanse of her many appearances, Jane's adventures are always loaded with sexy fun, and were total diversions from the usual war stuff seen in the rest of this overly macho hero series. I especially like this story because we get one of the earliest comic book hints at Nazi's performing horribly nasty experiments by creating an unstoppable living dead army out of corpses! We also get plenty of great views of that little line running up the back of Jane's stockings, as only Lily Renee could draw it-- so there ya go! From the October 1943 issue of Wings Comics #38, and swiftly scripted by F. E. Lincoln.

The Little Wax Doll

Okay. Mr. Karswell played nice in our previous post, and yeah, you all loooved the happy ending and cutsie wootsie cuddly kooties, --but! It's a new month now, and it's time to get back to the good 'ol depressing stuff that makes me, errr, I mean him (Mr. Karswell) so happy! Like this gruesome entry from the supernaturally great "Ghost Squadron" back-up filler stories, (this one found in the October 1947 issue of Wings Comics #86, published by Fiction House), and features a cold-blooded psychopathic doofus who has no problem killing a man that just wants to see his wife and new baby-- hurrah! There's also a ghost possessed wax doll, a few more shockingly cruel murders, and finally, one of the all-time goriest, and most brutal pre-code climax panels ever printed. Seriously, I hope you saved your breakfast for afterwards! And if you did save your breakfast for afterwards, don't eat it quite yet! *record scratch sound! Because over at AEET today, I've spun yet ANOTHER propular way to get yourself something disgustingly scrambled in the morn! Yeah, it's a whack way to spend your mourning, --but then again, that's why ya'll love me, right?

Two Must Die

Another chilly classic from the Spring 1953 issue of Ghost Comics #6, this one set in a deadly, apparition loaded old mine shaft. Nice work from the ever dependable team of Benulis and Abel, and check out that gorgeous Maurice Whitman cover! If you've never read "The Sleepers in the Crypt" which is mentioned on the cover, check the THOIA Archive by CLICKING HERE after today's story!

Zandini Did It!

Angry spirits from the dead just never rest easy, and two ding-dongs learn about it the hard way from a seriously mad magician! From the Spring 1953 issue of Ghost Comics #6, and highlighted by some really super(natural) moments from artist A. Albert on every single page-- in particular, that maniacally macabre, laughing skeleton near the climax.