Dead Man's Revenge

It just wouldn't be Halloween without a vicious visit from the greatest monster of 'em all-- Frankenstein's Mobster Monster, that is! This dynamite, Jay Disbrow crime horror updating of the Mary Shelley classic is from the September 1952 issue of Shocking Mystery Cases #50, and is seriously packed with awesome art, and tight, uniquely compact story telling as only Disbrow seemed to know how to do (and all done in a mere 6 pages, no less too!) Star Comics definitely got their money's worth out of Jay (as well as utilizing L. B. Cole on those gnarly great covers), --it's just a shame they couldn't have used a better quality printer as nearly every single thing they ever published looks rotten. Oh well, hopefully this won't hamper damper everyone's overall joy and celebration of this oddly overlooked, Golden Age, creature feature monsterpiece!

Death Ship

The highly unlikely, artistic credit guess in our previous post HERE sent me on quest to find an actual story containing actual art by joltin' Jay Disbrow. And I believe I found a good one, (well, good for me anyway because I love tragically unhappy endings!) --this time from the March 1954 issue of Ghostly Weird Stories #122. Please scroll down and compare the two posts. You will immediately notice that there is, in fact, no comparison. Disbrow has a very distinct style (especially with faces, as one example), which is absolutely non-existent in the "Revenge!" story. But enough complaining, prepare to blast-off into the brutal reality of scary space with this sizzlin' Star Publications, sci-fi screamer, complete with an extra awesome, blacklight poster-esque L.B. Cole cover. (Don't forget the Kleenex, you whiners!)

The Thing in the Fens

If you're still exhausted from all that trompin' around the swamp with a cat girl in our last post-- too bad! Cuz today it's time to traipes around a fen-- with a thing! It's also been a while since we're seen joltin' Jay Disbrow around these parts, so let him lead the weird way, from the July 1954 issue of Beware #10. And while I don't believe this story made the final cut for our Jay Disbrow Chilling Archives collection, this freakin' awesome Frank Frazetta / Sid Check art did grace my Return of the Zombies hardcover, which still seems to be available through Barnes and Noble HERE! (Psst, you cooler ghouls will remember this book as the one with the bite taken out of the front cover corner!) 

Love from a Gorgon

From one hairy monstrosity tale of lurid love, and right into another-- and this time it's a surprisingly well written Star Publications tale of truly despicable, driveling oral organs from the beyond! Yeah, you read that right, *gag!* --and you'll read all about it again in a few moments. Also note, Disbrow is using the word "gorgon" here as merely a means to accentuate how ugly this creature is, as there is no actual snake-headed, turner to stone in this story. From the Dec. '52 issue of Startling Terror Tales #13, with another super cool, blacklight poster inspiring cover design by L.B. Cole.

They Never Return

If I ever get the go-ahead to put together another creepy collection of Haunted Love tales, this ghastly gem of morbid mad science (and even madder rotten romance) from the December 1954 issue of Mysterious Adventures #23, is certainly the perfect match made in Hell. Jay Disbrow occasionally signed his named "Jayson", (see the splash), but you won't find this story in our Monster Invasion collection.

Dwellers in Darkness

I had a request this week for anything by Jay Disbrow, and further into the conversation after mentioning the Jay Disbrow Chilling Archives hardcover collection from IDW / Yoe Books (still available HERE), this same person (who shall remain nameless!) didn't even know the book existed somehow! Soooo, here's an example of a story from said collection-- a story that somehow also hasn't found its way into the THOIA Archive! Alright, killing two birds with one satanic stone, here we go with a definitive Jay Disbrow classic! From the September 1954 issue of Beware #11.

MUMMIES COMING DEC 6th!!!

IDW unraveled a new release date for my MUMMIES book, and it's this week-- December 6th in fact! Available in finer shops everywhere this Wednesday, and of course online too (HERE!), this book is a little different in format than the previous larger sized hardcovers in our Chilling Archives series-- it's about the same size dimensionally as a comic book and it's also softcover / square bound, but it's over 120 pages of scary, shambling, mummy shenanigans! Now in today's post, I have a couple of eerie examples of what you can find in said collection: Albert Tyler's "The Mummy's Bride" originally from the July '53 issue of Beware #16, as well as a spooky one-page short from Jay Disbrow called "The Mummy's Hand", first presented in the Sept '53 issue of Ghostly Weird Stories #120 (with both stories appearing here at THOIA for the very first time too!)

















So grab yourself a copy of MUMMIES this week and let me know what you think, this is just the first in a new series we're testing called the Classic Monsters of Pre-Code Horror Comics-- and we have LOTS more on the way!