The Metamorphs

How about another creature-feature from the March 1969 issue of Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery #25 (see our previous post as well.) Sci-fi horror can sometimes be a mixed bag, but sometimes-- like today's post-- they can really give ya the willies! You long-time THOIA'ers might even remember a similarly freaky ACG Forbidden Worlds tale that I posted here waaaay way back in 2007 called "Nightmare for Two" --check it out after today's shivery story! And adios to January finally too. Stay tombed for lots more in February, where things are doomed to be diabolically romantical, as usual...

The Face on the Floor

Time now to finish up with the last, but most certainly not least, of the stories from the September 1952 issue of The Tormented #2. You've seen THOIA post some crazy ass tales here over the last three years, but what in the world could possibly prepare you for a story about a killer mop? Well, there's a little more to it than just that, but here ya go... (and once again, thanks to Brian Hirsch for the scans of this entirely great issue!)

The Bird Sanctuary

In case some of you are starting to think that THOIA is for the birds, well-- you're right! We ended 2010 with our bloody beaks 'n talons dripping, now we do the same to ring in the new year! The July '54 issue of The Tormented #1 features 4 gorgeously illustrated horror stories, two from Mike Sekowsky and two (including this post) from Mike Roy. There are a couple more from this ish in the THOIA Archive, check out the super creepy "Caterpillar House" and the bone chilling "Dinner for One" when you're finished...

Edge of Darkness

Witchcraft Week continues with a moody entry from Standard Comics' November 1953 issue of The Unseen #12. It's probably not historically correct either like some of you were complaining about in our last post, but Mike Roy's fun style and his occasional textless panels really brings this one alive.

THOIA NEWS!

The Horrors Of It All recently entered in at number 116 in the Wikio Literature blog catagory rankings, (this is one of the new categories created by Wikio for the month of October.) Wikio is "the number 1 news aggregator and blog-indexing website in Europe, indexing nearly 200,000 English-language sources," so of course THOIA is incredibly honored to be on this list (and so near the Top 100 too!) Thanks to Charbel Sfeir for emailing me the news, and of course to all you readers who continue to sadistically support THOIA. ---Karswell

For more info click HERE!

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Vintage AD

Scream in the Night / The Get-Away

Okay, I lied about the attacking false eyelashes... but take away the phony accessories and you still have some spooky eyes today, plus more starkly efficient artwork from the criminally underrated Mike Roy.

PLUS: A Beelzebuddy Bonus, both from the February 1954 issue of The Unseen #13.

TOMORROW: Wednesdays with Werewolves! Grrr-rowr!!

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The Wig / Retribution

For most of this week we’ll be looking at scary selections of Standard Comics, from titles like Adventures into Darkness, Out of the Shadows and The Unseen, plus various other odds ‘n ends… kicking it off with an eerie Mike Roy weirdie today--- so hang onto your hat man, and don’t flip yer wig!

From the January 1954 issue of Out of the Shadows #11

TOMORROW: More Mike Roy.

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PLUS: A 2-page bonus quickie featuring a startlingly brutal pickaxe murder panel.

Caterpillar House

Sterling Comics only released two issues of The Tormented in ’54 before the Comic Code steamrolled them over, and thus forced them to change their name to the surprisingly bland “Surprise Adventures.” Zzzzzz. But before they went down for the count, they managed to produce a handful of well written / illustrated horror knock-outs, like the next two posts here from the July 1954 issue of The Tormented #1.