One Man’s Poison

Wait a sec... did some of you think the previous post was the big 'n weird Thanksgiving wind-up? Not blood-drainingly likely! No sir, that was just the 'ol un-appetizer-- because today we have something much more deadlicious planned for you! And guess what? Like the previous two posts, this tantalizing turkey of a tale is also from the December 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #17 (you HH Heads might even remember it from when we reprinted it in Haunted Horror #3 way back in 2013!) I really do hope you can stomach this story though, cuz the ending might leave ya feelin' stuffed --for allllll eternity...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Coward & The Choker

And the midnight toker! Just jokin'-- it's "Super Blood-Soaked Saturday Shocker" time again, with a deadly double header of gagging gore and blood thirsty, brutal betrayals! Yes, just in case anyone thought THOIA was turnin' soft over our expansive 18-year run here on the 'ol interwebs, well, --think again! Two terror-packed tales full of dismemberment, dickish dames, and dumb dudes a'danglin', and despite some less than stellar scan quality here, both are from the rather awesome August 1954 issue of Mysterious Adventures #21. The savage illustrations in the first story are by bad boy Bill Savage himself, and followed by the always radical Ross Andru on our rockin' second tale. Plus! A real crowd-pleaser of a cover by Hy Fleishman! Have a gory great weekend everyone, with lots lots morgue to come-- so stay tombed!

The Man Who Beat the Devil

Walpurgisnacht is just a few days away, and as we descend into the final, sizzlin' stretch, it's suddenly time to beat the Devil! Okay, is this really a thing that's possible to accomplish? Read along, ya crazy know-it-alls cuz you may be surprised, although this is a pre-code horror story, so I'm fairly certain you already have the correct answer. Horns for Andru and Esposito though, and the December 1954 issue of Mysterious Adventures #23 ...some of you Haunted Horror Heads might remember this from the April 2013 issue of HH#4 too!

The Slaying of Joshua Sprague!

There's a lot to beware this November here at THOIA, as I've suddenly decided to keep the blasphemous Beware! Terror Tales train a'rollin' for a few more posts, anyway. And this is an eerily illustrated Andru / Esposito classic with a gnarly mix of satanic supernatural, time travel, and brutal execution-- seriously, don't read this if you have a splitting headache! From the July 1952 issue of Beware! Terror Tales #2. CLANG!

Capsule! / The Devil's Workshop!

Some of you may remember we used Bernard Baily's cover of Mister Mystery #10  (March - April 1953) for our own issue of Haunted Horror #26! With its hook-handed grave robber realizing much too late of his evil ways-- via swirling demon heads from Hell-- it is definitely one of the finest examples ever of spooky precode cover art. A few of the stories inside the issue ain't too shabby either, like this traumatizing tale of sinister side affects from simply swallowing a capsule...













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And speaking of the bad ass Bernard Baily cover for Mister Mystery #10, check out these gnarly new limited edition masks from The Devil's Workshop!



For more info about these, CLICK HERE!

Love from a Plant

THOIA follower, Otto, emailed me looking for some answers to a comic cover he remembered seeing at a grocery store over half a century ago, and I believe this Ross Andru / Mike Esposito pair-up from Mystery Tales #16 (1964) fits the bill. Now if you clicked the GCD link in the previous sentence, you undoubtably noticed that the story itself actually originated in the Sept '52 issue of Tales of Horror #2, that's because Mystery Tales #16 is simply a complete reprint of that entire issue, just with brand spankin' new cover art. This story also found its way into Haunted Horror #4 in 2013.