Sacrifice!

Let's close out a rather macabre May 2024 with a proper offering to the ancient elder comic book gods of horror, from the April 1953 issue of Chilling Tales #15, and featuring art by Vince Napoli. Tomb in all next month for lots more terrifyin' treats, and we here at The Horrors of it All hope that everyone enjoyed the selection of posts this month...

Wish for the Dead

Vince Napoli was one of those precode artists whose work at first appears weirdly wonky, and even amateurishly flimsy at times. But the more you look at it, the more it begins to take on a brilliantly eerie, otherworldly vibe. It's as lanky and surreal as it is uneven and bizarre, and thus, it's the perfect illustrative style for a nightmarish tale of terror like Wish for the Dead, (from the January 1953 issue of Beware #13.) Faces distort wildly as sinister supernatural forces take over, spectral clawed hands reach out from the black beyond, --and in my favorite panel of the whole story (page 7, panel 2) a partially open door reveals the spookiest set of disembodied eyes ever put to a comic book page! The sloppy coloring and cheap print job on this Trojan comic is typically an unfortunate tragedy, but it also adds an ominous underground zine edge to the freak-out stranglehold of funeral-esque atmosphere. This is the kind of unique soul transference story that THOIA was created for, please enjoy... 

The Hangman's Son

Time for a shivery supernatural tale, guaranteed to choke you up a bit, from the December 1951 issue of Captain Science #7. Vince Napoli's oddly shoddy artwork actually works to the story's advantage this time around, providing a surreal air of nightmarish weirdness, and propelling those bent-necked spectres into a whole other realm of blood-curdling spookery. Have yourselves a super swingin' Sunday, fiends!

Spider Hider

You wanted the grossest, and you got it! The grossest story in the land-- SPIDER HIDER! From the December 1952 issue of Chilling Tales #13, plus more mediocre art by Vince Napoli. Ugh...













Napoli even swiped himself in this one, compare the panel at the bottom of page 4 with the illustration he did for the 'The Insistent Ghost' found in the Sept '50 issue of Weird Tales:

The Eyes of Madam Jahn

Another tale of vengeance from beyond the grave, and also from the April 1952 issue of Fantastic #9 (see our previous post as well), and while it's a bit uneven in both story and art, it does contain a few incredibly eerie moments for sure, not to mention possible use of Myrna Loy photo reference at the bottom of page three. Art by Vince Napoli.

HAUNTED HORROR #9 / Ghosts from Mars

IN STORES TODAY! You keep buying 'em, we'll keep chuggin' 'em out! And here's a putrid preview for you-- a weird sci-fi horror tale from the October - November 1951 issue of Dark Mysteries #3, art by Vince Napoli. Get your copy now to see what other gruesome goodies this icky issue has to offer! (FYI: don't freak-out, the Gene Colan story I promised is coming up next-- stay tombed!)

My Daddy Should Have Listened

IDW and Yoe Books newest book COMICS ABOUT CARTOONISTS is overflowing with wild stories about the world's oddest profession-- tales of cartoonists encountering situations where their illustrated creations literally come to life on them! And for you pre-code horror junkies, a few of these situations even spell out TERROR! Take for example the superbly creepy story featured here at THOIA today, originally presented in the October 1952 issue of Beware #12 (art by Vince Napoli.) Find out more about this essential Yoe book by clicking HERE, and watch the video preview by clicking HERE! ALSO! If you haven't already seen the Haunted Horror interview article in the new December issue of Rue Morgue Magazine then run out now to your nearest newsstand and grab a copy ASAP! You can also scroll to the bottom of this post and read it there too!