Pit of the Damned Devil Worshippers!

Well, once again we made it to Walpurgisnacht-- but can we survive this naughty nacht without getting ourselves burned?! It's gonna be one heckuva Halfway to Halloween fight as Captain Battle swoops in to put a brutal end to some Hellish heathens and their horny wicked ways, from the Feb. '42 issue of Silver Streak Comics #18. But first up, Bob Powell sends us careening down-- down-- down into the flaming caverns of Satan's sizzlin' domain, in an all-time classic Harvey Hit from Hell, via the April 1952 issue of Chamber of Chills #7. THOIA will return after a few days of Mr. Karswell May Day Birthday Recuperayytion, --please stay tombed! 

Mystery Master

Croydon Publishing Co. delivered to us a pair of nifty 1940's "Mystery Master" horror tales, both of which can be found in the pages of the equally short-lived Variety Comics series. Running a mere 3 "mixed bag" issues, Mystery Master may have looked more like Ben Franklin than The Cryptkeeper, but he still stood out among the superhero, cops 'n robbers, and comedy selections featured in 2 of the 3 issues --and managed to spin a couple of superb chillers as well! A mad science experiment turns truly monstrous in "The Web", from the dynamic debut issue of Variety Comics #1 (1944), followed by a sinisterly swingin' old dark house set-up in "The Mystery of the Eccentric Collector", via Variety Comics #3 from 1946. According to GCD, the latter story artwork is credited to Leo Bachle, the first tale remains uncredited.

Hellfire of Doom

Time to wrap up Fearsome February with a devilishly hot tale, direct from the burning gates of The Thing #1 (see our previous post as Hell, errr, --as well, too!) It's another smokin' pairing of Forgione / Tyler, teaming up and screaming up our final post of the month! And along with this macabre mystery lies yet another-- a wild picture to share (courtesy of the cool ass Carny Feet facebook group), featuring the Devil's Cave, a 1960's spook house or carnival dark ride from Ohio. And good 'ol Mr. Karswell himself figured out that some of the artwork on that fabulous attraction facade appears to be lifted from a couple of precode comic book covers, no less! Take a look at the end of this post, and if you recognize that hooded / bearded gentleman also painted on there (on the left), let us know where it comes from! Thank you in advance, and we'll see you in March for lots rots more!

Nightmare

If our previous post didn't make you lose your horrible lil haunted heads, --then today's nightmarish classic absolutely cannot fail! And it's another one by Bob Forgione as well, from the February 1952 debut issue of of The Thing #1. Special note: Bob and Albert Tyler (on pencils) actually created every single piece of art in this entire, stunning issue, Yep, every story, and even that super spooky cover! What a great way to kick off a legendary Golden Age horror series!