House of Wax!

APRIL FOOLS! It's not "House of Wax" at all-- it's "House of Whacks!" hahaha from the December 1953 debut issue of Mad #1! APRIL FOOLS! It's not from the December 1953 issue of Mad #1 at all either, it's actually from the December 1953 issue of Eh! #1 published by EC-- errr, April Fools uhhgain, --from Charlton. Eh! ran 700 issues... April Foo... ehhhh... that's to say, 7 issues total before calling it quits, just like I'm calling it quits with this rather annoyingly foolish gag o'my own! And if you think this intro is full of tired attempts at humor, wait'll you get a load of this vampire story, because it's incredibly funny, and totally unique and oooo boy... April freakin' Fools for probably the last goddamn time ever. Yeesh, even the Sam Spade Wild-Root hair tonic advertisment that I tossed onto the end of this post is somehow way sillier!

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!

"Sheer Fear!"

I remember reading this story when I was a kid and thinking it was really cool, very clever, and super creepy-- see what you guys think! And for obvious reasons, I'm always reminded of it every time I watch Creepshow (1982.) From the April-May 1974 issue of House of Mystery #224, with ghastly art by Gerry Talaoc, and a good script by Sheldon Mayer.

Fifty-Fifty! / Hate!

You can't deny that when we have an Atlas Fest here at THOIA, it's always a damn good time! And because a few of you axed for it, we'll close out the month with another double header (or is that a beheader?!) Bill LaCava proves that hate is stronger than blood, with a very cleaver, errr, a very clever classic from the August 1952 issue of Marvel Tales #108. But first up, a rather dividing tale of divorce and doom from the May 1953 issue of Marvel Tales #114. The Atlas Tales site thinks this is a team-up art attack from Jack Hearne and Bill Savage, and that sounds savagely good to me too-- either way that you slice it! Hope everyone enjoyed this month of Atlas, you can look forward to another mix of macabre stories from some of the other finer precode publishers, and maybe even a surprise or two as we slide into super September already (?!!), inching closer and closer to Halloween!! Stay tombed...

The Voice from Venus

Time to take it to the stars for a story of outer space love, all wrapped up rather nicely in some over the top insanity and isolation as only Robert Q. Sale can do it! RQ unloads a startlingly bonkers one here, so sit back and tune in to a true terror tale of tomorrow-- and b-b-b-beyond! From the February 1954 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #24.

Maskless Axeman

Not to be confused with "Assless Chaps Man" (the alter ego of Brian Barnes), Maskless Axeman was the very first entry in the super cool, but brief "Fantastic Feature Films" anthology back-up filler tales from the earliest days of Novelty's hero-driven, Target Comics. It's a clever concept, as if we just walked into the the theater as a film is starting, --we can even see the backs of the heads from the people seated in front of us. We also get the title card and cast listing highlighting a handful of the same reoccurring actors and actresses, most notably "Orson Black" swiping Lon Chaney's moniker as "The Man of a Thousand Faces." There was around a dozen or so of these created, mostly self-contained, crime driven adventures, with a few based on literary classics like Treasure Island and Gulliver's Travels, and of course a few with some downright gruesome great horror overtones like the one in today's post, via the February 1940 issue of Target Comics V1#1 (and listed on GCD as the 666th comic entry, no less!) June Tarpé Mills, one of the first major female comic artists of the Golden era, provided the art for all but two entries, and she does a superb job with the heroes, heavies, and especially the Hollywood-esque hotties, as equally evident in the other story I have featured over at AEET HERE today as well-- check it out after today's blood soaked THOIA story! 

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!