No Harm Done on the Witches' Sabbat + Norman Was Right!

Like many of you this evening, THOIA is also dressin' up to paint the town orange 'n black (and red) with costumes and candy and all kinds of wicked Witches' Sabbat shenanigans. Now where did I put that sacrificial dagger, anyways? And oh, look at 'ol Norman over there, hookin' up with the absolute purrrrfect girl of his screams-- err, dreams, via the April 1952 issue of Suspense #17! She will most certainly have a bone or two to pick clean with him before the night is over! But first up, let's do what everybody loves the most on a night like this, and that's playing a spooky prank on an unsuspecting victim! Yesss, hee-hee, we've got our sights set on someone in particular-- let's just hope we can actually pull it off without a horrible hitch, --from the April '54 issue of Shocking Mystery Cases #58. Everyone have a great holiday, and Mr. Karswell hopes you all enjoyed this month of petrifyin' posts. See you in November for lots rots more-- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Raven

It just wouldn't be October without an Edgar Allan Poe post, or in the very least, a Poe inspired tale of terror. So instead of giving you the same old beat of a Tell-Tale Heart, or yet another murder in some rue-ish morgue someplace sorrowful, let's flip open a few fun pages from the January 1943 issue of Pep Comics #35, where The Hangman (he's a super hero, by the way) tackles another bird brain bad guy who's seriously flown the coop! The dark, shadowy hospital setting is nicely realized by the ever bad ass illustrative mastery of Bob Fujitani, --there's just a lot of great action art and eerie faces, not to mention an absolute load of lurid thrills 'n chills! You've likely never seen Poe presented quite like this before here at THOIA, and fans of The Spirit, Dr. Drew, etc are sure to get a kick (and maybe a punch or two) outta this one! And of course, if you require much more legitimate presentations of Poe's works, CLICK HERE for lots rots more in our archive...

No Noose is Good Noose

After presenting "The Choker" post (HERE!) the other day, we at THOIA have re-evaulated our gallows stance and decided there actually just wasn't enough hanging around these parts lately to satisfy our terrible tastes! Enter our next story from the June 1954 issue of Mysterious Adventures #20. Charles Nicholas delivers some real swingin' artwork on this (*choke!) classic about a hangman who justifiably, gets no respect... though oddly enough, he does get the last laugh!

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 Pale Light of... Death!

Valentine's Day is finally upon us, but we're far from the bitter end of our doomed love stories fest for the morbid month of February. And it doesn't get much more doomy than a whirlwind romance that suddenly turns murderous and suicidal in the simple span of 5 comic book pages, but here ya go none the less. From the December 1951 issue of Chamber of Chills #4, PLUS! a real gem from the Karswell Kard Kollection-- aka the saddest sunken lunk Valentine of all time! And if you're still hangin' around after that, an appropriate, though not very Valentiney, one-page bonus "True Tale of the Supernatural" from the Sept. 1950 issue of Challenge of the Unknown #6.