Come Share My Coffin Tomb!

Our month of dueling Two-For-One Fear Features continues with a petrifyin' pair of terror tales that are really asking a lot from you, dear readers! Yes, come along with us now as we attempt to make some rotten room for a couple of certifiably creepy, cramped companion classics! And Pete Tumlinson kicks it off with an ever familiar, eerie escape trick that is most certainly doomed to backfire every time, guaranteed! From the May 1954 issue of Strange Tales #28, plus a special paralyzin' applause for that superbly scary cover design by Harry Anderson! Then it's Mort Meskin's turn to amp up the mausoleum madness with an apparently "true" crime case from the September - October 1951 issue of Headline Comics #49, via Prize Comics. Yep, THOIA is unloading a hot, double dose of COME atcha this time around-- better bring some Kleenex! Wait, what? They're both tear-jerkers, I meant...

"True" Zombies of History: Hugo Ormsbeck / Strange Spirits: Voodoo

Time to put a wrap on our killer King Ward Fest this week with a couple more ACG AdvUnk fillers. And first up, a whoppin' weird 4-page historical account of Hugo Ormsbeck, 13th century oddball alchemist, and magician, who apparently discovered the power of the living dead, --and thusly became a "true" zombie himself! Ward delivers some great panels here, I just wish the coloring was a little more inspired. From the March 1953 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #41, followed by a one page voodoo quickie from the Fall 1948 debut issue of Adventures into the Unknown #1. GCD attributes the art here by Ward as well, but it honestly doesn't look like his work to me... I'm sure you will all let me know your opinions on this matter as well.

Death for Hire / Corpse Under Carpet

Some corpses just ain't havin' it! And here are two chilling examples from the September - October 1952 debut issue of ACG's Skeleton Hand #1. Nice 'n reliably chunky artwork from Jon Blummer highlights the first tale about crackpot criminal kooks overplaying their hand with voodoo, --followed by a one page quickie about a haunted rug! AIEEEEE!! Is there anything more terrifyin'?!! Maybe try the vacuum cleaner next time...

Voodoo

Buried in the back pages of the July - August 1948 issue of Exposed #3, (among the typical sort of bang bang gangster crime stories) lurks this hair-raisin' Harry Kiefer illustrated tale of vicious voodoo ultra violence. Swirling with demons, death dolls, and brutal torture, this is a wild little ghastly gem of grisly horror from south of the blood-soaked border...

Designer of Doom

And here we go, kickin' off December 2024 with a fantastically fog enshrouded, fiery freak-out, --and seriously, when you need someone to kill off the cast (and even the venue itself) of a really bad theatrical play, there's no one better suited to this terrible task than rockin' Rudy Palais! How he always managed to pack so much master-class, hellish imagery into only a half dozen pages for these Harvey mags is mind bogglin', and today's cuckoo voodoo witch doctor of death post is no exception! Nice uncredited cover and bonus filler in this issue too! From the April 1952 issue of Witches Tales #9. 

The Witch of Wailing Woods

Let's get June 2024 a'rockin' and a'rollin' with a hero vs. horror leftover that I had scheduled to post a few months back-- it's Plastic Man and his pudgy pal Woozy vs. a deadly voodoo doll dabblin, va-va-va-voom vvitch in a haunted house of fist pummelin' hilarity! Plus: bats, cats, a brutal goon duo, and even a couple of werewolves (which I guarantee you are not pronouncing correctly!) Great writing and wonderful, wild art, --I mean, it's not Jack Cole but it's pretty dang close thanks to the superb team-up of Alex Kotzky and Chuck Cuidera on pencils and inks! Guaranteed action-packed plasticity and fright-filled fun from the July 1953 issue of Plastic Man #42.