A Vampire is Born

We spent the first half of May in bloodthirsty Beware mode, so time now to switch it over to something darker and more mysteriously batty with another vampire bit, errr, HIT from the March - April 1953 issue of Dark Mysteries #11. And hey, it's also time to learn something new about how a bloodsucker even comes to be... I think you'll all be verrrrry interested!

Vampire's Roost

Time for one more reason to beware, and it's another Art Gates classic, this time from the May 1954 issue of Beware #9. And not to be confused with yet another Brian Barnes unlocked fetish (really Brian, vampire roosters now??!!), but this blonde blood sucker story might just leave you all with a serious case of hellacious heart burn! And how about that wonderfully silly Hollingsworth cover design? haha

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!

The Iron Man

Iron Man?!! But I thought Kars said we were done with hero stuff for a while! Annnnd indeed we are, as this is not a Marvel post, --but a wild robo Atlas classic from the January 1953 issue of Mystery Tales #7. Carl Burgos even delivers a hairy-scary dash of lycanthropy to the first page, making it eligible for a Werewolf Wednesday post as well! Yes, today's perfect post is all about the fiendish fake-out!

The Death Ray

It's time to WHOOSH! some living things into skeletons somehow, which means it's also time for another half-baked Captain Battle horror adventure bonanza, via the December 1941 issue of Silver Streak Comics #17! This time Cap and his trusty sidekick Hale take on Dr. Dracula (lol) and his dingbat death ray. And if you think you've seen the last of death rays this week-- think again! I've got another one aimed at you up next for March of the Mummies Monday, in fact... yes, we must not forget the monthly themes that I tend to flimsily throw together here at the last minute. WHOOSH!

Vampirella of Draculon Mountain

Last year I had a few requests for more wicked Warren posts, and since nothing specific was mentioned title-wise, I guess that leaves it up to old Mr. Karswell to continue with my-- errr, his own choice process of creepy curation! And okay, since half of the country is currently chilled to the bone under mountains of snow and extremely frigid, icy temps, let's see what happens to one lovely young lady in a similar, shivery predicament-- only trapped with a rather unpleasant fellow, to boot! Beautiful, sketch-style artwork from "Jay Taycee", aka legendary Johnny Craig who also wrote the script, from the April 1966 issue of Creepy #8, and highlighted with a terrific Gray Marrow vampire cover painting! But first up, and since we're stalkin' / talkin' vampires, let's see where it all began with one bloodthirsty lil babe from Planet Draculon-- va-va-va-voom it's awesome Vampirella in her September 1966 debut collector's edition issue appearance via Vampirella #1! Forrest J. Ackerman script. Tom Sutton story art. And freakin' Frank Frazetta cover and ad art, all adding up to one helluva great origin issue, as well as THOIA double fear-ture post! Sink in...