DR. LORCH'S SIXTH POTION

Dr. Simon Lorch is obsessed with concocting a potion that will turn a man into one that possesses primordial strength. After five tries, he drinks the sixth one himself and turns into not only a man who has primordial strength, but is also a primordial beast! He goes on the usual killing spree until he is stopped (aka killed) by one of his previous experiments. Poor Dr. Lorch, he should have stopped at five tries!

This one's from Ace's WEB OF MYSTERY #3 (June 1951) with pencils by Mike Sekowsky and inks by Vince Alascia.

NOTE: I've began to go back into some of my earlier posts and started adding labels that are descriptive of some of the common themes found in pre-Code horror comics, such as today's "mad doctor" trope. I'll be including things like cannibalism, hanging, etc. when I come across them. This will be a work in progress for a while.

HOW TO BUILD A BETTER COFFIN

This creepy story from Ace's THE BEYOND #25 (March 1954) just oozes grave dirt and worms. Undertaker Hans Richter has been burying the dead in cheap coffins. When the corpses come back to life, they build themselves new coffins with better material. As for Hans . . . well, let's just say he gets what's coming to him.

This pretty well-written, EC-style tale was drawn in the Graham Ingels style by Jim McLaughlin, who was a regular at Ace.

NOTE: Today's blog title is the cover art for THE BEYOND #25 by an unknown artist.

TERROR BENEATH THE TIDES!

Fans of vintage horror comics will likely recognize this cover by Frank Giusto from BAFFLING MYSTERIES #7 (Ace, March 1952). The popular pre-Code image was even made into one of Super7's action figures. It illustrates a scene from the story, "Terror Beneath the Tides" with pencils generally attributed to Mike Sekowsky. Note the cover is colored to match the "seaweed" description in the story, but the interiors depict the underwater creatures as having fish scales and white hair and beards.

Readers may also recognized the set-up as being similar to a novel which later became a blockbuster film featuring a certain giant shark.

Cover art by Frank Giusto.

LAIR OF THE SPIDERY FIEND!

Ready for some "Weird, Spooky and Supernatural Stories"? Well, Ace Comics delivered them in spades. This issue of THE BEYOND, besides some pretty good stories, has some of the craziest horror titles yet. The Lou Cameron cover is a winner.

THE BEYOND

Vol. 1 No. 20

May 1953

Ace Magazines (Ace Comics)

Editor: ?

Cover: Lou Cameron

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"Prophecy of the Black Dream"

Script: ?

Art: Ken Rice

"Horde of the Faceless"

Script: ?

Art: Mike Sekowsky?

"Lair of the Spidery Fiend"

Script: ?

Art: Dick Beck

"Calling All Ghouls"

Script: ?

Art: Chic Stone