The new series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not the first time the "Teenage Witch" did horror...
... in 1972, she hosted her own series of horror stories told in the Archie "vein" as you can see in this never-reprinted terror-tale...
Now there's an ambiguous ending if ever I heard one...
In 1971, the Comics Code Authority loosened its' regulations regarding monsters, allowing limited use of "classic" creatures including vampires, werewolves, and zombies.
While DC and Marvel went monster-happy, unleashing new strips and several new titles, Archie Comics' response was this book with an unsual combination of horror writing, but Archie house-style art, which tended to conflict with the theme of the stories!
To be fair, writer Frank Doyle, penciler Dan DeCarlo, and inker Rudy Lapick tried their best with this tale from Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as Told by Sabrina #1 (1972), but it just doesn't work.
After two issues, the series was revamped (pun intended) into a more traditional title with non-cartoony art by Gray Morrow and associates, dropping Sabrina as the hostess.
It survived nine more issues.
Thanks so much for sharing this scan, it’s one of my favorite Archie stories! I read it in Double Digest #1 as a kid. Kinda corny, but it was definitely a unique spin on Archie comics’ usual slapstick routine.
ReplyDeleteI had this and the second issue. Caught me by surprise in that the stories were legitimately scary, especially the one about the cameo. They kind of reminded me of "Night Gallery", which was on the air at the time.
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