TOMB OF TERROR "Rose is a Rose"

Though EC is considered the "gold standard" of horror comics...

...Harvey Comics (yes, the guys who did Richie Rich and Casper) gave them a run for their money.

Penciled by Al Eadeh, and probably inked by both Eadeh and John Prentice, this tale of gruesome gardening from Tomb of Terror #10 (1953) is a classic example of tasteless irony.

And, isn't that exactly what you'd want from a horror comic story?

CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY AS TOLD BY SABRINA "Boy Who Cried Vampire"

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.

GHOST COMICS "Face in the Shroud"

It's been a while, boy fiends and ghoul friends...

..but during the season when ghouls and goblins dominate pop culture, we felt it was time to rise up out of the coffin and tell a few sordid stories!

As horror stories go, this tale from Fiction House's Ghost Comics #8 (1953) is fairly mild, but the art by the underrated Bill Benulis and Jack Abel has a couple of kool "camera angles" and storytelling tricks that other artists of the period like Alex Toth and Ross Andru were also experimenting with.

The writer's name has been lost to the mists of time.

BTW, this tale was just reprinted (for the first time in over 60 years) in IDW's Haunted Horror, but was oddly attributed to Don Heck, even though the story is signed by Benulis and Abel in the first panel!

ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS "Frozen Death"

Here's a never-reprinted tale of a woman who could only survive in a frigid enviroment...

..so she'd feel right at home here in the US during the recent Polar Vortex weather experience!

Though the writer of this snow-bound story from Standard's Adventures into Darkness #14 (1954) is unknown, the artist is George Roussos, who penciled, inked, lettered, and colored this tale!

HORRIFIC "The Teller!"

A 1950s horror comic wasn't complete without a host, so...

...so here's a slew of them, along with their ringleader, the debonair Teller (no relation to Penn's silent partner)!

How many horror hosts narrate their own origin story?

While the writer for this never-reprinted scare-story from Comic Media's Horrific #8 (1953) is unknown, the art is by the extremely-underrated Don Heck, who did some of his best work for Comic Media's twin terror-titles Horrific and Weird Terror.

There's much more monsters and mayhem to come as we resurrect this moribund blog just in time for the Countdown to Halloween 2013 blogathon!

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ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN "World that Was"

Yesterday at Atomic Kommie Comics™...

...we ran a most unusual tale about a shunned outsider.

Today, we present the original version of that tale with the codicil that it may be NSFW due to politically-incorrect references to mental handicaps...

Appearing in ACG's Adventures into the Unknown #61 (1955), this tale was written by Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Landau with a number of changes by Ogden Whitney (the last three panels of page 2, all of page 3, and panel 1 of page 4!

Among other things, an entire plot point, involving a dead dog is changed into a "mistaken identity" story!

Strangely, the dead dog plot was restored in the Comics Code-approved reprint!

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Tell a Tale of Terror TWICE #1! SUSPENSE DETECTIVE "Short Step to Oblivion"

With the recent revelation that Fredric Wertham lied about comics' effects on kids...

...it seems appropriate to take a look at how his far-reaching deception altered pop culture as we know it!

BTW, most people (myself included) felt that Wertham exaggerated his claims, but altering/modifying evidence to validate his theories went over the line.

This pre-Comics Code tale appeared in Fawcett's Suspense Detective #1 (1952), illustrated by George Evans, but the writer is uncredited.

It seems to be a straightforward tale of mistaken identity and justice served with some violence mixed in, but nothing over-the-top, right?

Not according to the Comics Code Authority!

Tomorrow, check out our "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™ on Friday to see how the Code altered this story, which they considered too violent!

Join us next time as we present another tale your grandparents didn't want your parents to see!

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