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Published by: IDW Publishing / Yoe Books
Released on: Oct. 8, 2014
Writers: various, but not credited (unknown)
Artists: various
Cover: A.C. Hollingsworth
Purchase at Amazon
Haunted Horror celebrates issue “unlucky number 13†with a fresh (sort of) batch of reprinted stories from the pre-comics code horror books that gagged the stands in the 1950s. Enjoy this issue's outing of short stories, sometimes with a horror host paving the path. With a cover taken from Eerie #10 (not the Warren Publication title), this latest issue does what all the others do: fill the reader with unbridled glee, unless you hate old horror comics. If that's the case, you have no soul.
“City of Fearful Night†from Worlds of Fear #2 (1952); art by Bernard Baily. A man misses his plane and hops a train, only to be ushered of the train by a woman…who turns out to be a skeleton. In fact, skeletons are all over the place, as he's stuck somewhere between Earth and the afterlife. He learns that this place is where people who have suffered an untimely death go to live out the rest of their time until the Grim Reaper is ready for them. He knows they are wrong in harassing him, as he is not dead. He learns why that is in a lame little twist spotted a mile away. A longer story than the average at 11 pages, it also houses some the goofiest looking skeletons in clothing this reader has ever had the joy of witnessing.
“The Face In the Shroud†from Weird Terror #11 (1954); art by Don Heck. A married couple enjoys a hobby of interacting with spirits through trances, but things go wrong when a ghost come through the veil and kills the husband. Turns out the dead hubby's business partner killed they guy, and the dead guy gets his revenge from the grave with the help of his still-alive wife. Good little tale that's been told countless times, but a fun version for sure.
“The Screaming Skulls†from The Unseen #12 (1953); art by Gene Fawcette. This one-pager is about a family haunted by screaming skulls due to a bad thing ol' dad did.
“Death a la Carte†from Mister Mistery #1 (1951); art by Mike Esposito. Horror host alert: Mister Mistery (sic) brings the reader along on this one. George Phillips, resident at the local loony bin, hates food. He can't eat it; food drives him nuts. Upon explaining why to his the psychiatrist, the reader learns that George was given guardianship over his “poor idiotic†cousin Dennis, who was left with $100,000. And guess who the money goes to if dumb Dennis dies? Yep…George. And his hottie lady friend wants to get married but can't without that money. He does what any rotten person in a degenerate horror comic would do and Dennis gets him back from beyond the grave.
“The Paper Ghost†from Beware #6 (1953); art by John Belfi and Al Tyler. In what is one of the best tales in this month's bunch, the co-owner of a paper mill, Jack Banton, pushes his partner into a vat of acid. The victim's dying words as he melted into fluid were “AIIEEEE! I'll get you murdererrrr…â€, and get the murderer he does. Dead partner Joe Russell's goopy remains are mixed in with the pulp used to make the next big batch of paper and that pulp is used in all kinds of items. These are items that bastard Banton sees as menacing and they all over the place: from a paper jam at the mill, to newspapers that attack, to a paper cup with hands that tries to kill him. Beware's publisher was decades ahead of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force creators in the cup-with-hands genre.
“The Fifth Corpse†from The Unseen #14 (1954); art by Rocco Mastroserio. Nick Mangoti is a hitman with no short term memory. He gets hired to kill his four friends in crime and soon afterward loses his mind. He can't remember anything, not even his own name. A visit to the doctor sends the doc running away in fear, and when Mangoti sees why, he figures it out for himself. He remembers what bullet holes in the chest means to a person's well-being.
“The Collector†from Chamber of Chills Magazine #17 (1953); art by Joe Certa. Thaddeus Stevens is a rich man who enjoys killing, stuffing, and collecting animals. When he hears of some new rare specimens in the Upper Ubangi country, he heads off to kill some new trophies. A mysterious body of water he stumbles upon turns out to be a pool that produces a doppelganger of sorts of whatever creature submerges in it. That includes humans, which is expected, and his own double is just as sadistic as he is but a lot nastier looking. And his doppelganger does what Thaddeus hadn't done: he bagged himself the ultimate trophy. Another great tale, made so by the art mostly.
“A Rose is a Rose†from Tomb of Terror #10 (1953); art by Al Eadeh. In what is probably the most violent of all the tales in Unlucky Number 13, an orphan boy with a high IQ is adopted by some selfish suburbanites who hear about his love for plants. They have prized roses and he can help with them. Well the boy is touched in the head, and thinks the roses cry when they are cut, and teaches his new parents a lesson when they poo-poo his claims. It's bloodless, but this one has child abuse, parricide, and some messed up dismemberment. Nice job, Harvey Comics…this is a far cry from Richie Rich. Al Eadeh's facial expressions are awesome and he really ups the insanity with the way he draws that nasty bitch of a mother. It's another great quickie that rounds out a pretty fantastic issue. Don't miss this one.
