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Published by: IDW Publishing
Released on: Dec. 11, 2013
Writers: various
Artists: various
Cover: Bernard Baily (from Weird Mysteries #5, 1953)
IDW continues its run of Yoe Books' Haunted Horror series with select stories from various pre-code horror comics of the 1950s. As is with any successful entertainment format, the comics of Bill Gaines' EC horror line inspired a number of other ambitious publishers to emulate the formula. Collected here are stories plucked from a number of different publications put out by a number of different publishers, all as nasty and all as evil as ever, and in full color. Let's get to it.
“Death's Beggar†(from Strange Stories from Another World #2, 1952) with art by Sheldon Moldoff: a Salem witch keeps young by stealing a girl from town every 50 years. When she takes the fiancé of young buck Peter Braack, instead of saving her he bargains her life away with the witch in a deal to keep him young as well. What could go wrong?
“The Uninvited†(from Beware #14, 1953), story by Richard Kahn with art by Al Gordon: a humble painter is launched into a gladiator arena with species from all the planets in the galaxy. His desire to get back to Earth after his big win isn't exactly the reward he was hoping for.
“Trophies of Doom†(from Adventures Into Darkness #11, 1953) with art by Nick Cardy: Paulo is an ax man, one who relishes his work. After executing someone, he hangs their head in his cozy house as his trophy. His instant love for a total stranger isn't returned by her and things don't end well for her. His guilt gets the better of him as do the inhabitants of his abode.
“The Unsleeping Dead†(from The Beyond #23, 1953), art by Lou Cameron: An American horror movie filmmaker steals a camera that can reveal the identity of a murderer, simply by filming the victim's grave. Fate plays its game and for a split second he probably wishes the evil camera didn't exist.
“All the King's Men†(from Amazing Ghost Stories #15, 1954), art by Bob Powell: a fugitive wanted for murder flees for Haiti, where he learns of buried gold left by the only king Haiti ever had, and who was a horrible man. And guess what? Voodoo gives him a swift kick to the nutsack.
“Fate of Alberto†(Tales of Horror #12, 1954), art by Ellis Eringer: a love-hungry old witch gives her powers up to save a man who's using her for her knowledge of black magic, and is killed by him as a “thank youâ€. Her witch sisters don't take it sitting down and grant him his one true desire: to be the highest man on Earth.
As you can imagine, the book is a blast, with “Trophies of Doom†and “Death's Beggar†being this reader's favorites. All the stories have some sort of moral, slightly hidden or overtly blatant, but it's mainly all about rotten people getting what they deserve, and in spades. The artists did well to cram in all sorts of evil into the small panel format of the time, and some of the splash pages are really nice. The elements of horror are effective enough, but it's all about the gruesomeness: decapitations, stabbings, vicious rats, melting flesh, and giant talking ants. These stories deliver the gut punch and make quick work of it, making this a fast read that should satisfy the horror comic craving in one way or another. These old horror comics are the best.
