Haunted Horror #9

Published by: IDW Publishing/Yoe Books
Writers: various
Artists: various
Cover: Norman Saunders
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IDW presents the ninth installment of Yoe Books' Haunted Horror series with select stories from various pre-code horror comics of the 1950s. Some stories from these (at the time) highly controversial comics range in quality right down to real clunker tales, but the staff at Yoe Books does a fine job in selecting pieces from this one and that one to assemble a collection of the finer things these lower profile books had to offer.

The cover this time around is by the amazing Norman Saunders of Mars Attacks trading card fame, and it is hands down the best cover so far in this series. According to the insides, it comes from the book Strange Stories From Another World #2 published in 1952. Angelo Torres provides a frontispiece with an issue intro from Haunted Horror's token (more like required) story teller/host Forelock the Warlock. As for the insides:

• “Ghosts From Mars” comes from the book Dark Mysteries, 1951, and drawn by Vince Napoli. Spaceships from Mars drop their ghosts down on Earthlings in the form of little green gooey skeleton things inside water sacks. With the help of his brother's ghost, a scientist figures out how to stop the sperm-like invasion. This one is really off-the-wall great. Someone had to have been sniffing toxins when they came up with this one.
• From Horror From the Tomb #1, The Gravedigger shows up to tell the tale “Absent-Minded Professor” (1951), drawn by Cal Massey and Jack Abel. Sexy co-ed Janice hooks up with her professor, who seems to be incredibly accident prone, and impervious to pain. He doesn't even notice things like slamming his hand on a car door and smashing his bones. But the asshole chokes a dog to death, so he deserves his fate and the dumb chick who doesn't stop him deserves whatever she gets.
• “Return of the Ghoul”, drawn by Iger Shop, comes from Journey Into Fear #15 printed in 1953. Long-dead Amos Thackeray returns from the grave as little more than a skeleton with eyeballs and a toupee, looking to do nothing more than to fit back in with society. If only he could find some fake skin…
• “The Survivors”, from Tomb of Terror #6, 1952; drawn by Joe Certa. A group of scientists are awoken from a hyper- sleep to find Earth in the future is inhabited by only monsters. A quick injection of some serum gets one of the monsters speaking English, but the serum seems to have a different effect on the humans, more specifically the last human on the planet.
• “Arise, O Undead Druids”, illustrated by Lin Streeter in The Beyond #22, 1953. A rich-dick coal mine owners pays off the safety inspector and continues to make his guys work in the mine, despite the gas leaks and the weakened support beams. A massive explosion opens up a long sealed tunnel that leads to treasure and death for the shady mine owner.
• “Horror-Go-Round”, the cover story, hails from 1952's Strange Stories from Another World #2 (like the cover does), and is drawn by Bob McCarty. Two unhealthily close brothers discover a merry-go-round created by an old man, a merry-go-round that features not horses, but gargoyles. One of the creatures resembles someone they know who died in a car crash recently. Hmmm…

While not overtly graphic in the violence department in this installment, these comics still have a serious creep factor due directly to the artwork. Some monsters look goofy (The Survivors), but some look just nasty (Arise O Undead Druids). The zombie looking for skin in “Return of the Ghoul” is a bit silly looking with his crop of blonde hair, but it's forgivable because the tale is a fun one. In the end he's got a “fuck this shit” outlook on modern society and goes right back to his worm-infested hole in the ground.

As usual, Haunted Horror is nothing but 100 percent enjoyable. Yes, this reader is biased, without a doubt. That doesn't mean the book is any less awesome. It's great to see these lesser celebrated titles and creators getting some exposure to a new audience. Maybe if we're lucky we'll see some of the black-and-white 60s and 70s horror mags like Creepy and Eerie that have some great stuff to offer. Stuff like the Skywald publications: Web of Horror, Psycho, and Scream…people at Yoe Books…get right on that