Vintage Comics - Black Magic, Issue #2: The Scorn of the Faceless People, The Cheerful Old Lady in Black (Cover-Pg. 17)

Recall the classic episode of the Twilight Zone wherein a man is haunted by his dreams (okay...maybe there was more than one), and he sought aid from a doctor only for the woman of his dreams/nightmare to pursue him to his death. Then recall the one where the man traveled through time in his dream on a train. This first story seems to open like both, until it turns into a very peculiar bit of dream analysis. Some pretty fun imagery, and I'll admit it took me a bit by surprise. The second story uses one of my favorite tropes--death on a joyride.

Drive-in Trailers: Hospital Horror

I've been fortunate enough to never need surgery, but I think a vast majority of us have had to make a few trips to the hospital for one reason or another, and it's never fun. But imagine how much worse it would be if you were dealing with serial killers, ghosts, or just plain crazy demons with their own idea of 'medicine'. This week I'd like to focus on hospital horror trailers, and if you find yourself sitting at home right now trying to fight a nasty case of the flu...please, get well soon.

Vintage Comics - Baffling Mysteries, Issue 5 : Volcano of Vengeance, The Phantom Snow Queen (Cover - Pg. 14)

I'm sure most of you have figured out by now that the main thing drawing me to some of these vintage comics tends to be the awesome cover art. This one, too, while gorgeous (just look at that awesome skirt) won me over with the cover alone, and what could possibly be one of the most ridiculous lines I've ever read. The Baffling Mysteries comics often fell victim to your typical walls of text you see with any visual medium that hasn't quite grasped the law of 'show, don't tell'. Wasn't surprised at all to realize they came from Ace comics, who also produced Hand of Fate (which I've posted here before as well.) The characters in this one practically narrate everything. I mean everything. Very much in the style of an ear play or radio drama. If it's dark, and the panel is painted dark, you'll be reminded by the character telling you that it's definitely dark; so on and so forth.

The first story focuses on South American goat-men gods. Or, as the rest of the world refers to them, Satyrs. There's plenty of color variation in the panels, but far too much text covering up the actual art. It seemed like as the stories progressed, the line art got a bit more rushed. There was potential with the goat-ment, and certainly a message about...archaeology and museums not being a bad thing, I guess. The second story in a far snowier setting has death skiing with a sort of urban legend twist to it. The best part about this comic is the art, really. The stories are just near-misses...but man, look at all those bright yellows!

Featured Fear: Thanatophobia (Fear of Death)

In this world, where the fortunate find themselves boxed away from reality, Thanatophobia (fear of death) is all too commonly nurtured, to the point that many people find themselves knocking on wood, tying every act to superstition, every fearful thought to the knowledge that some day we all become worm's meat.

Death is inescapable. Of the many great phobias out there, it is the one that will always capture you in the end, and for many, the very thought is so disturbing that often it seems to usher itself in that much quicker with the stress and obsession it seems to create in the victim. Nothing so typifies this fear being realized in such a literal sense as the knight's eternal struggle with death in Bergman's classic film, 'The Seventh Seal.' A brave man encountering death, denying his fears and at the same time meeting them head on with something as mundane as a game of chess. Bravery, in fact, is the best way to face any fear, isn't it?

The desire for immortality, the modern beautification and idealization of the vampire, our cultural obsession with an upcoming zombie apocalypse, the fact that if you ever bring death up in a general conversation you are pretty much guaranteeing that you're the buzzkill of the year. We are all afraid of death, to some degree. Even for those who deny it, those who obsess with it, those who pursue it. Instinct itself demands that this fear shall always and ever be a constant until the very last man or woman takes his or her very last breath.

More Superstitions, Bad Omens, and Old Wives Tales for Halloween

Halfway through the spook month already, and my how time flies. Let's get a bit more into the spirit with some superstitious safety tips to keep you safe from ghosts, umbrellas, witches, vampires, and moths.

C'mon, bra! Let me in...

- Close a dead man or woman's eyes immediately, or they'll find someone to take with them.

- Keep moths out of the house if it looks like they want in, and keep them in if they want out...they're looking for a soul to steal.

- Never take a photo with only 3 people, and if you do...make sure you're not the one in the middle, because you may di-...uh-oh...

- Poirot probably would have known this little tidbit, but keep an eye on all umbrellas in the house. If one of them falls, there very well may be a murder!

Don't let those innocent smiles fool you. Nose eaters, every last one of them!

- Ancient Romans believed witches and vampires liked to come into dead people's homes to do funny things with their bodies (like robbing, mutilating, and especially nose-eating.)

- A rooster crowing during the day, and not the appointed 'too early for any normal human being to wake up' time, is a sign of terrible luck. Maybe even approaching death.

- Numbers really piss ghosts off. Walk around one of them 9 times to get rid of the jerks.

Vintage Comics - Black Magic, Issue #1: Last Second of Life, The Woman in the Mirror (Cover-16)

My first impression when I looked at the Black Magic series was 'wow'. The art style is frankly excellent. Super Hero comic quality, in fact. I decided to do a little looking, and it turns out the series was made by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...so no wonder the quality is so good. Seeing as the series started in the 50s, too, it's a bit later than most of the comics I've featured so far. In fact, reading this, I grew a little irritated just thinking about how difficult it can be to find good (old) horror comics at the shops I've been to. Usually you'll find gems like this tucked into the back of a 'Misc.' box, or beneath a stack of comics nobody has bothered to sort yet.

The stories in Black Magic are classic ones, the kind we've seen in many forms for decades on shows and in books. The first one features a man with little respect for death, and even less for the dying. He decides to seek the knowledge of things beyond life best left unknown. The second story proves a point I made in yesterday's article...that mirrors are downright evil, and old ones are even worse.