Chilling Tales 15 Pre-code Horror Comic Book from Youthful Comics 1953

Chilling Tales 15 Pre-code Horror Comic Book from Youthful Comics 1953.

Today we are looking at a facsimile of issue number 15 of Chilling Tales pre-code horror comic book From Youthful Comics originally published in April of 1953. One of the things that I love about this comic book is the great Matt Fox cover.
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Fantastic Pre-code Comics Artist Matt Fox

If you’re not familiar with Matt Fox, he started off doing really fantastic covers for Weird Tales pulp magazine and you can still find those. I see them occasionally on eBay and they’re not cheap but they are really quite spectacular. Some of my favorite Weird Tales covers are from Matt Fox and he ended up doing a few covers for Chilling Tales. This is one of them. I love his primitive art style. It’s iconic. You know Matt Fox right off the bat when you see his art, it’s something quite unique. Comic book ad: 333 all different exciting and unusual stamps only 25 cents, wow! The most famous stamp ever issued, the sensational Goya nude. I’ve never seen that one up close and personal, fantastic.

Chilling Tales 15 Contents

We begin with the Hounds of Hell by Harry Harrison. Yes, that is the same Harry Harrison the science fiction writer famous for the Stainless Steel Rat and Make Room, Make Room.  The latter was made into a film called Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston. This is the very same Harry Harrison doing the art and story for this the Hounds of Hell.
Next up we have a story called The Monster drawn by Harry Kiefer. Then, a two-page text story called The Phantom of the Opera. Here we have Curse of the Tomb with pencils by Joe Galoti and inks by Lang. A crude yet effective splash page. Last on the list is a story called Sacrifice by Vince Napoli.
Comic book ad: The most Sensational all-metal electric spray gun ever invented! Champion for only 12.95 or a dollar weekly!

Chilling Tales 15 Matted Print Error

There you have it folks, Chilling Tales issue number 15 from April 1953. My favorite thing about this issue is the Fantastic Matt Fox cover. When I bought this facsimile, it also came with an oversized matted print of the cover from Bud plant. P.S art books has this combo deal where you buy the facsimile and you get an oversized matted print of the cover. The reproduction is absolutely spot on but there’s a little bit of a problem.  On the bottom of these matted prints that they have they typically give you the info such as “Chilling Tales number 15 with the publisher and the artist. Unfortunately, they have Star Publications listed as the publisher but it’s not Star Publications. Chilling Tales was published by Youthful Comics.

I contacted PS art books and I said “Hey guys, you’ve got a little screw up here with the credit to Star Publications when it should be Youthful. They got back to me and said that they would correct it and send me a new print with the correction. It’s been almost a year so I don’t doing a correction and it appears that they really give a damn. I hope you enjoyed this look at Chilling Tales number 15 from April 1953 and as always please like And subscribe.

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Jim Steranko COMIXSCENE 3-ALL HORROR Comics Issue-March 1973 Supergraphics-PART ONE

Jim Steranko COMIXSCENE 3-ALL HORROR Comics Issue-March 1973 Supergraphics-PART ONE

comixscene 3 horror comics issueJim Steranko’s Comix Scene issue number three, March 1973, the all horror issue.  Comixscene was Jim Steranko’s publication through Supergraphics and it lasted six issues from 1972 to 1973 before becoming Mediascene.   Mediascene picked up with issue number seven in 1973 and went until 1979. In 1980, Steranko launched Preview Magazine. Preview ran from 1980 to 1994.
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Contents of Comixscene Number Three

Comixscene #3 showcases the faces of fear from the thrilling 30s to the scary 70s.  Werewolves, monsters, vampires, ghouls, zombies, the unliving and the undead. The horror characters and comics of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I’ll wait to greet you on the pages inside. Plus more news, reviews, and articles than ever before! Special feature: Frogs – a nightmarish Parable told an exciting new comic format.
Steranko creates his first story in three years. A way-out experiment in form and content equal to an eight-page comic story. Enjoy!

First Man on Mars!

Just a reminder friends: my film First man on Mars is new on Blu-Ray loaded with extras and a chance for you to win one of two movie props used in the film! Please visit my website Horror Anthology Movies for further details. This blog is not monetized so any purchase you make helps keep the site alive. Thank you for your patronage.

Jim Steranko Introduction to Comixscene 3

Comixscene was definitely much more text oriented than Mediascene which we will be looking at in future episodes. That being said, the info inside is invaluable. In the editorial, Steranko begins by saying, “Take a good look around you and you’ll have to agree with this: horror comics are here to stay. The same trend that surfaced in the 1950s and 1960s has manifested itself again. This time more firmly entrenched in all popular media than ever.”

Comixscene contents

On the right side of the page, we have future histories of comics planned and a list of Super Graphics products you can order. On the right hand column are all staranko’s books including the History of Comics number two, a fantastic Steranko encyclopedia of superheroes.
Get all three books for seven dollars and fifty cents, folks!

Horror Comics and Comix on the Newsstand

Horror on the newsstand! We’re looking at Marvel, DC, and Indie Comics that had hit the newsstands in early 1973. I love that he starts off with an image of Richard Corbin’s FANTAGOR and he talks about it. It’s very interesting because the magazine is called Comixscene with an X and there’s always that talk of what’s the difference between Comics c-o-m-i-c-s versus comic c-o-m-i-x.

The Difference Between Comics and Comix

richard-corbenI think Richard Corbin sums it up very well in this quote. “There are all kinds of differences between the regular comics and the underground Comics. The first underground horror books were tongue-in-cheek parodies of old EC’S. Even now, most of the stories have a humorous intent. The most obvious differences to the Casual Observer are that the undergrounds are mostly black and white.

The artwork is sometimes amateurish and there is an emphasis on everything that is forbidden to the regular Comics. The Underground stories are usually creations of an individual and can be good or bad but are usually uneven. The overgrounds are assembly line efforts and are not good or bad but always even.”

Horror Comics in the Spotlight

Let’s take a look at some issues. As I said Fantagor, you have Swamp Thing on the scene, Vault of Evil, Werewolf by Night. I believe that is issue number six of Tomb of Dracula introduces Blade the Vampire Slayer. DC is on the scene with House of Mystery and House of Secrets and then of course we have Marvel with Supernatural Thrillers Issue 4 and issue number five which feature the Living Mummy.

Cultism versus Consumerism

bill-everettThere is a nice little obituary on the great Bill Everett by Steranko. Some book reviews here. Cheap Thrills an informal history of Pulp magazines by Ron Goulart. The golden days of fanzines. You have to love it. They mention Graphic story World which was very hot. Funny World was another really high-end fanzine.

Next is a very interesting article by Byron Priest called Cultism versus Consumerism. “The analysis in this article is based upon an association with the comics industry. It is not meant to be construed as the result of methodical research. Where do you buy your Comics? A candy store? All right, where else? A drugstore? Fine. A supermarket? Okay. Now let’s change just one word in our question. Where do you buy your comics with an X? The answers change too a head shop, a record store, and of course, through the mail. Comics and Comix. The difference is much more than just two letters and more than just the presence or absence of censorship. It’s a whole concept of cultism versus consumerism.

Comics and Comix Production and Distribution

The limited run Comics as opposed to the mass-produced superbooks of Madison Avenue. Comics are produced in the hundreds of thousands. Few Comix Reach This level. The companies behind the comix are growing ambitious and enterprising yet commercially impotent. There are many such Publishers currently in the business. Ripoff press, Apex, Print mint, La comics, and the crop comic works as well as a large number of Easy Come Easy Go outfits who spring up periodically. Unfortunately for these young entrepreneurs their main business Outlet continues to be mail order oriented. Small head shops from Boston to Milwaukee to Los Angeles send in requests for certain amounts of certain titles or large quantities of an entire line of comics and receive their order in the mail. With the Advent of Skull, Young Lust and Fantagor comix, undergrounds are moving towards some regularity in the frequency of publication but as a whole they are still sporadically released.”
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END PART ONE
Thank you for reading and be sure to bookmark Ghost Clinic for more horror comics articles and videos!

Bare Bones Magazine 2021-Web Terror Tales Spicy Caroline Munro

Bare Bones Magazine 2021 Featuring Web Terror Tales And Spicy Caroline Munro Ads

Today we are looking at Bare Bones quarterly issue number six spring of 2021 published by Cimarron Street books.
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bare-bones-magazine-web terror tales caroline munro

Bare Bones Magazine Content

On the cover it states “Bare Bones magazine: unearthing vintage forgotten and overlooked horror, mystery, sci-fi, Western, and weird in film, paperbacks, Comics, Pulp Fiction, and video.”
In the table of contents we have “The overlooked Library” by Don Diamassa and Moon of the Wolf by Matthew Bradley.  The annotated guide to Web Terror stories by Peter Infantino and a British horror Anthology Series by David a Sutton.  Then get ready for the spicy Caroline Munro Lamb’s Navy rum campaign by John Scolari and digging into crime digests by Richard Krauss.
S. Craig Zahler rounds things out with 10 quick takes including a look at Lovecraft fiction.
On page 75 we have the Outer Limits on home video by Craig Beam and on page 91 “Sleaze Alley” followed by R and D by David Xiao.

Web Terror Stories Pulp Digest

web-terror-storiesA great article by Peter Infantino called “Mistress of the putrefying Lash: the complete and unedited look at the sleazy world of web Terror stories.” Not only does Infantino go issue by issue but he breaks down the issues with all of the stories Within which is fantastic. Web Terror Stories was a 1960’s pulp digest and men’s adventure magazine published by Candar Publishing company, featuring many scantilly clad damsels in distress. The pulp digest began as Saturn, a science-fiction magazine, became Web Detective Stories, then upped the ante with stories tinged with bondage and S&M in Web Terror Stories.
Next up we have the “Pipes of pan and its dark voices” horror Anthology Series in Britain by David a Sutton.

Spicy Caroline Munro Ads

caroline-munro-lambs-rumCaroline Munro joins the Lamb’s Navy! An in-depth report on Caroline Munro’s various spicy ads for Lamb’s rum written by John Scolari very well done very in-depth with a ton of photos of course they are in black and white but for the most part they’re well reproduced.

Lovecraft and The Outer Limits

Craig Zahler contributes to this issue with 10 quick takes reviews of various books including the Doom that came to Sarnath and Other Stories by H.P Lovecraft.
“I am controlling transmission.” Collecting the Outer Limits on home video by Craig Beam. There is a nice ad for The Outer Limits on VHS for only 19.95. This is a very in-depth article covering the outer limits home video VHS offerings. They also present some color images from the outer limits Home Video Collection.

Classic Sleaze Alley Paperback Covers

Sleaze Alley reviews by Peter Infantino and great great covers here which are appropriately sleazy including the illustration for “Sin Cult” by Bruno Descasari.
On page 99 we have David Schow with a very interesting article about the Twilight Zone magazine which ran for 60 issues from 1981 to 1989.
In the back of the book we have the Bios page for all of the contributors in this issue.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Bare Bones issue number six for spring of 2021. I highly recommend Bare Bones magazine, it is very well done. If you’re interested in the subject of unearthing vintage forgotten and overlooked horror, mystery, sci-fi, Western, and weird film paperbacks, Comics, Pulp Fiction, and video, you should really check out Bare Bones Magazine.
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HAUNTED THRILLS Archive Video PART TWO: Unedited Interview with Everett Raymond Kinstler

HAUNTED THRILLS Archive Video Part Two: Pre-Code HORROR COMICS Master Everett Raymond Kinstler
Doing art for Avon, Ziff Davis, Western Printing in the 1950s.
Unedited archive video of my interview with pre-code horror comics master and illustrator Everett Raymond Kinstler.

Norm Saunders Pulp and Pre-code Artist Extraordinaire

It is impossible to talk about pre-code horror comic books and not mention the great Norman Saunders (1907-1989).
His contributions to the pulp magazines and comics of the 20th century are substantial, and he was one of the few artists who painted covers for comic books as seen with Strange Stories from Another World and Unknown World.
Saunders also created many of the great scenes for Topps’ MARS ATTACKS trading cards.
strange stories from another world horror comic book