Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 14: The House of Mystery #297 and #315

The cover of The House of Mystery (October 1981) was done by Joe Kubert for DC Comics. This issue features chapter five of the "I...Vampire" series titled "Zen Flesh! Zen Bones!" Other chilling stories include "Beat the Devil" and "The Idols of Millons". This issue "Cain's Game Room" is about what happens when a princess kisses a mutated frog. Interesting ads includes BubbleYum (now in six flavors), Hostess Cup Cakes presents Batman in "Lights...Camera...Crime!", Life Savers sleeping bag, Olympic Sales Club (sell seven items for Huffy Motocross Bike or seventy-five items for a Magnavox Solid State Portable TV) and Magnum 440 race set from Tyco. This issue has one page devoted to "Cain's Mail Room".

Michael Kaluta did the cover for The House of Mystery #315 (April 1983) and features an untitled "I...Vampire" tale. The other chilling tales includ "The Accusing Hand!" and "The Highest Court in the Land!" Cain and Abel in "Abel Finds Work!" is a one page funny strip. Interesting ads include four tokens for free MPC kits, TSR's "Dungeons & Dragons", half page ad for Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists" from Sea Gate Distributors (shown is two covers featuring Shining Knight by Frank Frazetta), BubbleYum presents "Behind the Candy Counter" one page strip, subscription offer of DC Comics featuring a full figure of the Warlord, a subscription offer for The Omega Men and Atari. A small black and white picture of Brooke Shields reading a Superman comic is featured on the "Meanwhile..." news page. This issue features one and a fourth pages devoted to "Cain's Mail Room" (the other three fourths is dedicated to DC Coming Comics and the cover to Amethyst #1 on sale February 3rd).

This wraps up the coverage of The House of Mystery horror comics that I have in my collection. Several were bought at a yard sale (hence the writing on the covers like #315). They were not common comics found at the local grocery stores where I was buying my comics at the time or I would have bought more.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 13: The House of Mystery #293 and #296

Michael Kaluta did the cover for The House of Mystery #293 (June 1981) for DC Comics. The chilling tales include "Henson's Pooch" (one of my favorites), "The Senior Sin" and the "I...Vampire" series continues with chapter three titled "The Burning!" Interesting ads include Fun Factory (own fake vampire blood for $1.50 and x-ray vision see thru glasses for $1.95), BubbleYum, Grit, Superman Club, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Superman in "Gold Mine Rescue", Life Savers Sweepstakes (win a year's supply of candy and lollipops) and Johnson Smith Company (own spy pen radio for only $3.75 and a ventriloquist dummy for $3.49).

The House of Mystery #296 (September 1981) cover was done by Carmine Infantino and Joe Orlando (their initials are found at the lower right hand corner). The chilling tales include "Night Watch", "Work for the Dying", "Killed in the Ratings" and "New Hope". Ads of interest includes Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents "Wonder Woman Versus the Robot Master", Life Savers sleeping bag, free Attack of the Mutants game when you send two dollars for catalog to Yaquinto Publications and half page ad for Superman II movie magazine.

Both issues features "Cain's Mail Room" but the second has only half a page of letters.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 11: The House of Mystery #284 and #288

The cover art of The House of Mystery #284 (September 1980) and #288 (January 1981) were done by Michael Kaluta. The first horror comic features "Ruby", "The King and the Dragon", "Friends to the End" and "Deadly Peril at 20,000". An ad featuring Batgirl in "A Matter of Good Taste" promotes Hostess Twinkies. The second horror comic features "The Piper at the Gates of Hell", "Blood on the Sand" and "When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead!" Cain has a one page of gags that features more do's and don'ts for monsters. A Hostess Fruit Pies ad presents "The Flash Meets the Bureauc-Rat". Both issues have a one page Cain's Mail Room filled with letters.