Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 15: The House of Secrets #147 and House of Secrets #3

Gray Morrow did the cover for The House of Secrets #147 (August/September 1977) for DC Comics. Abel the caretaker tries his hand at fixing the roof while vultures watch. The chilling tales include "A Gift of Evil" and "The See-Through Thief". "Abel's Fables" is a one page feature that gives a twist on the princess kissing a frog. Interesting ads includes three free baseball cards on Hostess treats, Daisy BB rifle, the Official Star Trek Poster Magazine, Crazy Crabs, the new Doom Patrol appearing in Showcase #94, a half page subscription ad, a half page Swamp Thing Saga ad, Five Star Superhero Spectacular (featuring Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Atom), one hundred toy soldier set in footlocker for only $1.75 and Sea World (featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin on waterskis). This issue also features rules on entering the Great Superman Movie Contest. "The House of Secrets Speaks" is one page full of letters. The "Daily Planet" featured is volume 77, issue 20 with "Metal Men Vs. Dr. Strangeglove" as the main headline.


The House of Secrets #3 (December 1996) is the reboot of the series from Vertigo and features the third part of "Foundation". I am not too crazy about the art by Teddy Kristiansen, who also did the cover. Interesting ads include Mythos: The Final Tour, Preacher Special: The Story of You-Know-You and Millenium tv series.

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 12: The House of Mystery #290 and #291

Joe Kurbert did the covers for The House of Mystery #290 (March 1981) and #291 (April 1981) for DC Comics. The first comic features the start of "I...Vampire" written/created by J.M DeMatteis and drawn by Tom Sutton. Other chilling tales include "An Exercise in Fear" and "Special Deffects". There is also a one page "Cain's Game Room" that features Fifi the witch turning a prince into a mouse instead of a mouse. Ads include Sea-Monkeys, Hostess Cup Cakes presents Wonder Woman and The Baron, Creature Creations posters from Canopus One and an half page ad for Mystery In Space.

The House of Mystery #291 features "Night of the Living Undead" (chapter two of the "I...Vampire" series, "A Cardboard Hero", a two page "Cain in the House of Mystery" and "The Seas Run Red!" Interesting ads in this issue features BubbleYum (now in wild cherry, tropical punch and grape), a half page offer to join the Superman Fan Club, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Wonder Woman in "Old Gold" and Sea-Monkeys.

Both issues have Cain's Mail Room full of letters from fans.

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.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 10: The House of Mystery #282

The cover artist for The House of Mystery #282 (July 1980) was Joe Kubert, who is best known for his work on Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. The first page features Cain and boy editor, Len Wein. The chilling tales are "The Lady Killer Craves Blood", "I'm Off To My Funeral" and "Some Place Where The Sun Don't Shine". The funny one pager is "Cain's Game Room".

Interesting ads found in The House of Mystery #282 include Hubba Bubba (I remember liking this gum too when it first came out), O.J. Simpson hawking Spot-bilt autographed shoes, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presenting the Flash in "A Flash in the Dam", promo for Wonder Woman #269, BubbleYum Wild Cherry, The Black Hole MPC models, historic wargames from Atlantic Products, Superman Fan Club and DC Stars stamps. The stamps features characters that would be appearing as back up features in other comics such as Adam Strange in Green Lantern and the Huntress in Wonder Woman. Other features included Cain's Mail Room and Daily Planet volume 80, number 15.

"The Computers That Saved Metropolis" is the extra twenty-eight page bonus comic included with this issue and teams Superman with two kids using Radio Shack TRS-80 computers against Major Disaster.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 9: Ghosts #102

The cover of Ghosts #102 (July 1981) from DC Comics promises a new Dr. 13, the Ghost-Breaker adventure. The first page is actually a one pager from The Files of Dr. Geist (pictured below) dealing with a haunted fun house in the Joyland Amusement Park. The first chilling tale is "One Last Kiss" about a lady killer's victims seeking justice from beyond the grave. A one page story from The Files of Dr. Geist comes next and is titled "Specter In Silver" (pictured below). The next chilling tale is "The Truth According To Nina" that deals with a woman's father seeking to protect her and get revenge on his murderer. Finally, Dr. 13, the Ghost-Breaker investigates "The Fine Art of Haunting" in Chicago's Stillman Museum.

Interesting ads inside Ghosts #102 include BubbleYum (I remember chewing this), Kung-Fu course, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Plastic Man in "Gold For Dessert" and 100 Toy Soldiers packed in footlocker for only $1.98. I actually ordered these toy soldiers and was disappointed that they were flat plastic that broke easily.



Note: Ghosts #95 and #102 are the only issues that I have of this horror anthology series from DC Comics.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 8: Ghosts #95

Ghosts #95 (December 1980) features four haunting tales from DC Comics. The cover features Dr. 13, the Ghost-Breaker (pictured below). The issue opens with a one pager titled "Ghosts and the Supernatural" (pictured below) that writes about the special bond that children have with spirits. The first tale is "The Man Who Lost His Spirit" that actually starts with editor Jack Harris sending writer George Kashdan out to Gurney Castle, which is supposed to be haunted but no one has ever seen a ghost before. The second tale is "Spectral Bullets Cannot Kill!" about a hitman with a cursed gun. Next up is a one page funny strip titled "The Victim" (pictured below). The second tale is "The Labyrinth Trap" about what happens with two longtime friends that becomes rivals over a pretty girl. Another one page funny strip titled "Mr. Invisible Mann" follows (pictured below). The final tale features Dr. 13, the Ghost-Breaker investigating a haunted theater in "All the Stage is a Haunt".

Ghosts #95 features an ad for Masquerade Make-up Kits (pictured below) under the Grit ad. Other interesting ads includes Saturday morning line up on ABC (Super Friends, Happy Days Gang, Scooby and Scrappy Doo, Richie Rich, Heathcliff and Dingbat, Plastic Man, Thundarr the Barbarian, ABC's Weekend Specials and American Bandstand), Sea-Monkeys and a Hostess Cupcakes ad featuring Wonder Woman and The Baron. The back cover features a free autographed photo of O.J. Simpson from Dingo boots.