"Monsters of Another Time" (St. John;1953)

Wow, breaking in another neat thriller from St. John Publishing's Strange Terrors #6 (Jan.1953) today, and it is the second story in a row that identifies the artist and it's the very same guy who drew this issues classic cover, Albert Tyler.

I'm going to resist the temptation to glance ahead and see if the next story in the queue reveals the creator too and that will be pretty tough, since it will actually be a few days before we get to that one. Drat!

This classic takes place in the great state of North Dakota. Now, I've gotta tell you that since I was stationed at an Air Force base in that large prairie state for almost three years back in the early 1980's, and I never saw any stand of woods large enough for the two hunters in this spooky tale to encounter the "Monsters of Another Time" - I'm just saying.

Enjoy!

In Memorium: Johnny Sheffield

I just learned today that an old favorite of mine had passed away late last week, so the first family of the cinematic "jungle" has finally been united in the after life.

Johnny Sheffield, the former child actor who played “Boy” in the Tarzan movie series starring Johnny Weissmuller in the late 1930s and '40s and later starred as Bomba the Jungle Boy in a twelve film series, has died. Sheffield died last Friday of a heart attack after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree. He was 79 years old.

The curly haired Johnny Sheffield beat out more than 300 other youngsters for the role of Boy in the 1939 movie "Tarzan Finds a Son!," in which Tarzan and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan; pictured above-top with Weissmuller & Sheffield) wind up adopting the young child whose parents were killed in a plane crash in the jungle. Between 1939 & 1947, Sheffield played the loincloth-clad Boy in eight Tarzan films, including Tarzan's Secret Treasure, Tarzan’s New York Adventure, Tarzan Triumphs, Tarzan’s Desert Mystery, Tarzan and the Amazons, and Tarzan and the Leopard Woman.

After appearing in his final Tarzan film, Tarzan and the Huntress, in 1947, Sheffield landed the starring role in the 1949 film "Bomba the Jungle Boy," the first in a dozen low-budget Bomba (pictured; right) movies made at Monogram Pictures. Upon leaving Hollywood, he earned a business degree from UCLA and eventually went into real estate.

The Catacombs extends it deepest sympathies to his family, friends and fans.

"Wrath of Ra-Amun" (St. John;1953)

Turner Classic Movies has been running classic Hammer Studios Films on Friday's this month as part of their Halloween festival and last week they had a marathon of all four classic Hammer Horror "Mummy" films. Here's a pretty cool tale from Strange Terrors #6 (Jan.1953), originally published by St. John, that seems cut from the same cloth.

"Wrath of Ra-Amun", with fine art by Lou Cameron, casts the traditional mummy in a slightly different light. Much of the action is set in the ancient past, but there is a two-panel ending that leaps into the present.

Enjoy!

Icons of Horror: H.P. Lovecraft

As part of the Catacombs "Strange Terrors" celebration, here is the third of four weekly posts in my 2010 "Icons of Horror" series, with this years set focusing on popular or significant genre authors.

Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (1890-1937) was relatively unknown during his own lifetime despite his stories appearing in the pages of prominent pulp magazines such as Weird Tales, few people knew his name. However he was one of the great letter writers of the 20th century, corresponding regularly with other contemporary writers such as Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, Robert Bloch and Robert E. Howard; people who became good friends of his, even though they never met in person. This group of correspondents became known as the "Lovecraft Circle", since they all freely borrowed elements of Lovecraft's stories – the mysterious books with disturbing names, the pantheon of ancient alien gods, such as Cthulhu and Azathoth, and eldritch places, such as the New England town of Arkham and its Miskatonic University – for use in their own works (with Lovecraft's blessing and encouragement).

Lovecraft's guiding literary principle was what he termed "cosmicism" or "cosmic horror", the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with their own sanity. As early as the 1940s, Lovecraft's work had developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected tales featuring a pantheon of humanity-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon (a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore). His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the old values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christian humanism. Lovecraft's protagonists usually suffer the opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality and the abyss.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades, and he is now regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. According to Joyce Carol Oates, Lovecraft — as with Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century — has exerted "an incalculable influence on succeeding generations of writers of horror fiction". Stephen King has called Lovecraft "the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale”.

Literary historians believe that his fiction was informed by seminal events in his early life such as the syphilis-induced psychosis (and later death) of his father. His grandfather's death in 1904 greatly affected Lovecraft's life after mismanagement of his grandfather's estate left the family in such poor financial circumstances that they were forced to move into much smaller accommodations. Lovecraft was so deeply affected by the loss of his home and birthplace that he contemplated suicide for a time. A sickly child, Lovecraft is believed to have suffered from night terrors; he believed himself to be assaulted at night by horrific "night gaunts." Much of his later work is thought to have been directly inspired by these terrors.

H.P. Lovecraft’s works have also been widely adapted for radio, films, television and comic books. [Portrait illustration (above; left) by Bruce Timm].

"Carnival of Death" / "Back from the Dead" (St. John;1953)

We're hitting the halfway point with our run of "Strange Terrors" stories from St. John Publications golden age, classic issue of Strange Terrors #6 (Jan.1953) and once again the artists are unknown.

As you will see from the first of today's special double feature posts, editor Marion McDermott must have dipped into the company files for some filler stories to flesh out this 100 page comic. "Carnival of Death" has a cool title and all, but the protagonist is dressed like your basic bargain-basement, masked mystery man - without a spiffy alias to explain his manner of dress. This is why I'm treating you to a second feature today. "Back from the Dead" is a well drawn version of a ghostly tale that all of us have probably heard sitting around a camp fire at one time or another. Enjoy!

Hurry on back tomorrow for this weeks "Icons of Horror" selection.

Retro-View: Comix International #2 (Warren Publ.) + "The Ghost Light" (St. John; 1953)

In 1974, editor Bill DuBay added a new title to the line of black & white magazines published by Warren Communication. Comix International was a full-color magazine, however it merely served as a forum for reprinting earlier stories from various Warren publications. Comix International was a short-lived magazine, with only five annual issues published between 1974-1977 (although two issues were released in 1975) .

Issue #2 is a showcase of topnotch work from artists such as Richard Corben, Berni Wrightson, Reed Crandall, Wally Wood and Esteban Maroto. Some of the stories included were an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" by Richard Corben reprinted from Creepy #67 (December 1974). Corben also illustrated two additional tales in this issue. "Dracula: The Circus of King Carnival" from Vampirella #39 (January 1975) was written by Gerry Boudreau and illustrated in a somewhat psychedelic-style by Esteban Maroto (who also contributed another Dracula story); "The Manhunters" from Eerie #60 (September 1974) written by Gerry Boudreau and drawn by EC Comics great Wally Wood; "The Beast on Bacon Street" from Creepy #74 (October 1975) written by Budd Lewis and lovingly drawn by Reed Crandall and "The Muck Monster" by Bernie Wrightson from Eerie #68 (September 1975).

The inside back cover includes artist profiles of Corben, Crandall, Wood, Wrightson, and others. The cover of this issue is a montage of selected interior panels. With the addition of colorization, the series became a forum for re-presenting some of the best of Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella.

As a "Strange Terrors Month" bonus today, I am including a single page feature (above; top) from Strange Terrors #6 (Jan. 1953); "The Ghost Light" was originally published by St. John The writer/artist is unknown.

1980's "Movie" Flashback: Lifeforce

In the blink of an eye, the terror begins!

Lifeforce was a 1985 sci-fi horror film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby (based on the novel "The Space Vampires" by Colin Wilson, which was published in 1976). The film stars Steve Railsback as Col. Tom Carlsen, Peter Firth as Col. Colin Caine, Frank Finlay as Dr. Hans Fallada, the incredibly beautiful Mathilda May as the female Space Vampire, Michael Gothard as Dr. Bukovski and Patrick Stewart as Dr. Armstrong (two years before beginning his stellar run as “Capt. Jean-Luc Picard” in Star Trek: The Next Generation).

While investigating Halley's Comet, the British-American crew of the space shuttle Churchill discover a 150-mile long spaceship hidden in the coma of the comet. Upon entering the alien spacecraft, they find hundreds of dead and shriveled bat-like creatures and three nude humanoid bodies (two male and one female) held in suspended animation within glass coffin-like containers. The crew recovers the three aliens and begins a return trip to Earth, however Mission Control loses contact with the shuttle as it nears Earth and a rescue mission is sent to find out what happened on board.

The rescuers find the Churchill completely gutted by fire, with everyone on board dead, except for the three suspended animation cases bearing the aliens. All three are taken to London where they are watched over by Dr. Bukovski (Michael Gothard) and Dr Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay). Uncertain if the beings are actually alive, an autopsy of the female 'vampire' (Mathilda May) is scheduled, but she awakens and sucks the lifeforce out of a security guard and escapes the research facility – still fully nude. Dr. Fallada and Col. Colin Caine of the Special Air Service determine that the aliens are a race of space vampires that consume the “life force” from living beings by moving through various host bodies and then upload this energy to their mother ship.

Meanwhile an escape pod from the shuttle Churchill is located in Texas with Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) still alive. Carlson is quickly flown to London and he tells how his crew was also drained of their life force. To spare Earth from this fate, Carlsen himself set fire to the shuttle and escaped in the pod; however under hypnosis it is revealed that Carlsen has a psychic connection to the female alien. Carlsen and Caine therefore succeed in tracking the female alien to a hospital for the mentally disturbed, but then must heavily sedate the hospital's director, Dr Armstrong (Patrick Stewart), who is revealed to be possessed by the creature. Unfortunately this small victory was merely a trick to lure the pair away from London.

As Carlsen and Caine are transporting Dr. Armstrong back to London, the alien girl breaks free of his body and disappears. They soon arrive back in London where the two male vampires have also escaped from confinement and begun to transform most of London's population into zombies. Martial law has been enacted to prevent the spread of the plague; whose victims cycle into the living-dead every two hours and seek out the living, absorbing the life force from other victims. These people themselves become vampires and the transformation process repeats. This energy is being collected by the male vampires who direct it to the hidden female vampire who transfers it to the waiting spaceship in Earth's orbit.

Dr. Fallada impales one of the male vampires with a sword made of lead, surmising that the legends of vampires were drawn from a previous visit by this race. Carlsen admits to Caine that while on board the Churchill he felt compelled to open the female vampire's container and he shared his life force with her. Carlsen realizes that his psychic connection is being used to lure him back to the alien so that she can regain the life force she had shared with him. Caine follows Carlsen through swelling hordes of plague victims, and kills the second male vampire using the same lead sword he had obtained from Fallada (who had already succumbed to the plague).

Carlsen has Caine throw him the sword and he sacrifices himself, impaling the female alien and himself in the process. Wounded - but not fatally - the female vampire returns to her ship, taking Carlsen with her in a burst of energy that blasts off the top of the church building in which she had been hiding. The two ascend up the column of light into the spaceship, which then departs towards the comet in the last shot of the film.

Despite a $25 million dollar budget, Lifeforce earned disappointing box office returns going head-to-head against the 1985 Ron Howard sci-fi film, Cocoon. This was one of the most elaborate films ever produced by Golan-Globus and the film features an impressive pedigree of creative individuals such as director Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Salem’s Lot, Poltergeist), screenwriter O’Bannon (Alien, Heavy Metal, Blue Thunder, Return of the Living Dead), composer Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses) and it has excellent special visual effects by John Dykstra (Silent Running, Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), which still hold up very well in this age of computer-generated digital imagery.

Opinions remain mixed over Lifeforce, with some "know-it-alls" disparaging the film as being cheesy, with sub-par plotting, excessive nudity and one-note characters; but those of us who know better realize that this film is a spiritual descendant of classic 1960's & 1970's Hammer Films (like Quatermass and the Pit) and it is a good precursor to topnotch current BBC stuff like Torchwood & Doctor Who. The cast also elevates this film with Railsback and Firth in particular, turning in exceptional performances; plus the significant cameo by Patrick Stewart is intriguing if only to see the weird kiss that occurs between Carlsen and Armstrong (while possessed by the female vampire). Actress Mathilda May is reportedly embarrassed by her association with this movie and does not list it on her film resume. That’s unfortunate! She turns in a subtly effective performance despite remaining totally nude throughout the entire movie (photo; above middle, being the only exception). This aspect is what gives this film its greatest notoriety. I don’t really think armchair critics have given her the respect that she deserves for daring to perform completely in the buff, while also making the antagonist of the picture riveting in ways that have nothing to do with her being naked. I actually loved her then and still hold her in very high regard, and I’m also happy to report that she has remained a strikingly attractive woman through a lengthy television and movie career, albeit mostly in her native France.

If you haven’t seen Lifeforce, please give it a try. I think that it is one of the best genre flicks of the 1980’s and guarantee that you will enjoy it too. Besides the hot alien chick IS definitely worth seeing in the raw!

"Gal" Friday! Asia Argento

Today's "Gal" Friday selection is not only one of my personal favorites, she's also one of Italy's most popular current actresses, Asia Argento. As the daughter of legendary horror director Dario Argento, she broke into films at the age of nine and has gone on to enjoy an acclaimed career. Although she admits to not being close with her father, she has appeared in a number of his films. She has earned two David di Donatello awards (the Italian version of the Oscar) and two Ciacks (the Italian Golden Globe), among other honors.

Although she has obviously spent most of her career on the big screens of her native land, Asia has acted in many non-Italian roles such as B. Monkey (1998), as a master thief alongside Rupert Everett and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; The Keeper, with Dennis Hopper, George Romero’s fourth zombie epic, Land of the Dead (see above; top) and the 2002 action hit XXX, opposite Vin Diesel. Her genre work also includes the major Italian films Demons 2, The Church, Trauma, The Stendhal Syndrome, The Phantom of the Opera (1998) and The Mother of Tears. In addition to acting, Argento is also a screenwriter and director with a growing number of credits to her name including her directorial debut, Scarlet Diva (2000), which was a semi-autobiographical tale.

On screen she is often equal parts tough and sultry, but don't think that she doesn't have much more going on in her head because Asia is also the author of many published short stories and her first novel, "I Love You, Kirk," was published in 1999. I'm glad to finally clear a space in the Catacombs for her during my "Strange Terrors" celebration.

"Satan the Great" (St. John;1953)

All right!! I finally get to identify one of the artists from Strange Terrors #6 (Jan.1953); originally published by St. John. Today's neat thriller features super-groovy artwork by the late Pete Morisi.

During his career, writer/artist Pete Morisi sometimes went by the pseudonym PAM, and he also spent much of his professional life working as a New York City Police officer, while moonlighting in the comics industry. He was best-known as the creator of the 1960s Charlton Comics series Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt, a thoughtful superhero comic that contained some of the earliest respectful invocations of Eastern mysticism in American pop culture. Morisi passed away in 2003.

A small time magician whose ambition overshadows his better judgement, strikes a deal with the devil and pays the ultimate price in "Satan the Great".

Enjoy!

Don't forget to hustle on back for tomorrows "Gal" Friday post to see which "scream queen" is featured this week. As for me, I'm taking in a courtesy showing of the new film, Red, starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren. "Red" is based on a DC Comics/Wildstorm miniseries written by Warren Ellis. I will post a review in a few days.

"The Forgotten People" (St. John;1953)

I realize that the Catacombs is falling into a common refrain of "writer & artist" unknown on all of the stories posted thus far from Strange Terrors #6 (Jan.1953) originally published by St. John, including today's golden age classic, but that all changes tomorrow. Yes indeed, the very next tale from this one hundred page giant will actually try the novelty of identifying the quite famous artist who drew it.

However before we go there, we've got to take in this eerie tale of a Native American doctor, recently graduated, and now back home to the reservation to serve his fellow tribesmen in "The Forgotten People". Letting off a little steam Dr. John Running Bear saddles up a horse and heads out for a little afternoon jaunt that lands him smack dab in the middle of the twilight zone (psst: Mykal is running a classic issue of "The Twilight Zone" over at his Gold Key Comics blog today - see my links section).

I have to say that even though this story's artist is sadly unidentified, the artwork is very entertaining. I hope you agree!

Icons of Horror: Stephen King

As part of the Catacombs "Strange Terrors" celebration, here is the second of four weekly posts in my 2010 "Icons of Horror" series, with this years set focusing on popular or significant genre authors.

Stephen King’s books have sold more than 500 million copies, been made into movies and television mini-series. His novels The Stand, The Talisman, and The Dark Tower have also been adapted for comic books. He is best known for novels such as Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, It, Misery, and the epic seven-novel series The Dark Tower, which King has written over a period of twenty-seven years. To date, King has written and published forty-nine novels (including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman), five non-fiction books, and nine collections of short stories. Many of his stories are set within his home state of Maine. King has received many awards, including several Bram Stoker Awards, Locus Awards, and, in 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

After a decade of addiction to various substances and alcohol, King’s family and friends staged an intervention in the late 1980’s, dumping evidence of his addictions taken from the trash on the rug in front of him. King then sought help and quit all forms of drugs and alcohol and has remained sober since.

On June 19, 1999 while he was reading a book and walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine, a distracted driver struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about fourteen feet from the pavement. According to witnesses, the driver was not speeding or reckless, still King suffered a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip, requiring five operations over ten days and physical therapy. King's lawyer and two others purchased the drivers van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. It was later crushed at a junkyard, much to King's disappointment, as he dreamed of beating it with a baseball bat.

King has continued to write and publish such bestsellers as Cell, Duma Key and Under the Dome. He is widely known for his philanthropic efforts on behalf of literary causes. Stephen King’s wife, Tabitha and their three children are all published authors. Stephen and his wife own The Zone Corporation, a central Maine radio station group consisting of WZON, WZON-FM, and WKIT.

Marvel Comics currently publishes comic books based on King's Dark Tower series, The Stand and The Talisman. This year, DC Comics premiered American Vampire, a monthly series written by King (with short story writer Scott Snyder) and Stephen King has stated that his favorite book-to-film adaptations are Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist. [Portrait illustration (above; right) by Tom Richmond].