COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day 10): HAUNT OF FEAR

These days it's that shriveled up old Crypt-Keeper who gets all of the press, but back in the heyday of Entertaining Comics, it was attention divided between three hosts and the other two were The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch!  EC Comics horror stable consisted of three magazines.  It was almost competitive in that multiple hosts would appear in each of the three mags—a professional rivalry that played to comic effect.

The Old Witch was created by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein and inspired by Old Nancy, the witch of Salem, host of Alonzo Deen Cole’s radio series, The Witch’s Tale, that aired from 1931-1938 on WOR and Mutual.

The Old Witch was the last of EC’s Horror Hosts to make her appearance—in THE HAUNT OF FEAR’s second issue debuted The Witch’s Cauldron feature, with her introducing herself in a story drawn by Jack Kamen.  The third issue launched the letter column, “The Old Witch’s Niche”.  And so she presided over each issue thereafter, dropping in pun-filled commentary to make up for the horrific fates of the poor souls in the tales she told.

She would go on to be the most visible of the GhoulLunatics (the other two being the Crypt-Keeper and the Vault-Keeper) in their initial run as hosts.  Not only was she in nearly every issue of The Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, she also appeared in the final story of Crime SuspenStories which ran from #3 through #16.

Her origin appears in THE HAUNT OF FEAR #14 in a tale that recalls her birth entitled “A Little Stranger!”.  In it, a vampire named Elicia and a werewolf named Zorgo were resurrected by other monsters using Satanic rites after a mob slew them.   And when the two awoke, they celebrated by having sex, which left Elicia pregnant.  The misshapen child she gave birth to would one day grow to become The Old Witch who delighted in frightening listeners with her tales of the macabre!

Very humble beginnings--we all have to start somewhere...

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day -10): EXPIRED CANDY PART 1

(Three of the four Jack 'O Lanterns at The Goods this year.)

As is usually the case on the big Countdown to Halloween, I'm brimming with more ideas than I can shake a broomstick at.  These are all items that I nearly got to, might have attempted to go into or pursue had I more time, the inkling of how to work it all out.  So I usually take a few days to gather a lot of this leftover candy and construct a kind of Frankenstein Monster post of these items all sewn together in one big messy massive post (and this year it'll be at least two posts).  

So here goes...

Was going to talk a bit about how Horror Hosting was something that went as far back as the art of storytelling.  How cavemen would have invented it to entertain his fellow cave dwellers through the long nights.  Hell, these stories are how the gods and monsters were all really created.  How herders would later tell stories of the big bad wolf, how norsemen would tell of storm giants and how traders in the arid deserts would tell rapt fellow travelers about djinn tricking a naive fool.

Would've gone into how Hosting was a kind of narration, a way of preparing a listener or viewer for what was to come next.  A way to let them know you're on their side while also introducing and distracting the audience--letting the tension out of a situation.  And how Horror Hosting thrived on the radio as listeners tuned in to macabre stories involving murder and monsters.

And that radio hosts led to the Horror Hosts of the comics--those dark figures standing outside of the comic panels taking glee in introducing horror tale after ironic horror tale taking place in those jagged panels full of axes, beady eyes, fanged mouths and murderous intentions!

The Old Witch, The Crypt Keeper, The Vault-Keeper were EC Comics' hosts and they are the most enduring of the bunch with the decrepit Crypt Keeper having gone on to a career in both television and movies.  But let's not forget several others that are a bit more obscure and a few that are a bit derivative...

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First up is Boris Karloff, of course, Horror Host in film, television, on records and in comic books--first in the comic THRILLER and then in the long-running BORIS KARLOFF: TALES OF MYSTERY!

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Above we have "Digger" from Marvel Comics title CHAMBER OF DARKNESS, a charming gravedigger and storyteller.  A younger, more cheerful Crypt-Keeper.

(Click to Big John Bucema-fy)

Before "Digger" there was Lee and Buscema's "Headstone P. Gravely", an older gent who seemed more funeral home director.

"Uncle Creepy" was the host of Warren's CREEPY Magazine, very much in the EC mold of, well, creepy dudes hosting these things.

And since Warren had a creepy Uncle, then why not a "Cousin Eerie" to host it's twisted sibling publication EERIE Magazine.  The family resemblance is certainly there!

Host as well as a participant, "Doctor Spektor" looked more Doctor Strange than Old Witch, but performed both duties for Gold Key!

DC's Dark Mansion had "Charity" as a hostess, more a TV host in the vein of Vampira than the traditionally creepy character host of comics.  

This short-timed host of DC's GHOSTS, "Squire Shade" is nearly an identical copy of the Gentleman Ghost.

Probably the most distracting of all hosts was "Winnie the Witch" of Charlton's GHOST MANOR.  Not only would Winnie provide the intros and final word to the tales offered in her mag, she would dance and comment from just outside the panels in the middle of the story.  Clearly an attempt to bring a touch of counter-culture to the book that didn't work out.

Before Winnie, Charlton had it's own "Old Witch", an eye patch sporting, hooded old lass who seemed to get a special glee from the tales of terror told within the pages of GHOST MANOR.

"Mr. Bones" came after the Old Witch as host of GHOST MANOR for Charlton--a ghoul of a guy, he had the suit and tails working spiffily!

You've reached the end of this particular post,

but not the end of the comic book horror host run-down.

Stick around for more left-overs!