TOP 50 PRE-CODE HORROR COMICS

I came across these YouTube videos that I thought might be interesting to readers here at FEAR IN FOUR COLORS. They reside under the video tab at Simpleman's Comics channel. In the two episodes, Simpleman discusses what he believes to be the 50 most collectible pre-Code horror comics.

I think he does a pretty good job as he spends about a minute on each title and briefly discusses the cover art and any notable interior stories, as well as market value and sales figures.

These were done six years ago, so some of the info will have changed by then. Still, it's a nice overview of 50 of some of the best titles the era had to offer.

TOP 50 PRE-CODE HORROR COMICS PART 1:

TOP 50 PRE-CODE HORROR COMICS PART 2:

NIGHTMARE ABBEY NO. 9 NOW SHIPPING!

Besides having first-class, top-shelf fiction from award-winning authors such as Steve Duffy and Steve Rasnic Tem, this latest issue of NIGHTMARE ABBEY from Thomas English's Dead Letter Press includes the sixth installment of my series Fear in Four Colors: The Hideous History of American Horror Comics. "Indictments and Indignities" discusses the fallout after the Senate Subcommittee Hearings on Juvenile Delinquency and how it turned the comic book industry into a near-barren wasteland.

Also included is a look at the classic film, HANGOVER SQUARE, lots more quality fiction and another parcel of art from Allen Koswzoski, as well as the Abbey's house artist, Natu Shabbey.

From the publisher:

• 9th gigantic volume of this critically-acclaimed horror magazine/book.
• Creepy GHOST STORIES & other weird tales!
• Horror Comics on Trial! (History of American Horror Comics, part 6)
• Horror Delve's list of great HALLOWEEN HORRORS
• Classic horror movie: Hangover Square
• 11 terrifying tales by today's top writers!
• A new Magnus Supernatural Dog Tale
• Another chilling visit to Bone Street!
• Indy (the Horror Husky) makes the cover of Time!
• Art by World Fantasy Award-winner Allen Koszowski
• Heavily illustrated: movie stills, comic book covers, cool facts!

Publication date: October 12, 2025

146 pages

Single copy price: $16.95

Order HERE.

THE FAT MAN STRIKES!

Painter Leo Main hatches a plan to get rid of his pesky, domineering landlady with disastrous results, of course! Introduced by host Dr. Death, "The Fat Man" is from THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #10 (Fawcett, April 1953) with art by Leonard Frank.

A (PERMANENT) VISIT TO WEREWOLF CASTLE

Here's another story of a doomed couple from Farrell's VOODOO #18 (November-December 1954) with art by the Eiger Shop. This one has an introduction by an old crone that looks suspiciously like another one from a certain Bill Gaines line of horror comics.

WARNING IN THE SAND

Newlyweds Richard and Sylvia Porter find a nice honeymoon spot on the beach. They happen upon an old hag that warns them not to read what she has written in the sand. Sylvia can't help herself and reads what's written in the sand -- the date of her death, and it's tomorrow! Sure enough, she's killed in a car crash and Richard, beside himself with grief, plunges into the sea to drown. But, hey, this is a horror comic and a weird twist of fate ensues.

"Let Me Die Today" appeared in VOODOO #18 (Farrell, November-December 1954) with art by the Iger Shop. One more issue of VOODOO would be published and then it would fold in the wake of the infamous Senate Hearings and subsequent Comics Code Authority.

DYING FOR HIS ART

Mark Glass is so obsessed with painting his true love, Lois, that he declares he'll come back from the dead as he perishes from a fire in his studio. True to his word, he returns from the grave to finish his work. The problem is, he's been burned to a crisp which has a deleterious affect on Lois's continued affection.

"Mission From the Grave" appeared in ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS #11 (Standard Comics, September 1953) illustrated by Mike Sekowsky.

CLEAN AS A WHISTLE

Henpecked Abner finds a clever way to get rid of his overly-fastidious wife in this tale of creepy comeuppance called "Clean As a Whistle" from Harvey's BLACK CAT COMICS #49 (April 1954). Art is by John Giunta.

THE CURSED HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Well, here we are again at the start of a new Halloween season, and what better way to kick off the month here than with a Halloween-themed story.

"Trick or Treat" is from Stanley Morse's WEIRD MYSTERIES (May 1954) and features art by Eugene Hughes. It's the story of a couple that get a little more than they bargained for when they buy costumes for a Halloween party from a weird little shop owner.

GHOST COMICS NO. 3

This issue benefits tremendously with two stories illustrated by the pioneering woman artist Lily Renée. Along with Nina Albright and Fran Hopper, she was one of the few women working in the comic book industry at the time.

Always interested in art and drawing, her mother noticed an ad in the paper for a comic book artist. "I went to Fiction House and I was hired on a trial basis, and they kept me," she explained in an interview with Trina Robbins in THE COMICS JOURNAL. "And then after a year and a half, I was doing covers and I got a big Christmas bonus and I got some nice clothes because, you know, I didn't have any clothes that were current in America at all. So I was in Fiction House, and it was difficult because they were only men and they were always making these sexual innuendos and so forth."

NOTES:

1. The story "Mistress of the Web" was changed from the original art titled "Priestess of the Spider Death". 
2. The original title for "The Dark Eyes of Destiny" was "Eyes of Azrael".
3. Only the writers were credited in this issue; credit for Kamen's and Renée's art is sourced via their original art.
4. Ads have been removed from this scan.

GHOST COMICS

Vol. 1 No. 3

1952 (No month)

Fiction House, Inc.

Managing editor: Jack Byrne

Art director: S.M. "Jerry" Iger

Cover: Maurice Whitman

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"Haunted Hand of X" (The Ghost Gallery)

Script: Drew Murdoch

Art: Jack Kamen

"Mistress of the Web" (The Werewolf Hunter)

Script: Armond Broussard

Art: Lily Renée

"I Seek the Devil Mask" (The Werewolf Hunter)

Script: Armond Broussard (as Armand Weygand)

Art: Lily Renée

"The Dark Eyes of Destiny" (The Ghost Gallery)

Script: Drew Murdoch

Art: Jack Kamen