DR. LORCH'S SIXTH POTION

Dr. Simon Lorch is obsessed with concocting a potion that will turn a man into one that possesses primordial strength. After five tries, he drinks the sixth one himself and turns into not only a man who has primordial strength, but is also a primordial beast! He goes on the usual killing spree until he is stopped (aka killed) by one of his previous experiments. Poor Dr. Lorch, he should have stopped at five tries!

This one's from Ace's WEB OF MYSTERY #3 (June 1951) with pencils by Mike Sekowsky and inks by Vince Alascia.

NOTE: I've began to go back into some of my earlier posts and started adding labels that are descriptive of some of the common themes found in pre-Code horror comics, such as today's "mad doctor" trope. I'll be including things like cannibalism, hanging, etc. when I come across them. This will be a work in progress for a while.

THE FACE OF HORROR!

In this crazy story from Stanley Morse's WEIRD CHILLS #2 (Key Publications, September 1954), a comic book writer concocts a story that includes such delightful tidbits of terror as electrocution, a revivified corpse, a werewolf, a vampire and plenty of mayhem and murder. The writer and artist of this morbid story are unknown.

KI NA TU, MAGONDI!

"The Seven Skulls of Magondi" appeared in CHAMBER OF CHILLS #6  (March 1952) with inks by Lee Elias and pencils believed to be the work of Warren Kremer.

In this issue is another story with unintelligible verbal nonsense, Carl Carruda thought he had it made when he killed the witch doctor and stole his necklace of priceless rubies. With it strung around his neck, he heads out of the jungle but soon learns that the witch doctor's magic is still potent after death.

CRYPTOLOGY NO. 8 NOW SHIPPING

Hey, kids -- time to head on over to the TwoMorrows website and pick up the latest copy of Peter Normanton's CRYPTOLOGY. It's another issue jam-packed with retro creep culture. If your'e a fan of monster movies and comics, you won't be disappointed, guaranteed.

From your fiendly Cryptologist:

"I bet you thought I’d forgotten you… but don’t worry, the Cryptologist never forgets his fiends! In this issue, we find out what Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and their cohorts were up to when they weren’t appearing in our favorite horror movies—you’d be shocked! Plus, at long last, I’ve exhumed some of Ghastly Graham Ingels’ gruesome artwork for your delectation. Then we get to meet Norman Bates, courtesy of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Robert Bloch, and his lunatic mentor Ed Gein. Psycho II scriptwriter and Fright Night director Tom Holland will be dropping by for a chilling chat—you will definitely want to hear what he has to say! As if this isn’t enough, our Killer-B section takes you back to high school and a gathering of teenage monsters, and then we launch the first part of our extensive history of the pre-Code comic book, beginning in 1938. There’s all of this and more in my crypt crammed full of the macabre from editor Peter Normanton, made just for you retro horror fans!”

GRUNNNT! URGGGG! BOOGLE!

This is a grisly little tale called "Fiends From the Crypt" from Farrell's FANTASTIC FEARS #8 (July 1953). It concerns a group of creatures called The Green Horde and they don't like being swindled by a greedy thief. The story--by an unknown writer and artist--does not end well.

SMUR-DA!

DEATH BY JELLY (PEANUT BUTTER NOT INCLUDED)

This one's about as weird as they get. A (yes) mad scientist concocts a serum that he injects into a blob of protoplasm and the thing morphs into a humanoid monster that -- what else? -- goes on a killing rampage.

Nice artwork by the team of Bob Powell (pencils) and Howard Nostrand and Marty Epp (inks).

"Jelly Death" from CHAMBER OF CHILLS #6 (March 1952).

AL FELDSTEIN BEFORE E.C.

Before Al Feldstein became an influential workhorse at Bill Gaines' EC Comics and horror comics in general, he plied his trade at the American Comics Group (aka ACG). Feldstein scripted and illustrated this story, "The Creekmore Curse" for ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN #3 (February-March 1949) featuring a creepy character by the name of Dr. Gaunt and his demonic disciples. Feldstein started working at EC in 1948, but he was still freelancing at the time.