Monday 29 July 2013

Do you dare enter... The House of Mystery?

That Day-Glo-haired pop princess Toyah Wilcox once declared it to be a mystery. What it was that was a mystery, she never said - but perhaps that was the greatest mystery of them all.

All this can mean just one thing. That it's time to finally bring to a close that feature where I post covers of DC horror mags I once owned, and then try as best I can to recall what was actually in them.


House of Mystery #213, Bernie Wrightson

Needless to say, I fall at the first hurdle, as I remember nothing at all about this one. But it does have a rather splendiferous cover by Bernie Wrightson. And that alone must surely justify its existence.

PS. A great big Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to the first person to name the ex-Mott the Hoople star who features on this cover.
House of Mystery #216

I don't recall anything about this one either but I do know its cover's by Luis Dominguez whose art graced many a DC horror cover.

A great big Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to the first person to name the Meatloaf track depicted on this cover.
House of Mystery #222

Hooray! At last it's one I do remember.

And I remember it with style.

I got this one in Blackpool, and it featured a story about a serial murderer called the Teddy Bear Killer. I was in some sort of restaurant/cafeteria when I first read it, and recall having found it an oddly engaging tale at the time.

A great big Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to the first person to name the Jam track depicted on this cover.
House of Mystery #227

Argh! It's 100 page comic! How can I remember nothing about a 100 page comic? Don't I realise that every 100 page DC comic was a epic journey into wonderfulness?

Still, it had a werewolf in it and...

...hold on...

...was the twist at the end of it that the werewolf wasn't the hero but actually his girlfriend?

If so, I DO remember it! I DO!
House of Mystery #235

At least I can bow out with some dignity by remembering that my dad bought this one on a Sunday.

As I've said before, I never encountered a Sunday-bought comic I didn't like. Therefore I will have liked it.

Sadly, the contents don't leap instantly to mind. I think there may have been a story about a woman accused of being a witch, or possibly not. Cats may have been involved. The Black Death was certainly involved.

A great big Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to the first person to name the Stranglers album depicted on this cover.

11 comments:

Richard Gagnon said...

The Meat Loaf song is clearly "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are".

Richard Gagnon said...

...because I don't think this situation is anyone's (well, maybe the monster's) idea of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".

Steve W. said...

Congratulations, Richard, you've just won that coveted no-prize of which so many people dream.

Anonymous said...

The Jam track is the "Butterfly Collector" (released on the flip side of Strange Town) and the Stranglers album is that "The Raven" - took me ages to suss out the Mott the Hoople (great band) member but luckily I have a few of their CDs and it's Luther Grosvenor(but I'll let others figure out why lol) clue its on the roof! - McScotty

Steve W. said...

McScotty, you have just landed yourself THREE Steve Does Comics No-Prizes. Well done to you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve, we " spoke " yesterday on Bronze Age Babies - I was the dimwit who thought this blog had ended. I'm glad you're back and , by the way , thanks for your TOTP blog - it was the funniest thing I'd read in years !

Steve W. said...

Hi, Colin. I remember our conversation and you're no dimwit. I got the impression that several other people thought the blog was gone for good too. I suspect the fault was mine for not being clear enough.

Thanks for the praise for the TOTP blog. I must admit that, after almost a year of doing it, I felt like my brain was starting to melt. There's a limit to how much Demis Roussos and Brotherhood of Man even my psyche can take.

Marc said...

not sure why anonymous scotty doesn't spell it out above, but the 'mott' 'star' is aerial bender (sp?) I think...

a man of whom a simple photo used on the cover of such mags as these would have truly frightening

Marc said...

'would have been truly frightening' ....

(is there a way you can edit your own blog comment posts? - the number of times I have to post a follow-up comment ...)

Steve W. said...

Yep, it was indeed Aerial Bender.

I'm afraid there's no way comments can be edited. You can however delete them. So, if you wished, you could copy and paste the comment you're not happy with, make the desired corrections in the new comment you've thus created and then delete the original one.

Whipoorwill said...

Something to read ona dark windy rainy stormy night with the doors locked and the windows bolted and the shades drawn