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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Sheffield's Most Wanted. Part 4: The House of Mystery, Limited Collectors' Edition.

Shiver, mortals, as Steve Does Comics delves into realms of fear and terror for yet another look at a comic I always wanted as a kid but never managed to acquire.

Unlike the Marvel Treasury Editions, the DC Limited Collector's Editions never seemed to show up in Sheffield - maybe that's why they called them, "Limited." Or if they did show up I somehow never noticed them.

That of course didn't stop me from coveting them.

And one of my most coveted was The House of Mystery's venture into the format.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I was always a sucker for DC's horror anthologies, so this was always going to grab me.

Just look at that hand beckoning us inward to experience the horrific delights it has to offer.

Look at that promise of a lesson in how to draw a haunted house.

Look at that offer of seven king-size tales.

Most of all, look at that promise of a 3D mystery cut-out - a promise I to this day still always misread as, "3D mystery cat." 

What kind of lunatic could say no to a 3D mystery cat?

Not this kind of lunatic. Why, to even think of refusal would be to show a disgraceful lack of manners - and Manners is my middle name.

Actually it's not. As we all know, my middle name is Does. But that's a whole other issue- as is whatever comic I'll be talking about in my next post from the Frontline of Nostalgia.