Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 14: The House of Mystery #297 and #315

The cover of The House of Mystery (October 1981) was done by Joe Kubert for DC Comics. This issue features chapter five of the "I...Vampire" series titled "Zen Flesh! Zen Bones!" Other chilling stories include "Beat the Devil" and "The Idols of Millons". This issue "Cain's Game Room" is about what happens when a princess kisses a mutated frog. Interesting ads includes BubbleYum (now in six flavors), Hostess Cup Cakes presents Batman in "Lights...Camera...Crime!", Life Savers sleeping bag, Olympic Sales Club (sell seven items for Huffy Motocross Bike or seventy-five items for a Magnavox Solid State Portable TV) and Magnum 440 race set from Tyco. This issue has one page devoted to "Cain's Mail Room".

Michael Kaluta did the cover for The House of Mystery #315 (April 1983) and features an untitled "I...Vampire" tale. The other chilling tales includ "The Accusing Hand!" and "The Highest Court in the Land!" Cain and Abel in "Abel Finds Work!" is a one page funny strip. Interesting ads include four tokens for free MPC kits, TSR's "Dungeons & Dragons", half page ad for Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists" from Sea Gate Distributors (shown is two covers featuring Shining Knight by Frank Frazetta), BubbleYum presents "Behind the Candy Counter" one page strip, subscription offer of DC Comics featuring a full figure of the Warlord, a subscription offer for The Omega Men and Atari. A small black and white picture of Brooke Shields reading a Superman comic is featured on the "Meanwhile..." news page. This issue features one and a fourth pages devoted to "Cain's Mail Room" (the other three fourths is dedicated to DC Coming Comics and the cover to Amethyst #1 on sale February 3rd).

This wraps up the coverage of The House of Mystery horror comics that I have in my collection. Several were bought at a yard sale (hence the writing on the covers like #315). They were not common comics found at the local grocery stores where I was buying my comics at the time or I would have bought more.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 13: The House of Mystery #293 and #296

Michael Kaluta did the cover for The House of Mystery #293 (June 1981) for DC Comics. The chilling tales include "Henson's Pooch" (one of my favorites), "The Senior Sin" and the "I...Vampire" series continues with chapter three titled "The Burning!" Interesting ads include Fun Factory (own fake vampire blood for $1.50 and x-ray vision see thru glasses for $1.95), BubbleYum, Grit, Superman Club, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Superman in "Gold Mine Rescue", Life Savers Sweepstakes (win a year's supply of candy and lollipops) and Johnson Smith Company (own spy pen radio for only $3.75 and a ventriloquist dummy for $3.49).

The House of Mystery #296 (September 1981) cover was done by Carmine Infantino and Joe Orlando (their initials are found at the lower right hand corner). The chilling tales include "Night Watch", "Work for the Dying", "Killed in the Ratings" and "New Hope". Ads of interest includes Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents "Wonder Woman Versus the Robot Master", Life Savers sleeping bag, free Attack of the Mutants game when you send two dollars for catalog to Yaquinto Publications and half page ad for Superman II movie magazine.

Both issues features "Cain's Mail Room" but the second has only half a page of letters.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 12: The House of Mystery #290 and #291

Joe Kurbert did the covers for The House of Mystery #290 (March 1981) and #291 (April 1981) for DC Comics. The first comic features the start of "I...Vampire" written/created by J.M DeMatteis and drawn by Tom Sutton. Other chilling tales include "An Exercise in Fear" and "Special Deffects". There is also a one page "Cain's Game Room" that features Fifi the witch turning a prince into a mouse instead of a mouse. Ads include Sea-Monkeys, Hostess Cup Cakes presents Wonder Woman and The Baron, Creature Creations posters from Canopus One and an half page ad for Mystery In Space.

The House of Mystery #291 features "Night of the Living Undead" (chapter two of the "I...Vampire" series, "A Cardboard Hero", a two page "Cain in the House of Mystery" and "The Seas Run Red!" Interesting ads in this issue features BubbleYum (now in wild cherry, tropical punch and grape), a half page offer to join the Superman Fan Club, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Wonder Woman in "Old Gold" and Sea-Monkeys.

Both issues have Cain's Mail Room full of letters from fans.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 11: The House of Mystery #284 and #288

The cover art of The House of Mystery #284 (September 1980) and #288 (January 1981) were done by Michael Kaluta. The first horror comic features "Ruby", "The King and the Dragon", "Friends to the End" and "Deadly Peril at 20,000". An ad featuring Batgirl in "A Matter of Good Taste" promotes Hostess Twinkies. The second horror comic features "The Piper at the Gates of Hell", "Blood on the Sand" and "When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead!" Cain has a one page of gags that features more do's and don'ts for monsters. A Hostess Fruit Pies ad presents "The Flash Meets the Bureauc-Rat". Both issues have a one page Cain's Mail Room filled with letters.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 10: The House of Mystery #282

The cover artist for The House of Mystery #282 (July 1980) was Joe Kubert, who is best known for his work on Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. The first page features Cain and boy editor, Len Wein. The chilling tales are "The Lady Killer Craves Blood", "I'm Off To My Funeral" and "Some Place Where The Sun Don't Shine". The funny one pager is "Cain's Game Room".

Interesting ads found in The House of Mystery #282 include Hubba Bubba (I remember liking this gum too when it first came out), O.J. Simpson hawking Spot-bilt autographed shoes, Hostess Twinkies Cakes presenting the Flash in "A Flash in the Dam", promo for Wonder Woman #269, BubbleYum Wild Cherry, The Black Hole MPC models, historic wargames from Atlantic Products, Superman Fan Club and DC Stars stamps. The stamps features characters that would be appearing as back up features in other comics such as Adam Strange in Green Lantern and the Huntress in Wonder Woman. Other features included Cain's Mail Room and Daily Planet volume 80, number 15.

"The Computers That Saved Metropolis" is the extra twenty-eight page bonus comic included with this issue and teams Superman with two kids using Radio Shack TRS-80 computers against Major Disaster.

2008 Halloween Countdown 29 Bonus: Blog Alert - Vinnie Rattolle's Records

Not only does Vinnie Rattole's Records provides some groovy music albums to download but he also provides reviews videos and full issues of comics. In fact, he has Elivira's House of Mystery #2, 3 and 4 available in pdf and jpg formats. Be sure to check his Elvira posts for even more treats featuring the Mistress of the Dark.

2008 Halloween Countdown 15: Elvira's House of Mystery #11

Elvira's House of Mystery #11 (January 1987) is the final issue of the series from DC Comics. The cover of her riding a broom is by Dave Stevens. The five page segment featuring the Mistress of the Dark is simply titled "Elvira's House of Mystery" pencilled by Gene Colan and inked by Dick Giordano (unfortunately, the writer is once again uncredited). The three horror stories in this issue are the following: "Bugs", "Deadly Affairs" and "Killer Turf". I have included all four pages of Elvira's Post-Mortems that features the winner of the "Find Cain" contest.

Elvira's House of Mystery #11 cover

Elvira's House of Mystery page 1

Elvira's House of Mystery page 2

Elvira's House of Mystery page 3

Elvira's House of Mystery page 4

Elvira's House of Mystery page 5

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 1

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 2

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 3

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 4
For larger images, check out Elvira's House of Mystery.

2008 Halloween Countdown 14: Elvira's House of Mystery #10

I like the cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #10 (December 1986) drawn by the legendary Joe Orlando because of the writings on the chaulk board and the monster kids. My favorite writing is "Cthulhu's mother dresses him funny" and I like the wolfboy with glasses.

The five page segment featuring the Mistess of the Dark is titled "The Cain Mutiny" pencilled by Dwight Turner and inked by Dick Giordano. The two horror stories featured are "Death For Rent" (haunted house) and "Low Man on the Totem Pole" (Native American werewolf).

As an added bonus, Elvira's House of Mystery #10 features a word search puzzle titled "Weird Words".

Elvira's House of Mystery #10 cover

The Cain Mutiny page 1

The Cain Mutiny page 2

The Cain Mutiny page 3

The Cain Mutiny page 4

The Cain Mutiny page 5

Elvira's Weird Words puzzle

2008 Halloween Countdown 13: Elvira's House of Mystery #9

The cover of Elvira's House of Mystery (November 1986) #9 is the first issue to feature a photo image of the Mistress of the Dark. Unfortunately, the photo image is black and white with a really crappy yellow background making this the worst cover of the series in my opinion. Her four page segment is titled "Film Festival" and I was surprised that they did not use this type of segment earlier in the series. The two twisted tales are "Lost Souls" and "Drink Like a Fish".

Elvira's House of Mystery #9 cover

Film Festival page 1

Film Festival page 2

Film Festival page 3

Film Festival page 4

2008 Halloween Countdown 12: Elvira's House of Mystery #8

The Mistress of the Dark is protraying the Statue of Liberty complete with torch, crown and book that adorns the cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #8 (October 1986) drawn by Dwight Turner. Yes, you read that right for this comic book from DC Comics actually hit the stands in July but is cover dated October. Comic and magazine publishers have long since dated their issues often weeks or months before their actual release date. This allows the publications to appear current even if they have been on the newstands for some time. The practice also informs them when an unsold comic book can be removed to either be returned to the publisher or be destroyed (yes, the latter is even horrible for me to read too).

Her one page segment is titled "The Library of Elvira's House of Mystery" pencilled by Dwight Turner and inked by the legendary Dick Giordano (unfortunately the writer is unknown). This issue has the following three tales of terror that has nothing to do with the Fourth of July: "Gruesome Gretchen", "Mummy Dearest" and "Out of Synch!".

This issue does feature an update about the "Find Cain" contest.

Elvira's House of Mystery #8 cover

The Library of Elvira's House of Mystery

Contest update

2008 Halloween Countdown 11: Elvira's House of Mystery #7

The Mistress of the Dark heads into outer space in Elvira's House of Mystery #7 (September 1986) with a special sci-fi issue. Her four page segment does not even get a title this time around. The cover art is by the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz featuring Adam Strange, who is one of the many space heroes that DC Comics has. The two tales featured are "The Dollmaker" and "Star Born" but I found both rather boring. This issue does have details about the "Find Cain" contest that her fan club started.

Elvira's House of Mystery #7 cover

Elvira in space page 1

Elvira in space page 2

Elvira in space page 3

Elvira in space page 4

Elvira fan club contest ad

2008 Halloween Countdown 10: Elvira's House of Mystery #6

One would think that a comic book turned sideways would be a good idea. Unfortunately, DC Comics gives us Elvira's House of Mystery #6 (August 1986), which crams two pages sideways on one page. Not only is the artwork much smaller than normal but the text is is extremely hard to read. I was thirty-one when I first bought this issue and I had to bring out my magnifying glass to read it. I am glad that the Elvira pinup and letters page was not turned sideways.

The cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #6 (August 1986) is by Mark Beachum. The Mistress of the Dark's segment is titled "Attic Attack" written by Tom and Mary Beirbum, penciled by Tom Grindberg and inked by James Bosch aka Jim Fern. Unlike previous issues that had two tales, this one has the following five fright-filled fantasies: "A New York Yankee in King Arthur's Court!", "Subject for Post-Mortem", "Two-Edged Sword", "You'll Beg to Die" and "Just Like Clockwork" (the latter one is written by Joey Cavelieri).

Elvira's House of Mystery #6 cover

Attic Attack part 1

Attic Attack part 2

Attic Attack part 3

Attic Attack part 4

Elvira's House of Mystery #6 pinup
For larger images of this and previous issues, check out Elvira's House of Mystery

2008 Halloween Countdown 9: Elvira's House of Mystery #5

The cover artist for Elvira's House of Mystery #5 (July 1986) from DC Comics is Mark Beachum. The Mistress of the Dark is featured in a four page segment titled "Clue Number 1" written by Joey Cavelieri and Mark Beachum. Not only do we find out that she sleeps nude but we also find out that she wears nothing under her gown. The first twisted tale is "Waddell and the Beav" about a mean drunk that dresses up as Billy Beaver for a kiddie show meeting a nasty end. The second shock story is "The Clockwork Dragon" about a woman that discovers her husband is a monster. As usual, I am just posting the cover and the Elvira segment.

Elvira's House of Mystery #5 cover

Clue Number 1 page 1

Clue Number 1 page 2

Clue Number 1 page 3

Clue Number 1 page 4