For those who love reading those
House of Mystery comic books from the 1960s through the 1970s, especially when Bernie Wrightson began providing art with issue #179, the following two paperbacks might be of interest. I enjoy reading anthologies of horror and science-fiction from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but I find the stories are always hit or miss. But when the Warner Paperback Library, in conjunction with National Periodical Publications (also known as D.C. Comics) decided to publish two paperback collections of horror stories using the name of the comic book, these caught my attention. Published in 1973, The House of Mystery # 1 and The House of Mystery # 2 both contain short stories by Jack Oleck and feature illustrations by Bernie Wrightson.Each story included one Wrightson illustration. In the first book, “Chamber of Horrors” told the tale of a man who insists the law investigate three coffin-like boxes of earth in the cellar of an old house… unaware of the mushrooms growing inside. In the tale titled “Nightmare,” a jerk who is clearly abusive to his wife finds himself the victim of a human sacrifice on a stormy night at Stonehenge.
My personal favorite is the story titled “The Haunting,” about a young couple who wander the graveyard before heading home, only to discover the house is haunted. The twist (spoiler alert) is that they are the ghosts.
The second volume has a collection of stories that could be considered better than the first volume. In
“Wolf Spawn,” a man named Langley wonders if it is possible that his sister is a werewolf. Vampires come into play in the story “Where Dead Men Walk.” In the story “Never Say Die,” a hoodlum who doesn’t deserve to live discovers what happens when he refuses to die. The last story in the volume involves a demon.
These two books are the first time in years that I came across a collection of horror stories that are remnant to television’s Night Gallery. If you enjoyed Rod Serling’s television program and long for additional stories of the same flavor, these two books are worth seeking out to read.
