By this point, I've set up a couple weeks worth of horror comics posts for Halloween; and we'll see a few issues of this series, which I still don't think I read before pulling them out of the quarter bin. I also don't think this was the best of the lot, but here we go: from 1977, the Witching Hour #74, featuring an E.R. Cruz cover for "A Tiny Bit of Torment" Written by George Kashdan, art by Fred Carrillo. (I've noticed most of these DC horror shorts only give the one art credit, implying the artist inks their own pencils.) A failing puppeteer touring south of the border stumbles across a tiny tribe; natives only a foot high due to "something in local waters." So of course the puppeteer enslaves them for his show. You kind of figured those natives were gonna get exploited one way or another; I'm thinking they're lucky they weren't found by a plumber or something. ("Why, your tiny hands could reach clogs undreamt of! Get right in there...")
Next is "Death Can Be Contagious," written by Carl Wessler, art by Abe Ocampo. An aging lothario finds out his new girl is actually old: a witch with a potion keeping her young. He sweet-talks his way into getting some of the potion for himself, but the witch isn't his only conquest; and he may not realize he now has the kiss of death. Accordingly, his demise is profoundly stupid. Still, some spooky visuals in this one.
Finally, "A-Haunting We Will Go" brings us probably not the only example of gaslighting we'll see in these books. (Written by George Kashdan, art by Leopold Duranova.) A murderous couple arrange to have their uncle Arthur killed in a mining accident. Now they just need to get rid of uncle Wallace, who was already sick with guilt that his brother died in the diamond mine he was responsible for safety for. The husband disguises himself as Arthur to haunt Wallace, while the wife pretends not to hear the 'ghost.' Events are complicated when the 'ghost' turns on the wife, and she realizes if her husband was willing to kill his uncles, he'd probably be onboard for getting rid of her as well...but there were still a couple twists to come.
As I write this, I've got half the month filled up with whatever horror comics I had lying about. Wednesdays will still be homemade strips, but we'll see if we can get the whole month ready for Halloween!
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