"The Empty Coffin" & "Death Is No Stranger"

It’s time to send this issue of Tales From The Tomb Vol. 2 No. 5 into the empire of shades. Sleep long, grimy issue from the realm of Fass; and may demons howl thee to thy rest!

The last vestiges presented here are both reprints from Igor Shop originals. Think fast! Coming at you like a rabid bat is “The Empty Coffin;” a bright, brief tale of clever revenge and true love. Much encouragement is offered in this story, presenting the fearful limbo of spirits as a place of great liberation – even miracles . . . where the lame shall float on death's gentle wings . . . where the crazy and the dead may twine in love's embrace.

Or, to put it another way, Table of Contents says: ”The stink of rotting flesh choked the living in the House of Korinth. Who’s got a gas mask?”

Our next story, “Death Is No Stranger” serves as reminder: Never bite the hand that feeds – particularly if that hand has no flesh.

No. Begging will not help. Restraint must be shown no matter how great your pleasure. It’s time to let you go until next time, in which we will survey the remains of Horror Tales Vol. 2 No. 3, May 1970.

"Call of the Monsters" & "Frigid Fear"

Lets pull two more pints . . . er, I mean stories . . . from the still-warm and faintly twitching corpus maggotus of Tales From the Tomb Vol. 2 No. 5, October 1970. For our first story, “Call of the Monsters,” we find a failing writer on the absolute fringe of desperation. Scientists have speculated that we humans (for those non-human – or even diseased human – readers, I certainly don’t mean to insult by exclusion) use only 10% of our gray matter. If that be so, what horrors and glories might man render forth if our synapses fired at full voltage? What glowing slime might be summoned from the pit? What chaste angels from a clear and pearl-lit Heaven?

And for you aspiring writers out there – sometimes writer’s block isn’t the worst thing that can happen - as this brief reading will reveal. Art in “Call of the Monsters” is by Walter Casadei.

“Frigid Fear” is a straight reprint from the Igor Shop . Table of Contents offers this Eerie Pub. spin: ”A grisly and special story of a horrible man and a scheming woman.” Hmmmm. Jeez, could you be a bit more specific? That summary will fit thousands of great tales in the Western canon (Genesis, Macbeth, and virtually every novel published by James M. Cain or Jim Thompson for a start).

Time to close up shop, my friends. Next up: “The Empty Coffin” and “Death Is No Stranger.” Until then, never fall asleep unless you know where all the exits are.

"The Slimy Corpse" & "The Creatures"

First, we have this wonderful cover from Tales From The Tomb Vol. 2 No. 5, October 1970: What is happening here, obviously, is that our brilliant but mad scientist (who is a werewolf) has eschewed the usual practice of securing subjects to his lair/laboratory and has brought his re-animation equipment straight to the graveyard (a graveyard that is the final resting place, marked with declarative headstones, of both the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula).

Obvious as well, Dr. Werewolf has stood both coffins upright (held so by twin, iron frames from above) and strapped the famous cadavers in a soul-and-personality transference device. What schemes may be afoot once the snarling doctor has re-animated and transferred his subjects must be left to conjecture.

“The Slimy Corpse” is the work of Cirilo Munoz. Table of Contents says: "A fear-filled saga of a flesh-rotted corpse and a greedy diver. Ye-ech!"

“The Creatures” really gives me the creeps. But then, any creature that can’t close its mouth for the length if its sharp teeth always gives me serious pause. The artist is Walter Casadei.

Oh, there be more. Oh, yes. A surely as worms claim to their dank realm all the living regardless of fame and pride – there be more. Next: “Call of Monsters” and “Frigid Fear”