This weekend’s superhero blog post will go with the Halloween theme. The Spook was one of the recurring characters in Warren Publications’ iconic magazine Eerie.
EERIE #57 (June 1974)
Title: Stridespider Sponge-Rot
Oh, what is the fungus that digests moist wood?
STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!
The xylophagus fungus that eats what it should
STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!
Breaks down hemicellulose all well and good
STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!
Okay, I’ll stop right there. Had to be done, though. We were all thinking it.
NOTE: Warren Publications are fondly remembered for their horror and sci-fi magazines like Creepy, Eerie, 1984 and Vampirella (at right). As magazines and not comic books, Warren’s output was not limited by the comics code and could therefore delve into adult themes and intense violence.
Marvel Comics even imitated Warren for a while in the 1970s with their own magazine-sized publications with black & white interior art, like Vampire Tales, Haunt of Horror, etc.
Which brings us back to Eerie #57, in which one of the stories introduced the magazine’s latest recurring character the Spook. Continue reading
THE LIVING MUMMY (1910) – Written by Australian author Ambrose Pratt. Dr. Pinsent, a two-fisted young archeologist, is running an expedition in the sands of Egypt. The beautiful May Ottley and her father, an accomplished archeologist himself, ask Pinsent to lend them some of his workmen for a few days. 
As Halloween Month continues, Balladeer’s Blog presents another seasonal post. Over the years I’ve reviewed plenty of the horror films made by Brazil’s King of Horror since the 1960s – Coffin Joe (Ze do Caixao) aka Jose “Mojica” Marins. I’ve even reviewed 
AT MIDNIGHT I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL (1963) 
JOHN CARPENTER’S VAMPIRES (1998) – Halloween Month rolls along with this look at John Carpenter directing James Woods as Vatican-sanctioned vampire hunter Jack Crow. As always, James Woods is like a force of nature. When he’s on the screen he virtually blows away most of the people with whom he shares that screen. 
ADVENTURE COMICS Vol 1 #431 (February 1974) 
When situations demanding greater than human intervention arose, Jim could become the Spectre, his ghostly form in which he wielded vast powers that he used against earthly villains as well as supernatural menaces. 
THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928) – I have no idea why Conrad Veidt doesn’t get the silent horror film love that Lon Chaney and Paul Wegener receive. In this final silent horror movie for Veidt, he shines once again in another landmark film. This one is based on the neglected Victor Hugo story about a figure who, like Hugo’s Quasimodo, has a monstrous disfigurement that causes him to be shunned and feared.
Dea falls in love with Gwynplaine’s poetic nature in fact, but when the grotesque smiler is discovered to be of noble descent the pair are separated by villainous figures involved in aristocratic court intrigues. Olga Baclanova co-starred as Duchess Josiana, the lead heavy in this forgotten Gothic horror classic. 
Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at three notorious – but not necessarily all that good – horror films from iconic Italian director Lucio Fulci. 
THE BEYOND (1981) – A woman inherits The Seven Doors Hotel, a run-down inn outside New Orleans in the Louisiana countryside. It was once the site of an infamous murder in the 1920s and supernatural activities break out as our heroine Liza Merrill (Katherine MacColl) tries to refurbish the place. 
THE GROOVIE GOOLIES (1970) – This 16-episode cartoon series seemed like an appropriate subject for Halloween Month. In previous years, Balladeer’s Blog reviewed 
Other supporting characters at the castle called Horrible Hall were Mummy the mummy, plus Bone-Apart, the living skeleton in a Napoleon hat and epaulettes. Additional monsters and living pieces of furniture added to the cast and appeared intermittently. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long look at Halloween continues! In the past, I examined the most Halloweenish covers for Marvel horror figures like 
VAMPIRE TALES Vol 1 #1 (June 1973) 
Synopsis: One night in Los Angeles, Morbius tries to find his lady love Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona in the movie), whom he was separated from shortly after his transformation into vampire form. He encounters Carolyn, a female member of the Children of Satan cult. 
FROM OUT OF THE SILENCE: SEVEN STRANGE STORIES (full title) (1920) – Written by Lady Bessie Kyffin-Taylor. The stories are: 
Balladeer's Blog 