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. 
The West Coast League is a baseball league consisting of American and Canadian teams. For the U.S. Washington and Oregon are represented, and for Canada British Columbia and Alberta are represented.
WALLA WALLA SWEETS 
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. 
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER ONE – In NCAA Division Two, the 4th ranked GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS welcomed the number 1 team in the nation – the FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS. The Lakers were on top 35-21 by Halftime, then the Bulldogs made it a 35-28 game to end the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th, Grand Valley State pulled away for a 49-28 trumph. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER FOUR – Down in NCAA Division Three, the number 7 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS visited the country’s 4th ranked UW-RIVER FALLS FALCONS. A 6-0 1st Quarter lead for the Warhawks became 15-7 at the Half. After the break Whitewater held off the Falcons to win the game 21-14. 
AND NUMBER SIX COMES TUMBLING AFTER – Back up in the NAIA, the FRIENDS UNIVERSITY FALCONS took the field against the visiting number 6 SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE MOUNDBUILDERS. The Falcons had the Moundbuilders faithful worried with a 12-0 Halftime advantage. Friends University pulled further and further away in the 2nd Half for a 35-20 Upset. 
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. 
AUTOLYCUS (420s B.C.) – Balladeer’s Blog examines the ancient Greek comedy Autolycus. This play was written by Eupolis who, along with Aristophanes and Cratinus, constituted the Big Three of Attic Old Comedy. As with so many comedies of the time period Autolycus has survived only in fragmentary form, unfortunately. 
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. 
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