IDW Cover for Haunted Horror #1
Happy Halloween! For those that survived the Frankenstorm/Hallowcaine, you might be looking to read a new comic to take your mind off of having to pick up all the branches in your yard. If so, you should check out Haunted Horror, which immediately put me into the Halloween spirit.
Haunted Horror is an interesting comic because it is not a single series per say, but rather, it is a culmination of various horror comics that were published in the 1950s. Back in the late ’40s and early ’50s, horror, romance, and crime comics had just as big of a place in the hearts of readers as superhero comics. However, the general consensus of the public was that the topics of horror and crime were corrupting America’s children and leading them down the path of mischief. Being that this was in the time period of WWII and the Great Depression, this led to the decline of these comic series as parents wanted to preserve the innocence of their children
The stories in Haunted Horror take some really great spooky stories and brings them back into one comic (with more to come in the future). It was really nice getting to see an homage to 1950s Golden Age of comics. After researching a bit about the topic, I felt like I was getting to read a real piece of comic history. It is very obvious that the artwork is from the 1950s era, but it was refreshing. The language used throughout the stories is also quite comical as phrases such as “oh heavens” are tossed around. Being that there are a bunch of series all in one comic, each story is relatively short which gives you a handful of stories in just one issue. They may not be the most frightening stories I have ever read, but I cannot deny that they were just what I needed to get me in the Halloween mood.
Overall review: 6/10
These are the stories featured in issue #1:
- Weird Terror #1 (1952)
- This Magazine is Haunted #4 (1952)
- Baffling Mysteries #6 (1952)
- Black Magic #31 (1954)
- Intrigue #1 (1955)/Web of Evil #5 (1953)
- Crime Detector #5 (1954)
Gamenomics & Comicology 