Dig These 13 Creepy Marvel CHAMBER OF CHILLS Covers
FRIGHTFUL FRIDAYS: Jim Beard visits the Haunted House of Ideas… — Hey, we’ve got a new Halloween feature for you — FRIGHTFUL FRIDAYS! Every Friday before Halloween (there’s four in 2024), our pal Jim Beard is going to dive into 13 horror covers from a given title. This year, the theme is offbeat Marvel in the Bronze Age. Next year? Whoooo knooooows? Dig it. — Dan — By JIM BEARD One of the greatest things to come out of the relaxing of the Comics Code in 1971 and 1972 was the parade of monsters, mayhem, and the macabre at Marvel Comics. Much has been made, rightfully so, of early-to-mid-Seventies series such as Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, and Ghost Rider, but I’m here to brush the cobwebs away from Marvel’s short-lived gems of horror anthologies from the same time—specifically their awesomely creepy covers. Chamber of Chills was a series shocked into life by then-editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, playing off a 1950s Harvey Comics title and a vehicle to publish comics adaptations of existing works from the spooky realm in addition to other pieces. Eventually, the book became a refuge for reprints and ran a respectable 25 issues from 1972 to 1975, as well as boasted input from such bigwig writers as John Jakes, Gardner Fox, and George Alec Effinger, and top-notch artists like P. Craig Russell, Howard Chaykin, and Frank Brunner. In all, Chamber of Chills pretty much exemplified the frightening feeling Marvel was going for in those heady days of the relaxed Code, a time when the appetite for blood that existed among readers could finally be satisfied by good ol’ horror mags. Dig these 13 Chill-ing covers and I’ll have more to unearth for you next Friday, Fright Fans! — Chamber of Chills #2 (Jan. 1973). Art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer. The danger of organic food backing up on you, I guess. — Chamber of Chills #3 (Mar. 1973). Art by Alan Weiss and Frank Giacoia. Love me some tentacles. Don’t judge. — Chamber of Chills #4 (May 1973). Art by Frank Brunner. This is the kind of image that would have kept me up at night, no foolin’. — Chamber of Chills #6 (Sept. 1973). Art by John Romita and Mike Esposito. Ben Grimm moonlighting? (See what I did there?) — Chamber of Chills...
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