FRIGHTFUL FRIDAYS: Jim Beard visits the Haunted House of Ideas…
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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
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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!
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Chamber of Chills #2 (Jan. 1973). Art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer. The danger of organic food backing up on you, I guess.
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Chamber of Chills #3 (Mar. 1973). Art by Alan Weiss and Frank Giacoia. Love me some tentacles. Don’t judge.
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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’.
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Chamber of Chills #6 (Sept. 1973). Art by John Romita and Mike Esposito. Ben Grimm moonlighting? (See what I did there?)
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Chamber of Chills #8 (Jan. 1974). Art by Marie Severin (attributed) and Ernie Chan. Look, folks, this is why you don’t wander into strange dungeons…
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Chamber of Chills #9 (Mar. 1974). Art by Ron Wilson (attributed), Marie Severin, Carl Burgos (attributed), and Mike Esposito. Are you there, Godzilla? It’s me, Karen.
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Chamber of Chills #11 (July 1974). Art by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia. Glad I wasn’t the only one who felt the Easter Island heads were creepy.
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Chamber of Chills #15 (Mar. 1975). Art by Larry Lieber, Mike Esposito (attributed), and Frank Giacoia (attributed). Textbook case of “out of the frying pan, into the fire” if I’ve ever seen one.
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Chamber of Chills #16 (May 1975). Art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer. Why does it seem like Gil and Tom were the perfect team to draw stuff like this?
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Chamber of Chills #20 (Jan. 1976). Art by Ron Wilson and Dan Adkins. Let this be a warning to you, kids: Grave robbing is not cool.
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Chamber of Chills #22 (May 1976). Art by Larry Lieber and Tom Palmer. Forget Bloody Mary—Scary Skeleton Dude Packing an Old-School Razor for the win.
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Chamber of Chills #23 (July 1976). Art by Ron Wilson and Al Milgrom. There’s always room for gorillas. Always.
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Chamber of Chills #24 (Sept. 1976). Art by Al Milgrom and Michael Nasser (Netzer). Look, even in space they’re gonna hear you scream, OK? Deal with it.
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MORE
— The TOP 13 Halloween Candies – RANKED. Click here.
— The Goofy Giddiness of Disney’s CHILLING, THRILLING HAUNTED HOUSE Record. Click here.
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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. His most fitting book for the season? Running Home to Shadows: Memories of TV’s First Supernatural Soap From Today’s Grown-Up Kids, available here.
