precodekeith

Man, that Sleepy Hollow record looks sooo familiar!! It's one of those things that I THINK I might have had when I was very young, but can't be 100% certain. Regadrless, it's pretty damn cool. Wasn't Yummy Mummy the same basic formula as Fruit Brute? Didn't Mummy come out after they stopped making Brute? Anyone?

I love this cover, because one of my ex-girlfriends was named Charlotte, and man was she PSYCHO! Hey, she tried to force me to sell all my comics!

Hope this posts ok.... Guess which HoS this is, hehe .... ... and the crease is actually 1/16 shy of being 1/2" long! Also, it makes the corner bend up so that it doesn't lay flat... some "NM"... I'm not even showing the 8 color breaking spine stresses...

Haha, wow! Amazing the type of posts one can come up with after a very bad day and a few beers! Actually, I would never publicly call out a board member whom I traded with/bought from over this particular book. If I had a beef with a fellow collector I would certainly keep it PM'd. God knows I have a lot to learn myself when it comes to strict grading in the "high grade" area. Hell, sometimes I still catch myself slipping and calling G material VG!! However, Mile High did break one off in me on this deal. Being as they are making a living dealing comics (professionals) I therefore hold them to a higher standard. They sure don't grade as well as Shiver or Zonker - two excellent, tight graders in my book!

Mile High can kiss my rear! If any of you have read my posts, you know I am a completist / reader who generally doesn't give a care about HG material. That being said, a few weeks ago I had one issue of HoS to go to complete my BA run. So, I figured what the heck, Mile High has it in NM, I'll "splurge" and order a HG copy. Sort of a "celebration," so to speak, for finishing the run. This was the FIRST time I've ever ordered an advertised NM from a dealer in all my years of collecting. Um, can you say "overgraded!" Now, I'm the first to admit I probably did the same when I FIRST entered the hobby. Even until I got my initial set of slabbed books back, in fact. However, I'm not a national dealer who has been at it since the birth of fandom who should know better. Mile High is, and I GOT BURNED! Color breaking spine creases and a quarter inch corner ding aint NM folks! FU%$* that!!! I'm happy that you are satisfied with your HG order. Me, I feel I got "taken", and I'd rather take my chances, be patient, and roll the dice with friggin' eBay from now on rather than pay a premium for something that doesn't deserve it. Hey Chuck, your graders can me !!!!

Let's not forget the Jack Adler influence. Highly influential, IMO. Also, can't deny the Neil Adams style which defined DC BA horror early on. (should I dredge up the HoM 174 cover controversy again?! )

Hey, guys! Just wanted to let the board members know that my print fanzine, HORROR COMICS REVIEW, has a new issue (#4) out! Issue 4 has some articles of possible interest to BA fans, including a look at the T. McFarlane letters to the late bronze DC horror line, the reader fallout from the infamous "Bunny Story" from Unexpected 202, and an up close and personal look at the board's very own "Shiverbones." Click my sig for a link!

I have two long boxes of DC BA for trade if anyone is interested, but it is all VG to FINE, with a few VF's of the early 80's stuff. I'm not too worried about the HG stuff, but I'd be very interested in trading with other readers/completists like myself so we can fill in the gaps in our collections! Just PM me with titles/issues you have/need.

POV!!! I have always loved that HoS 113 cover, one of my faves! I just completed my House of Secrets run of 81 - 154. Hooray!

Shiver - kudos on the Lovecraft pb! Very cool! The art is very Matt Fox-ish, although I doubt it is him. Speaking of Lovecraft, someone in CBG did an article way back covering all of the comic adaptions of his material, a good deal of which were Bronze. Wish I could find it...

Sterling... I've wondered that several times myself! I think it is somewhat humorous that they used repetitive themes so often. I guess when you are doing a genre publication over the course of several years, you are going to run out of ideas eventually or swipe yourself (purposefully or not) once in awhile. I mean, how many times can Batman put the Joker in the Arkham pokey, right? "There's nothing new under the sun." - some guy.

Good points Zonker. I don't think the subject is ready to rest yet. My personal gut feeling is that Infantino must have done the house facade, doorway, & hand stuff, and Adams threw on the kids. We know Adams did the next issue, 175. The kids are pretty darn close on this to the kids on 174: two boys and a girl in pigtails in each scene. In fact, if we look at Adams' run on the covers up to 192 we see he likes to use the "snoopy kids" theme on pretty much every cover. (I'm missing 3 books, so excuse me for not being 100% positive here). I don't think the children were editorial "dictate," because if you look at the Wrightson covers immediately following the Adams run, he doesn't use them. Wrightson didn't quite yet have the clout of Adams at this time, so as the "new" guy I don't see him beeing able to not illustrate kids in peril and buck editorial policy if it was policy. I just think Neil really liked to draw kids in trouble during this period, because it worked well for him. Also, the issues immediately preceding 174 (which Neil didn't work on) didn't use the children theme. Plus, Adams signed the approval cover, as Mushroom pointed out. The answer remains to be seen I guess. Yet another "mystery" from the House...

I've always felt Adams had some collaboration/ input on this cover myself. Mostly based on the kids. Anybody get to the San Diego Con? Any reports?

"Welcome Back to the HoM" was reprints, and only one issue tmk. "House of Secrets: Foundation" was a continuos story arc, not the traditional anthology style. It was a decent enough character study mixing psychological and supernatural horror, but nothing to blow your doors off. I never read more than the "Foundation" series, I believe there was another called "Facade." Sterling, check out my Horror Comics Review website (check my sig) under the "print version reviews" link. I can recommend all those titles listed there.

Sterling, there are plenty of these books on the market right now. In fact, horror has within the last year or so made itself a viable genre with smaller publishers again. That is one reason why I review many modern books in my fanzine, because I know that most "advanced" collectors are caught up in a back-issue vacuum, completely oblivious to the current comic market. As for HoM, I haven't heard a peep about it coming back, but I don't think you can ever count that out. Frankly, I'm surprised DC/Vertigo hasn't leapt at the chance to cash in on the current popularity of horror comics, and Marvel as well. Marvel has released the Essential Tomb of Dracula and The Witches ( Dr. Strange type stuff), but they haven't delved into true anthology horror yet. As for Vertigo, I would have thought they would be all over it by now, but they are completely missing the boat. I'm very let down!

Nice PB's. I've been looking for # 2 for awhile now with no luck. Have you read them yet?

I've been collecting strictly horror "full time" for eleven years now, and I've never known this to be the MAJORITY opinion among my fellow horror heads. That era ('80-'85) produced some GREAT stories, including my all time personal favorite (Unexpected 202, baby!). Sure, a lot of us poo-poo the Johnny Peril type filler, but the remainder of the stuff is still pretty solid over all. MAYBE the art isn't as comparable, but a good scary story is just that and always will be. I think what Doug was actually implying is that the ENTIRE output of 80 - 85 (not just horror) was getting warm and had potential to get hot in a couple more years.

No denying that bronze is hot right now. In fact, in my latest issue of Horror Comics Review (which FINALLY goes to press tonight!) I talk in the market report section about this. I see exactly what you mean about someone having a better connection to books that they grew up with opposed to older ones. I have been buying almost strictly bronze for over a year lately without nary a pre-code, simply because they are less expensive (barring high grade these days) and I read them as a kid. I also find it interesting that Doug points out that horror collectors have traditionally been buyers of vg - fine grades and not really sought HG material.

Has anyone here read the new CBG (#1596)?? Doug Sulipa has a "trendwatcher" column & he really hypes up the bronze horror market. In fact, at one point he makes a statement about a customer who "even traded in all his pre-Comics Code horror comics to us in his attempt to more quickly complete his high grade '70-'85 era DC & Charlton horror collection." YIKES! So, I figure this "mystery person" pretty much HAS to be a board member here... just a gut feeling! So, who is it? Fess up! Really, I wouldn't have any clue except the mention of Charlton REALLY makes me think of Shiverbones. However, I just can't see the Shiv- Meister trading in all his pre-code. Say it ain't so, Shiv!

Deathlok - I love to read these books! It's why I still collect. I curl up in bed a couple nights a week with horror comics before I drift off to sleep. I'm not a grade-hound, I just want to own and read every horror comic ever! I don't even own any slabbed horror books because, well... I'd have to crack 'em to read, and then what would the point of the slab be? Maybe some day though...

That HoS 88 is indeed hard to come by! Like you said, most copies have some sort of bad cut to them.

SHIV!!! Let me help you with your quest! I have multiples available for the following: Dark Mansion 10 All 8 issues of Secrets HH Ghost Castle 1 Witching Hour 36 So, I can help you with 11 of the 18 you need, I will PM you with conditions. We can trade (I'd prefer) or I can sell outright.

Oh yeah! My fave Unexpected of all time! Dang Greggy, couldn't you come up with a better copy! Look at that spine!!!

For a long time I considered both WWT and MIS to be on "another tier" compared to the standard DC horror of HoS, Unexpected, etc. Translation: I didn't really collect them, and only picked up a copy if one was included in a bulk set I had purchased. THEN one day I saw that "Burnt Offerings" cover of MiS (also the title of a movie, BTW) and knew I was looking at a classic. I've had a newfound appreciation for that run ever since then. As for WWT, well I've only started getting turned onto this title thanks to the posts in this thread courtesy of SHIV & the gang. Very cool stuff! WWT #44 reminds me of that story in the HEAVY METAL movie where the bomber goes down over that island in the Pacific & .....