Greetings ghosts and ghoulies and welcome to The Theatre of Terror the home of horror comic news, reviews, classic comic scans and creepy art from around the world. Just remember, it's not for the nervous!
The year is 793 AD. Savage, heathen armies from the north invade Northumberland, for today is the day of the viking, but the night… The night belongs to something else.
Now available as a free pdf download, Blackfriars is a tale of vampires versus vikings by Michael Crouch.
The first episode appeared in the 2010 edition of Hallowscream, with further episodes appearing on Michael’s blog in weekly instalments. The story is drawn in the style of a serial from the classic British “Scream!” comic.
The cover is by John Caliber and there’s a short image gallery at the back of the collection with artwork by Andrew Milne, David Blankley, and Grant Perkins (with Mike Bunt inking and Owen Watts colouring).
AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO SINISTER SCRIBES AND OTHER VARIOUS FIENDS
Do you crave classic horror stories? Do you love the musty smell of a paperback anthology containing vintage horror? Stories about creepy old houses, aristocratic vampires, Lovecraftian creatures, and tales of psychological spooks?
We wanted to send a shout out to all interested parties who would want to submit pieces in this vein to MAD HOUSE, new digital magazine that’s eager to hear the terrifying tales that all you storytellers have to share. In addition to fiction, we’re open for nonfiction, poetry, and artwork.
If you pine after the Universal and Hammer horror films and worship authors like Poe, M.R. James, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and many others, than MAD HOUSE is the monster mag for you!
The official deadline for any and all submissions for our premiere issue is MAY 5TH, 2012. We are planning on releasing the anthology in time for the Halloween season and need to have all materials at the ready by the above timeline. Don’t miss out on your chance!
At this time we cannot offer payment to our contributors. We’re putting this magazine together for the pure fun of it and out of our love for all that is classic horror. We hope to someday offer monetary compensation for the great work that we’re provided with. In the meantime it is our desire to simply put together a loving publication that we can all share with other terror-loving friends.
We prefer that your submission is in Word document format, 12 point Times New Roman, single-spaced.
Stories can reach up to a 7,000 word maximum. Maximum word count for articles is 5,000 words.
Attach it to your email and make sure you include the piece’s title and your name in the subject line.
We will request short bios upon acceptance of your piece(s).
Address all submissions to madhousemag [at] yahoo [dot] com.
MAD HOUSE will require the non-exclusive right to use submissions in our free online edition and any possible PDF editions. First world electronic rights revert back to the creators three months after publication in MAD HOUSE. Reprints are more than welcome. We only ask that creators notify us of previous appearances of their work and credit MAD HOUSE for future publication of their accepted piece.
Check out our blog for more information. Be careful as you traverse through MAD HOUSE and always keep your hands at the level of your eyes! You never know who you may run into.
Have you all been good little boys and girls this year? You’d better hope so, ‘cos Santa’s not the one you need to worry about.
From wikipedia…
Krampus is a mythical creature recognized in Alpine countries. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children. When the Krampus finds a particularly naughty child, it stuffs the child in its sack and carries the frightened thing away to its lair, presumably to devour for its Christmas dinner.
In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented as a beast like creature, generally demonic in appearance. Traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria, southern Bavaria and South Tyrol during the first week of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells.
Speed Date, the controversial comic strip which appeared in the 2010 edition of Hallowscream, (and gained an equally unpleasant sequel in the recent 2011 issue), is now also a short film. It had its first public screening at this year’s annual Irish Film Institute Horrorthon.
Speed Kills, (the original title was already taken), is adapted from Dirk Van Dom’s original comic strip by Alan Rogers, who also produces, directs and stars as the depraved protagonist, Tucker.
You can show your support and find out about further screenings, and all the other information you’d care to know, on the official Facebook page HERE.
The tenth issue of HAUNTED magazine, (Nov/Dec 2011), is now on sale at selected branches of WH Smith and newsagents across the UK.
For just £3.99, it contains over a hundred pages of cool eclectic stuff covering all things paranormal and includes the like of interviews with James Randi and Warwick Davis, articles and features on the Pendle Witches, Oakley Court Hotel, Alton Towers, British horror toys, loads of mediumistic, ghosthunting and spiritual stuff, and lots, lots, (lots), more. Scream! comic even gets a brief mention.
…and in among all this is an exclusive single-page promotional Hallowscream comic strip by yours truly, (with a couple of teensy panels by Matthew Soffe and Liam Matthew Byrne).
Turf is a five-issue comic series from Image Comics written by Jonathan Ross and illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards. I was slightly dubious about Turf mostly because of my pre-conceptions about writer Jonathon Ross. Generally, I think the guy is a legend, despite his well publicised mistakes, as he wears his geekiness on his sleeve and has a genuine love for comics which rare to see from a celebrity. However, I recently read an interview in Bizarre magazine where Ross was his typical over-confident self, spouting simple ideas like he believed he was a creative genius when really he just sounded like a bit of a knob. The premise for Turf feels fairly haphazard itself – Vampires, Aliens and Gangsters in 1920s prohibition-era New York. It almost sounds like the author threw a load of nouns in to a tombola, gave it a quick spin, and choose 4 at random to create the storyline.
The first 20,000 copies of issue 1 sold out on pre-orders alone and that is probably testament to Ross’s likeable personality and fame. When I picked up the first issue I was fairly unimpressed by the cover art and as i began to read through the pages was filled with dread by the vast amount of text that filled huge sections of the pages. The text itself also seemed to lack any of Ross’s humour, which I initially felt was a huge loss to the potential of the comic. Very little seemed to happen in the first issue as well leaving me feeling a little cold as I had to put in a lot of work reading for very little reward. At least it takes a while to finish unlike most comics which I can finish in minutes.
I’m not the sort to quit after just one issue so continued to plow on through the remaining 4 issues. I’m pleased to report I emerged from the experience with a different outlook to Turf which I now regard as a jolly good read filled with interesting ideas seamlessly blended together to create a strong and fascinating tale. Sure the whole thing feels oddly paced in places and occasionally Tommy Lee Edwards’s artwork feels a little rushed but for a chat show host’s debut comic it’s pretty darn good.
Anti-hero thug and all round bad-guy Eddie Falco is the series’ main protagonist, amongst a cast of very strong characters, and his journey from malicious thug to righteous hero helps to ground the sometimes bonkers plot. There are plenty of fresh ideas which I throughly enjoyed. Falco’s relationship with the alien Squeed, The Orchard, the slow lead up to the final battle and its climax, Tommy Lee Edwards representaion of the flying Vampires. This comic has a lot to offer. Occasionally the scheming vampires and ‘Nooo York’ gangsters seem a little cliche but when rolled together with a splash of alien they make a unique and intoxicating blend.
There was talk of a movie adaptation to be directed by Matthew Vaughan (Kick Ass, X-Men: First Class) but it’s all gone quiet at the moment. There’s certainly room for a second series of Turf which is hinted at the end of the final issue. Can Ross and Edwards deliver again? I certainly hope so.
Cereal Killer Trading Cards from Wax Eye are an instant throwback to the 80’s when collecting Garbage Pail Kids trading cards were all the rage. I remember being delighted when I could afford to purchase a new pack to see what horrors I would get. Some of the pictures were so grotesque that I’m surprised parents didn’t burn down the newsagents that sold them.
Artist Joe Simko has lovingly created these fantastic images which will delight horror fans. Joe also works on the modern series of Garbage Pail Kids so he has a full pedigree when it comes to designing trading cards.
Other catchy names include Village of the Grahamed, The Weatful Dead, Shredded Feet, Fiber the 13th and many more…
You can purchase these great cards from the Wax Eye site and they’ve proved so popular in the States that you can even find them in Toys’R’Us. The 3-Pack Mini Cereal Box Set contains:
20 cards per cereal box, 60 total cards per 3-Pack
Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy is considered by literary historians as a masterpiece of world literature. The 14,233 line poem describes the journey of narrator Dante as he passes through the afterlife; 3 realms of the dead divided into Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso (Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven). The story represents the soul’s journey towards God, with the Inferno representing the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is in Hell.
Dante’s Inferno is a seriously dark and disturbing story filled with twisted horrors, classic mythology and easily recognisable fables still used within culture, art and literature today. It’s an ancient horror story depicting all the horrible things that happen to the sinners of the world shared with us by the author as he travels through the 9 circles of Hell. Upper Hell (the first 5 Circles) is set aside for the self-indulgent sinners; Circles 6 and 7 for the violent sinners; and Circles 8 and 9 for the really evil malicious sinners.
It’s a complex tale but nicely set out in this diagram below. Us comic fans appreciate a picture to go with a story.
Listed in depth below are the Nine Circles of Hell. Which one are you going to?
First circle (Limbo)
In Limbo reside the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not sinful, did not accept Christ. They are not punished in an active sense, but rather grieve only because of their separation from God, without hope of reconciliation.
Second circle (Lust)
In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. Dante condemns these ‘carnal malefactors’ for letting their appetites sway their reason. They are the first ones to be truly punished in Hell. These souls are blown about to and fro by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without hope of rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow one about needlessly and aimlessly.
Third circle (Gluttony)
The ‘Great Worm’ Cerberus guards the gluttons, forced to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain. The gluttons lie here sightless and heedless of their neighbours, symbolising the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives. Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality, which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction.
Fourth circle (Greed)
Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many ‘clergymen, and popes and cardinals’), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them.The condemned souls are tortured by being sheared in money presses, boiled in melted gold and buried in heavy gold coins.
Fifth circle (Wrath/Sullenness)
In the swamp-like water of the river Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water, withdrawn ‘into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe.
Sixth circle (Heresy)
In the sixth circle, Heretics, such as Epicurians (who say ‘the soul dies with the body’) are trapped in flaming tombs, people who have gone against the teaching of their churches, halls of men and women who forever burn in fire and are forever tortured by various implements.
Seventh circle (Violence)
Outer ring: This ring houses the violent against people and property, who are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire, to a level commensurate with their sins.
Middle ring: In this ring are the suicides (the violent against self), who are transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees, which are fed on by the Harpies. Unique among the dead, the suicides will not be bodily resurrected after the final judgement, having given their bodies away through suicide. Instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the limbs.
Inner ring: Here the violent against God (blasphemers) and the violent against nature (sodomites and, as explained in the sixth circle, usurers) all reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery flakes raining from the sky (a similar fate to Sodom and Gomorrah). The blasphemers lie on the sand, the usurers sit, and the sodomites wander about in groups.
Eighth circle (Fraud)
The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve conscious fraud or treachery.The fraudulent, “those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil, are located in a circle named Malebolge (‘Evil Pockets’), divided into ten Bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches:
Bolgia 1: Panderers (pimps) and seducers march in separate lines in opposite directions, whipped by demons
Bolgia 2: Flatterers also exploited other people, this time using language. They are steeped in human excrement, which represents the words they produced.
Bolgia 3:those who committed simony. These are placed head-first in holes in the rock (resembling baptismal fonts), with flames burning on the soles of their feet.
Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets here have their heads twisted around on their bodies backward, so that they ‘found it necessary to walk backward, / because they could not see ahead of them.’
Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals
Bolgia 6: the hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing gilded lead cloaks, which represent the falsity behind the surface appearance of their actions falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.
Bolgia 7: Two cantos are devoted to the thieves, who are guarded by the centaur Cacus, who has a fire-breathing dragon on his shouldersThe thieves are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards. The full horror of the thieves’ punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people’s substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here,and the snake bites make them undergo various transformations.
Bolgia 8: the fraudulent advisers or evil councillors, who are concealed within individual flames. These are not people who gave false advice, but people who used their position to advise others to engage in fraud.
Bolgia 9: In the ninth Bolgia, a sword-wielding demon hacks at the sowers of discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others.[49] As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again.
Bolgia 10: In the final Bolgia, various sorts of falsifiers (alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and impersonators), who are a ‘disease’ on society, are themselves afflicted with different types of diseases.
Ninth circle (Treachery)
The traitors are distinguished from the ‘merely’ fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying a special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones (or ’rounds’) of traitors, corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery, the traitors are frozen in a lake of ice known as Cocytus, with each group encased in ice to progressively greater depths.
Round 1 is named Cana, after Cain, who killed his brother. Traitors to kindred are here immersed in the ice up to their faces ‘the place / where shame can show itself’
Round 2 is named Antenora, after Antenor of Troy, who according to medieval tradition, betrayed his city to the Greeks. Traitors to political entities, such as party, city, or country, are located here.
Round 3 is named Ptolomaea, probably after Ptolemy, son of Abubus, who invited Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet and then killed them. Traitors to their guests are punished here, lying supine in the ice, which covers them, except for their faces. They are punished more severely than the previous traitors, since the relationship to guests is an entirely voluntary one.
Round 4 is named Judecca, after Judas Iscariot, Biblical betrayer of Christ. Here are the traitors to their lords and benefactors. All of the sinners punished within are completely encapsulated in ice, distorted in all conceivable positions. With no one to talk to here
In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is Satan. Satan is described as a giant, terrifying beast with three faces, one red, one black, and one a pale yellow. Satan is waist deep in ice, weeping tears from his six eyes, and beating his six wings as if trying to escape, although the icy wind that emanates only further ensures his imprisonment (as well as that of the others in the ring). Each face has a mouth that chews on a prominent traitor, with Brutus and Cassius feet-first in the left and right mouths respectively.
In the central, most vicious mouth is Judas Iscariot, the namesake of Judecca and the betrayer of Jesus. Judas is being administered the most horrifying torture of the three traitors, his head gnawed by Satan’s mouth, and his back being forever skinned by Satan’s claws. What is seen here is a perverted trinity: Satan is impotent, ignorant, and full of hate, in contrast to the all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving nature of God.
Do you know what your children are reading tonight?
A slice of anti-horror comic propaganda from 1955, the year after the Comics Code Authoritywas formed. More details on YouTube. Running time is 25 and a half minutes.
In 1954 a serious crime was committed against horror! The Comics Magazine Association of America unleashed The Comics Code Authority a governing body set up to corrupt the minds of young children by preventing them reading horror and crime comics! This truly despicable act banned graphic depictions of violence and gore in crime and horror comics. Torture, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism were all outlawed. Even vampires, werewolves and zombies were declared illegal! Dark times indeed.
These horrific laws are listed below. Tremble in terror at the wonderful things that were no longer allowed to grace the pages of comics. Cower in fear as you imagine the sickening world these laws could lead to. Children with nothing to read but comics about puppies and (shudder) talking bears.
CODE OF THE COMICS MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC.
Adopted October 26, 1954
PREAMBLE
The comic-book medium, having come of age on the American cultural scene, must measure up to its responsibilities.
Constantly improving techniques and higher standards go hand in hand with these responsibilities.
To make a positive contribution to contemporary life, the industry must seek new areas for developing sound, wholesome entertainment. The people responsible for writing, drawing, printing, publishing, and selling comic books have done a commendable job in the past, and have been striving toward this goal.
Their record of progress and continuing improvement compares favorably with other media in the communications industry. An outstanding example is the development of comic books as a unique and effective tool for instruction and education. Comic books have also made their contribution in the field of letters and criticism of contemporary life.
In keeping with the American tradition, the members of this industry will and must continue to work together in the future.
In the same tradition, members of the industry must see to it that gains made in this medium are not lost and that violations of standards of good taste, which might tend toward corruption of the comic book as an instructive and wholesome form of entertainment, will be eliminated.
Therefore, the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc. has adopted this code, and placed strong powers of enforcement in the hands of an independent code authority.
Further, members of the association have endorsed the purpose and spirit of this code as a vital instrument to the growth of the industry.
To this end, they have pledged themselves to conscientiously adhere to its principles and to abide by all decisions based on the code made by the administrator.
They are confident that this positive and forthright statement will provide an effective bulwark for the protection and enhancement of the American reading public, and that it will become a landmark in the history of self-regulation for the entire communications industry.
CODE FOR EDITORIAL MATTER
General standards—Part A
Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
No comics shall explicitly present the unique details and methods of a crime.
Policemen, judges, Government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
No unique or unusual methods of concealing weapons shall be shown.
Instances of law-enforcement officers dying as a result of a criminal’s activities should be discouraged.
The crime of kidnapping shall never be portrayed in any detail, nor shall any profit accrue to the abductor or kidnaper. The criminal or the kidnaper must be punished in every case.
The letters of the word “crime” on a comics-magazine cover shall never be appreciably greater in dimension than the other words contained in the title. The word “crime” shall never appear alone on a cover.
Restraint in the use of the word “crime” in titles or subtitles shall be exercised.
General standards—Part B
No comic magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.
All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
General standards—Part C
All elements or techniques not specifically mentioned herein, but which are contrary to the spirit and intent of the code, and are considered violations of good taste or decency, shall be prohibited.
Dialogue
Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
Special precautions to avoid references to physical afflictions or deformities shall be taken.
Although slang and colloquialisms are acceptable, excessive use should be discouraged and, wherever possible, good grammar shall be employed.
Religion
Ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group is never permissible.
Costume
Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society.
Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
NOTE.—It should be recognized that all prohibitions dealing with costume, dialog, or artwork applies as specifically to the cover of a comic magazine as they do to the contents.
Marriage and sex
Divorce shall not be treated humorously nor represented as desirable.
Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Violent love scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable.
Respect for parents, the moral code, and for honorable behavior shall be fostered. A sympathetic understanding of the problems of love is not a license for morbid distortion.
The treatment of live-romance stories shall emphasize the value of the home and the sanctity of marriage.
Passion or romantic interest shall never be treated in such a way as to stimulate the lower and baser emotions.
Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
CODE FOR ADVERTISING MATTER
These regulations are applicable to all magazines published by members of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc. Good taste shall be the guiding principle in the acceptance of advertising.
Liquor and tobacco advertising is not acceptable.
Advertisement of sex or sex instruction books are unacceptable.
The sale of picture postcards, “pinups,” “art studies,” or any other reproduction of nude or seminude figures is prohibited.
Advertising for the sale of knives or realistic gun facsimiles is prohibited.
Advertising for the sale of fireworks is prohibited.
Advertising dealing with the sale of gambling equipment or printed matter dealing with gambling shall not be accepted.
Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.
To the best of his ability, each publisher shall ascertain that all statements made in advertisements conform to fact and avoid misrepresentation.
Advertisement of medical, health, or toiletry products of questionable nature are to be rejected. Advertisements for medical, health, or toiletry products endorsed by the American Medical Association, or the American Dental Association, shall be deemed acceptable if they conform with all other conditions of the Advertising Code.
Amazingly enough it was not until January 2011 that the last surviving members of the original pact, DC Comics and Archie Comics, decided to drop the Comics Code from their products. Thankfully, the code is now officially dead!
Ghosts and ghouls, this is a call to arms. The boundaries that prevented the spread of evil through comics have been lifted. The young are no longer protected by these terrible laws. It’s our duty as horror comic readers, writers, artists, and fans to create even more evil on an grander scale. If horror comics are to remain an important outlet for gruesome terror we must infect new readers and corrupt young minds. To find out more and to join me on this imperative mission visit Hallowscream.net
Most of the readers on this site are already well trained in the art of surviving a zombie apocalypse thanks mostly to reading countless zombie books and watching plenty of zombie films. Let’s call it a rather unhealthy obsession with zombies! (or healthy, once the zom-ocalypse finally kicks off) So, you wouldn’t want to find yourself playing against one of these trained survivalist next time you’re at a party and someone whips out a copy of the new ‘The Waling Dead‘ board game!
Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment and publisher Z-Man Games have created a board game that allows you to become the legend that is Rick Grimes or one of his fellow survivors and battle off hordes of zombies while scavenging for supplies. Who wouldn’t want to do that?
“The Walking Dead” board game will arrive late summer 2011. You can find out more by pressing your mouse button twice here.
Do you want to join the Scream team? We're looking for enthusiastic people to contribute articles on horror or comics here on The Theatre of Terror. Contact me for more info.
Cereal Killer Trading Cards from 
Adopted October 26, 1954
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