Do you dare to enter.... the House of Mystery? This 552-page black-and-white value-priced trade paperback collects 22 classic issues anda wealth of early art from macabre masters Bernie Wrightson, Neal Adams, Gil Kane and Alex Toth, as well as the grim gags of Sergio Aragons and the storytelling talents of Len Wein, Robert Kanigher and Gerry Conway, among many others!
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9–This compilation of 20 issues of the series contains a detailed table of contents listing the stories within each issue with author and artist credits. Black-and-white reprints of the original covers precede each of the short stories about the supernatural. Although the drawing style varies from tale to tale, this volume has a very classic-comic look. A recurring host appears throughout but the stories do not need to be read in any particular order. Although the selections lack the overt blood and gore prevalent in today's comics, they also lack any sort of racial diversity.–Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST SHOWCASE EDITION YET!,
This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
If I have one regret about my early days of comic collecting in the early 1970's it's that I completely ignored the many great horror and mystery titles that were coming out at the time. This 11 year old was plunking down his hard earned quarters on superhero titles only! As I've grown older I've developed a tremendous appreciation for titles like Tales of the Unexpected, Ghosts, The Witching Hour, and the subject of this latest Showcase edition from DC, House of Mystery. I will say categorically that this is the BEST Showcase edition released so far. What other title of the late 1960's and early 70's can boast a line-up of artists that included Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Jim Aparo, Wally Wood, Alex Toth, Russ Heath, Al Williamson, Gil Kane, Gray Morrow, and Sergio Aragones? The quick answer is NONE!
This collection reprints House of Mystery # 174 through 194. The stories are really light horror/mystery tales. These would not be as visceral as the EC stories of the 50's or the horror comics of the bronze age. They often has a Twilight Zone type feel to them in their ironic conclusions. We of course meet our host Cain who will greet readers at the start of each issue in a schlocky, horror host way with his own brand of wickedly sarcastic humor. One of the special treats throughout the book is the reprinting of the Page 13 and Cain's Game Room cartoons by legendary Mad Magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragones. Mad Magazine aside, Sergio's cartoons in this collection are some of the most deliciously evil work that he ever did. His morbid sense of humor is unrivaled. Another big selling point in this run is the outstanding cover art. The first issue, as well as the cover to the book features work by Nick Cardy one of the underappreciated artists of the Silver Age. The covers for issues 175 through 192 are by Neal Adams and represent some of his best comic book work, generally depicting a trio of young children facing an ominous danger. The last two covers are by yet another all-time great, Berni Wrightson. The massive book contains dozens of stories that run in length from three to ten pages. The first few issues are themselves mostly reprints of stories that appeared in earlier issues of House of Mystery or its sister title House of Secrets. You can definitely see the change in tone and mood as the stories become more horrific in the latter stages. In "The Game" written and illustrated by Neal Adams. A young boy on the way home from a birthday party takes refuge in an old house to get out of a rain storm and encounters the mysterious residents inside. "Widows Walk" is written by Joe Orlando with art by Neal Adams and tells the story of a spurned wife who cursed her husband for marrying her for her money by never allowing him to return to shore while she lived. This one had a notable EC flair to it. In "Devil's Doorway" by Alex Toth, a man buys a mirror that he soon discovers is possessed by evil and opens a gateway to Hell. The stories by Wally Wood are somewhat out of place in the book as they are more fantasy than horror but hey...it's Wally Wood! In his tale "Eye of the Basilisk" Wood inks Gil Kane's pencils in a story about a monster terrorizing a village. Berni Wrightson illustrates several stories in the book including one ominous tale called "House of Madness" that finds a man in modern day London getting lost in a for and entering a doorway that takes him back in time to London's infamous Bedlam Asylum. There's really nothing not to like in this collection. The art is superb throughout, the stories are well-written and the Aragones' cartoons add a jovial bit of humor. Even the fact that the book is in black & white doesn't hurt it since the horror stories often work better in b & w than color anyway. I hope that DC continues to spotlight lesser titles like these in the Showcase editions as they featured fantastic work that should be preserved for the next generations of comic book fans. Superb! Reviewed by Tim Janson
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing "Scary", but Plenty of Entertainment to be Found,
By
This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
In the late 1960s, after a fifteen-year hiatus, mainstream comics, specifically DC and Marvel (but also certain of their rivals) re-entered the horror genre. The hiatus had begun after increasing concern in the early 1950s, when it alleged that EC Comics line of horror and crime comics were detrimental to America's youth. While Marvel was not a concern at the time, DC/National and Archie did take the opportunity to choke their most dangerous rival, EC, by adopting an industry-wide Comic Code Authority, which specifically banned horror comics. Thus, DC Comics own early stab at EC horror, "House of Mystery" and "House of Secrets" became more sci-fi and fantasy oriented.
But, then, in the late 1960s, magazine publishers like Warren began producing comic book horror in a black and white magazine format. At the same time, the super-hero genre, thanks in no small part to Marvel, was developing new maturity, the readership was getting older, and so the ban on horror comics gradually lifted. DC brought in former EC Comics writer/editor/artist as its editor-in-chief. One of Orlando's outstanding moves in his tenure was to return "House of Mystery" to its horror roots. During the sixties, "HoM" was the home of Silver Age super-hero stalwarts the Martian Manhunter and Dial "H" for Hero. Starting with issue #179, "HoM", Orlando corralled a veritable who's who of talent to make for a solidly creepy comic book, which DC wisely released very early in its "Showcase Presents" line of black & white trade paperback reprints. First, the sad reality: comics are not a good medium for "jump" horror the way film/television and even prose fiction is. Comic books by their nature are static, and so, even the most talented person can only make such a story so scary. Even the EC books were not so much frightening but gory and disturbing in their perverse tone. For "HoM", Orlando and company were taking baby steps, so only a handful of these stories really catch the "nauseating" quality of the EC material. That having been said, there's a surprising diversity in this volume precisely because Orlando was making a transition with this book. So, there is a liberal use of reprints from "HoM's" pre-Code days, intermingled with various humorous bits by Sergio Aragones ("Mad" most of which are really funny), and new stories by such talents as Robert Kanigher ("Sgt. Rock), Jim Aparo ("The Spectre", "Batman"), Gil Kane ("Green Lantern"), Bernie Wrightson (soon to be famous for "Swamp Thing"), Neal Adams, and others. Most of the series is narrated by the caretaker, Cain (familiar to fans of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman"), who wasn't quite the creep that other narrators like the Crypt-Keeper were (at least, not yet). While lacking the bite of the EC comics, Orlando successfully injected the element of "karma", i.e. do bad and you get eaten by monsters, into "HoM". While the format is black and white, the material actually benefits. Again, there's nothing "scary" in this volume, but there is plenty of entertainment to be found. It's also great to see so many great creators in one volume. Definitely one of the smartest moves DC has made when it comes to its reprints. Hopefully, "House of Secrets" isn't too far off.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, unmissable, 5 stars,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Essential purchase if you were into these comics as a kid ! This collection will transport you right back to your wondrous childhood years, bringing back all the sense of mystery and dreamlike possibilities of those naïve years. Reading this collection took me straight back to my pre teen years -- riding to small stores , off the beaten track, with my best friend -- we'd collect together all our small change and buy these highly treasured comics, which always had a sense of the forbidden, a sense of danger about them. Of course, they are pretty naive stories now I read them as an adult, and they have little of the real sense of the grotesque that the banned EC comics had, but to a child of ten, they seemed pretty far out, subversive, and even threatening. I'd rush home on my bicycle and relish these forbidden texts in the privacy of my home, hiding under the bed covers, enjoying the sense of danger these stories had. To enhance the mood and atmosphere of the comics , I`d borrow my big sister`s Black Sabbath records. Playing those crackly old Black Sabbath records with their dog eared sleeves and reading these comics at the same time proved to be heady brew to a ten year old boy!. All the great artists are here too -- Berni Wrightson, Redondo, Nino, Alcala and others , most of whom besides Wrightson of course were from The Philippines. The stories aren't half as dark as one remembers of course -- but some of the artwork is really out there, even when looked at through "adult eyes."
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