This Magazine Is Haunted
Encyclopedia
This Magazine is Haunted was a horror comic originally published by Fawcett
between 1951 and 1953. Running 14 issues, it was the first of Fawcett's supernatural line; a string of titles which included Beware! Terror Tales, Worlds of Fear, Strange Suspense Stories
, and Unknown Worlds.
After Fawcett ceased publication, This Magazine is Haunted was sold to and published by Charlton Comics
from 1954 to 1958.
) to movie adaptations and teen humor. Created by Sheldon Moldoff
and edited by Will Leiberson and Al Jetter, the book was loosely modeled after EC's New Trend, particularly their highly successful horror titles.
Like its better-known competitors, This Magazine is Haunted was notable for its black humor and frequent O. Henry
climaxes. Drawing on the considerable creative resources of the Fawcett stable, Haunted storylines dealt with the standard horror themes of the period: vengeance from beyond the grave, macabre retribution and 'dark' justice, all of which were presented with an appropriate level of irony.
Human folly played a key role in many stories; characters were constantly led into disaster by their own greed, stupidity or outright corruption. Numerous plots revolved around violent criminals meeting grisly but entirely deserving fates, while others featured hapless bystanders trapped in bizarre or terrifying circumstances.
Comics historian Stephen Sennitt describes the Fawcett line as "genuinely eerie" in contrast to EC's more visceral approach.
Aside from the evident cinematic influences, Haunted and its companions followed at least two literary traditions derived from the pulp literature
of the previous decades. The first was the Crime-Horror imagery of magazines like Black Mask or Flynn's Detective Fiction, which emphasized murder, violence, and horrific crimes. Many authorities believe that the tradition was passed down to the 50s horror genre via the Crime comics
of the later forties; Haunted featured numerous stories combining the two areas.
Of course, by far the most potent influence on This Magazine is Haunted was the horror comic genre itself, which according to Watt-Evans, represented around one sixth of the comics market at its 1954 peak.
Once more following EC's example, Haunted featured mainly non-continuing stories narrated by a suitably malevolent host, the cadaverous Doctor Death. Resembling a decaying corpse dressed as a Victorian undertaker, Doctor Death played much the same role as the Crypt Keeper in Tales From the Crypt
, breaking the fourth wall
to provide explanations and plot details. Unlike EC's so-called "ghoulunatics" however, Dr. Death frequently orchestrated events in the narrative, acting as the hand of fate and even driving the characters towards their ultimate destruction. To this end, he was capable of taking on human form to interact with his intended victims, feeding them bad advice or (somewhat maliciously) betraying their trust at crucial moments.
Dr. Death resembled Mr. Crime, the cartoon mascot from Lev Gleason Publications
' Crime Does Not Pay
. Both wore vintage clothing and had, to varying degrees, an inhuman appearance.
First appearing on the cover of Haunted #1, Doctor Death was the series' host until its cancellation in 1953. He returned for a number of issues when the magazine was acquired by Charlton Comics
in 1954. As rendered by Charlton stalwart Steve Ditko
, Doctor Death took on a progressively less skeletal appearance.
Like most other comics of the early fifties, Haunted's content drew upon a wide variety of popular cultural sources, particularly mainstream cinema, pulp fiction and American folklore. Stories were often above average in quality: scripts were literate and occasionally poetic; artwork usually of Fawcett's professional standards (comparable, in a few examples, to EC's more outstanding material). Perhaps the one thing lacking was innovation. Haunted dealt in the standard horror fare of the period - bizarre crimes, weird creatures, walking cadavers and the like. Virtually all of Haunted's recurrent themes were common to the genre, recycled in practically every horror comic to grace the newsstands.
There was one area, however, in which Fawcett showed some degree of originality.
Haunted was notable for employing the "The Beyond," as a unifying element to many of its storylines. While the idea wasn't used consistently, it became a recurring plot device in all of Fawcett's horror titles, sometimes playing an essential role in the narrative. It was, in a sense, the closest thing to a "universe" in a series of books otherwise lacking in continuity.
Briefly speaking, The Beyond was a mysterious plane of existence which occasionally encroached on the physical world. A shadowy limbo vaguely akin to the Afterlife, it served as the source of the many supernatural menaces which threatened the "Realm of the Living." In a number of cases, it was a grey, lifeless purgatory inhabited by rotting corpses; in others, a place of perpetual torment akin to hell
(although it was never specifically defined as such).
The Beyond seemed to be the abode of all of humanity's worst fears; vampires, ghosts and demons existed alongside dragons, witches and harpies. All seemed generally hostile towards mankind, some periodically crossed over to prey on selected victims or to seek vengeance on former tormentors. The traffic appeared to flow in both directions; mortals could inadvertently find themselves trapped in the Beyond before the end of their natural lives.
Access to the Beyond took numerous forms. Ghostly express trains made midnight runs to the other side, carrying the spirits of the recently departed. Phantom cruiseliners ferried moldering passengers through the Sea of the Dead. Unwary travellers often found themselves making a one-way trip on the Road to Nowhere. Sometimes, mechanised transport was completely unnecessary - swamps, caves and haunted houses all seemed to lie within the outer boundaries of The Beyond.
Needless to say, the idea wasn't Fawcett's sole provenance; spectral dimensions had been a staple of fantasy magazines such as Weird Tales
. Even within the comics industry, earlier publishers had made references to 'The Spirit World,' based on the Judeo-Christian notion of the afterlife. Fawcett's innovation lay in its use of the concept to connect many of Haunted's discontinuous storylines. As a single, underlying premise, The Beyond worked perfectly, providing both an endless reservoir of potential storylines and an explanation as to how supernatural forces could exist in the 'real' world.
with DC Comics
.
Fawcett sold most of its properties to Charlton Comics
in 1954, a deal which included the four horror titles. Evidently, Haunted was successful enough to continue publishing under its original numbering, starting with no. 16 (March, 1954). For a time at least, Charlton attempted to maintain the moody atmosphere of its predecessor, even retaining the services of Doctor Death as the series' narrator. While not quite up to Fawcett's standards artistically, Charlton's run was distinguished by some of Steve Ditko
's earliest work in the supernatural genre. After the establishing of the Comics Code in 1954, the content was toned down considerably, dealing with magic, mystery and suspense rather than with outright horror.
The change in content led to circulation problems, as the magazine was rebooted within a year, reverting back to issue one in 1956. Doctor Death was replaced by Doctor Haunt (possibly designed by Ditko, by now the title's lead artist). The comic continued bi-monthly another two years despite the financial problems besetting the comics industry at the time. The final issue of the Charlton run was number 16 (May 1958).
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
between 1951 and 1953. Running 14 issues, it was the first of Fawcett's supernatural line; a string of titles which included Beware! Terror Tales, Worlds of Fear, Strange Suspense Stories
Strange Suspense Stories
Strange Suspense Stories was a comic book published in two volumes by Fawcett Comics and Charlton Comics in the 1950s and 1960s. Starting out as a horror/suspense title, the first volume gradually moved toward eerie fantasy and weird science fiction, before ending as a vehicle for the superhero...
, and Unknown Worlds.
After Fawcett ceased publication, This Magazine is Haunted was sold to and published by Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
from 1954 to 1958.
Format
Debuting with a cover date of October 1951, This Magazine is Haunted was Fawcett's first successful attempt to enter the lucrative horror market with a comic devoted specifically to supernatural fiction. The book represented a break from Fawcett's more familiar product, which ranged from superheroes (Captain MarvelCaptain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
) to movie adaptations and teen humor. Created by Sheldon Moldoff
Sheldon Moldoff
Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff is an American comic book artist best known his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" on the superhero Batman. He co-created the Batman supervillains Poison Ivy, Mr...
and edited by Will Leiberson and Al Jetter, the book was loosely modeled after EC's New Trend, particularly their highly successful horror titles.
Like its better-known competitors, This Magazine is Haunted was notable for its black humor and frequent O. Henry
O. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
climaxes. Drawing on the considerable creative resources of the Fawcett stable, Haunted storylines dealt with the standard horror themes of the period: vengeance from beyond the grave, macabre retribution and 'dark' justice, all of which were presented with an appropriate level of irony.
Human folly played a key role in many stories; characters were constantly led into disaster by their own greed, stupidity or outright corruption. Numerous plots revolved around violent criminals meeting grisly but entirely deserving fates, while others featured hapless bystanders trapped in bizarre or terrifying circumstances.
Comics historian Stephen Sennitt describes the Fawcett line as "genuinely eerie" in contrast to EC's more visceral approach.
Aside from the evident cinematic influences, Haunted and its companions followed at least two literary traditions derived from the pulp literature
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
of the previous decades. The first was the Crime-Horror imagery of magazines like Black Mask or Flynn's Detective Fiction, which emphasized murder, violence, and horrific crimes. Many authorities believe that the tradition was passed down to the 50s horror genre via the Crime comics
Crime comics
Crime comics is a genre of American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the 1940s and 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence and criminal activity. Crime comics began in 1942 with the publication of Crime Does...
of the later forties; Haunted featured numerous stories combining the two areas.
Of course, by far the most potent influence on This Magazine is Haunted was the horror comic genre itself, which according to Watt-Evans, represented around one sixth of the comics market at its 1954 peak.
Doctor Death
Tales from the Crypt (comic)
Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror are three bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s...
, breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
to provide explanations and plot details. Unlike EC's so-called "ghoulunatics" however, Dr. Death frequently orchestrated events in the narrative, acting as the hand of fate and even driving the characters towards their ultimate destruction. To this end, he was capable of taking on human form to interact with his intended victims, feeding them bad advice or (somewhat maliciously) betraying their trust at crucial moments.
Dr. Death resembled Mr. Crime, the cartoon mascot from Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
' Crime Does Not Pay
Crime Does Not Pay (comics)
Crime Does Not Pay is the title of an American comic book series published between 1942 and 1955 by Lev Gleason Publications. Edited and chiefly written by Charles Biro, the title launched the crime comics genre and was the first "true crime" comic book series. At the height of its popularity,...
. Both wore vintage clothing and had, to varying degrees, an inhuman appearance.
First appearing on the cover of Haunted #1, Doctor Death was the series' host until its cancellation in 1953. He returned for a number of issues when the magazine was acquired by Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
in 1954. As rendered by Charlton stalwart Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, Doctor Death took on a progressively less skeletal appearance.
The Beyond
There was one area, however, in which Fawcett showed some degree of originality.
Haunted was notable for employing the "The Beyond," as a unifying element to many of its storylines. While the idea wasn't used consistently, it became a recurring plot device in all of Fawcett's horror titles, sometimes playing an essential role in the narrative. It was, in a sense, the closest thing to a "universe" in a series of books otherwise lacking in continuity.
Briefly speaking, The Beyond was a mysterious plane of existence which occasionally encroached on the physical world. A shadowy limbo vaguely akin to the Afterlife, it served as the source of the many supernatural menaces which threatened the "Realm of the Living." In a number of cases, it was a grey, lifeless purgatory inhabited by rotting corpses; in others, a place of perpetual torment akin to hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
(although it was never specifically defined as such).
The Beyond seemed to be the abode of all of humanity's worst fears; vampires, ghosts and demons existed alongside dragons, witches and harpies. All seemed generally hostile towards mankind, some periodically crossed over to prey on selected victims or to seek vengeance on former tormentors. The traffic appeared to flow in both directions; mortals could inadvertently find themselves trapped in the Beyond before the end of their natural lives.
Access to the Beyond took numerous forms. Ghostly express trains made midnight runs to the other side, carrying the spirits of the recently departed. Phantom cruiseliners ferried moldering passengers through the Sea of the Dead. Unwary travellers often found themselves making a one-way trip on the Road to Nowhere. Sometimes, mechanised transport was completely unnecessary - swamps, caves and haunted houses all seemed to lie within the outer boundaries of The Beyond.
Needless to say, the idea wasn't Fawcett's sole provenance; spectral dimensions had been a staple of fantasy magazines such as Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
. Even within the comics industry, earlier publishers had made references to 'The Spirit World,' based on the Judeo-Christian notion of the afterlife. Fawcett's innovation lay in its use of the concept to connect many of Haunted's discontinuous storylines. As a single, underlying premise, The Beyond worked perfectly, providing both an endless reservoir of potential storylines and an explanation as to how supernatural forces could exist in the 'real' world.
Sale to Charlton
Along with many other titles of a similar vein, This Magazine is Haunted came under fire during the anti-comics backlash of the early fifties (although generally speaking, its content wasn't quite as visceral as its rivals). Ironically, this was not the reason for the title's cancellation; Fawcett dropped its entire comics line in 1953, largely as a result of an industry-wide sales slump and a long-running legal battleNational Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications
National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, 191 F.2d 594 , was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning Fawcett's Captain Marvel...
with DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
Fawcett sold most of its properties to Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
in 1954, a deal which included the four horror titles. Evidently, Haunted was successful enough to continue publishing under its original numbering, starting with no. 16 (March, 1954). For a time at least, Charlton attempted to maintain the moody atmosphere of its predecessor, even retaining the services of Doctor Death as the series' narrator. While not quite up to Fawcett's standards artistically, Charlton's run was distinguished by some of Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
's earliest work in the supernatural genre. After the establishing of the Comics Code in 1954, the content was toned down considerably, dealing with magic, mystery and suspense rather than with outright horror.
The change in content led to circulation problems, as the magazine was rebooted within a year, reverting back to issue one in 1956. Doctor Death was replaced by Doctor Haunt (possibly designed by Ditko, by now the title's lead artist). The comic continued bi-monthly another two years despite the financial problems besetting the comics industry at the time. The final issue of the Charlton run was number 16 (May 1958).
External links
- Free downloads of Golden Age Fawcett Comics, including This Magazine is Haunted.