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Showcase Presents #23
Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery, Vol. 2
Do you dare to enter the House of Mystery? This value-priced collection of fantastic, black and white tales of mystery and suspense from the 1970s features thrilling stories with surprise twist endings that will keep you on the edge of you seat.
552 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2007
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77 people want to read
About the author
Joe Orlando
414 books5 followersJoseph Orlando was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades.
(source: Wikipedia)
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 26, 2024
Great collection of thee classic DC horror stories. Very nice read. Recommended
November 24, 2014
Once again I sift through the Bronze Age horror comics that were published during my youth, searching for the weird and creepy stories I remember reading as a child. This time I paid yet another visit to The House of Mystery. For the most part, it was time well spent. Although there were two or three tales that had me regretting making the visit...
This second volume of Twilight Zone style yarns starts right where the first volume ended, gathering together issues 195 through 211 of the long running anthology series. The copyright information states that the original comics were first published in 1971, 72, and 73. That final year puts the last few issues in the collection around the time period that I started learning how to read, and slowly began experimenting with and indulging in my tastes for tales of the dark and monstrous. (Like so many horror genre fans, it appears that I was just born weird.)
Despite the overlapping time periods, there were no stories in this volume that I remember reading, back in the day. The cover for issue 207 did strike an "Hey, I'm pretty sure that I remember this cover" nerve, and some of the illustrations in that particular issue set off a feeling a deja vu, but that was all.
But my continued search did unearth some worthwhile reading. The Berni Wrightson (sic) plotted and drawn story All In The Family (issue 204's cover story) is my pick for Best in Show. A deliciously dark and twisted piece of blackly comic gothic grue, it amazes me that Family got past the Comics Code Authority. Then again, times were rapidly changing and indie comics were beginning to challenge the mass market publishers.
While I am on the subject of "I cannot believe that this story got past the Authority," let me take a moment to mention and praise The Demon Within, a tale from issue 201. This is a story I remember being told about, some 20 years ago, by future mystery writer Kelli Stanley, back when she owned and operated a comic book store in San Francisco. Demon is the story of a mischievous child with a shape shifting ability, that will not stop misbehaving. Because of this, the boy's embarrassed and humiliated family feel "forced" to go to some horrifying lengths in order to make the kid behave himself. It's a dark, sad tale. One with an ending that will chill and unsettle any reader.
Other tales that I think are worth mentioning (and would recommend to any and all interested readers): Things Old...Things Forgotten, Ghost Ship, Two Lives to Live, The Day of the Demon, The Haunting Wind, The Beast's Revenge, The Lunatic, A Breath of Black Death, The Shrieking of a Soul, A Deal With A Sorcerer, Almost Human, The Tower of Prey, Over the High Side, The Burning, A Real Mother, Last Ritual Last Rites, This Evil Demon Loves People, The Creator of Evil, Maniacs, Tomorrow I Hang, and Unholy Change. While some are better than others, I thought each of the listed tales made the anthology worth reading.
I should warn you that just about every tale listed above is one of the supernatural, which is my preferred genre. So reader satisfaction with my recommendations will no doubt vary greatly. If you do not enjoy tales of supernatural terrors, then I advise you to just skip the collection entirely. The handful of mystery/crime stories were a pretty bland lot, and all the science fiction stories were flat out terrible.
This second volume of Twilight Zone style yarns starts right where the first volume ended, gathering together issues 195 through 211 of the long running anthology series. The copyright information states that the original comics were first published in 1971, 72, and 73. That final year puts the last few issues in the collection around the time period that I started learning how to read, and slowly began experimenting with and indulging in my tastes for tales of the dark and monstrous. (Like so many horror genre fans, it appears that I was just born weird.)
Despite the overlapping time periods, there were no stories in this volume that I remember reading, back in the day. The cover for issue 207 did strike an "Hey, I'm pretty sure that I remember this cover" nerve, and some of the illustrations in that particular issue set off a feeling a deja vu, but that was all.
But my continued search did unearth some worthwhile reading. The Berni Wrightson (sic) plotted and drawn story All In The Family (issue 204's cover story) is my pick for Best in Show. A deliciously dark and twisted piece of blackly comic gothic grue, it amazes me that Family got past the Comics Code Authority. Then again, times were rapidly changing and indie comics were beginning to challenge the mass market publishers.
While I am on the subject of "I cannot believe that this story got past the Authority," let me take a moment to mention and praise The Demon Within, a tale from issue 201. This is a story I remember being told about, some 20 years ago, by future mystery writer Kelli Stanley, back when she owned and operated a comic book store in San Francisco. Demon is the story of a mischievous child with a shape shifting ability, that will not stop misbehaving. Because of this, the boy's embarrassed and humiliated family feel "forced" to go to some horrifying lengths in order to make the kid behave himself. It's a dark, sad tale. One with an ending that will chill and unsettle any reader.
Other tales that I think are worth mentioning (and would recommend to any and all interested readers): Things Old...Things Forgotten, Ghost Ship, Two Lives to Live, The Day of the Demon, The Haunting Wind, The Beast's Revenge, The Lunatic, A Breath of Black Death, The Shrieking of a Soul, A Deal With A Sorcerer, Almost Human, The Tower of Prey, Over the High Side, The Burning, A Real Mother, Last Ritual Last Rites, This Evil Demon Loves People, The Creator of Evil, Maniacs, Tomorrow I Hang, and Unholy Change. While some are better than others, I thought each of the listed tales made the anthology worth reading.
I should warn you that just about every tale listed above is one of the supernatural, which is my preferred genre. So reader satisfaction with my recommendations will no doubt vary greatly. If you do not enjoy tales of supernatural terrors, then I advise you to just skip the collection entirely. The handful of mystery/crime stories were a pretty bland lot, and all the science fiction stories were flat out terrible.
September 29, 2022
I'm a sucker for nostalgia. And between nostalgia and good taste, I may always choose the former. This is the second chronologically-ordered set of comic books from The House of Mystery, aka Casa Cain. And I'm familiar with and already have most of the stories, which I first had a crack at in the mid-seventies, when I learned to read. Good taste or bad--it doesn't matter, nostalgia wins the day. And hey, this one has Joe Orlando at the helm, and when it comes to comic books, the guy can do no wrong.
February 5, 2018
Typical short ghost stories, some better than others. Admits it is a rip off of Twilight Zone.
March 26, 2018
The stories are, on average, passable, but the art is the book's real selling point. Kaluta, Wrightson, Toth, Kirby, Nestor Redondo, Aragones...
Definitely worth the time for the artists.
Definitely worth the time for the artists.
August 23, 2023
Stunning artwork. So-so stories.
January 16, 2011
Reprints House of Mystery #195-211. Cain continues to present the stories he's discovered in the House of Mystery. The House of Mystery and the House of Secrets are full of fun short stories. Much like the Twilight Zone they have twists and you can often see them coming a mile away. That doesn't take away from the value of the story but it adds to the schlocky fun. If one story doesn't work, there is a good chance the next story will. It is also fun to read these stories to see how Neil Gaiman incorporated Cain and Abel into his Sandman series.
December 15, 2012
I picked up this House of Mystery anthology because I enjoyed the newly revamped series. However, I was not fully prepared for how cheesy the horror stories contained turned out to be.
There is no overarching plot, but short tales as told by a comical Cain. Not what I expected and a bit short of truly entertaining.
October 27, 2009
Great art; dated stories. A few standout tales, but few that stand the test of time
November 19, 2010
Features a few good stories and work by a few classic comic book artists, but for the most part the stories were obvious EC derivatives, sanitized for the approval of the Comics Code Authority.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews