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Author:
Title: CHAMBER OF CHILLS No. 23
Place Published:
Publisher:Harvey [Indicia: Witches Tales, Inc.]
Date Published: May, 1954
Description:

CGC certified: VG/Fine (5.0). White pages. Cover: Lee Elias. Art: Howard Nostrand, Bob Powell, Jack Sparling, Manny Stallman. GPAnalysis: A 5.0 sold for $3120 in May 2021.

"Ecch-cellent cover close-up of a rotting corpse make'n out with a hot babe; necrophilia overtones ('I transferred Susanne's body into a specially built morgue... beautiful... desirable')." — EC, MAD and Pre-Code HORROR Comics of the 1950s. Green Apple: 1997, p. 2.

Classic cover depicting a cavader kissing a creeped-out cutie, a perverse echo of the romance comics that flourished in the years before the horror craze. The cover is unsigned but bears the unmistakable stylistic hallmarks of Lee Elias. As gifted as Elias was, this cover displays a mastery of design that goes beyond Elias's usual standard. The compositional perfection suggests the hidden hand of Harvey's art director, design ace Warren Kremer. Asked about the possibility of Kremer's involvement, pre-Code savant Roger Hill told PBA's Director of Comics: "Yes, I'm 99% sure that Warren Kremer did a rough layout for Elias to follow."

Inside, the reader finds Manny Stallman's "Heartline," in which a bereaved surgeon revives his dead sweetheart for a little necrotic-erotic action. Before the surgeon can consummate his demented desire, an amorous zombie crashes his sex pad and horns in on the action. First pre-Code instance of a creep cuckolded by a corpse? A comingled air of the boudoir and the charnel house hangs over this tawdry mag, embodying Dr. Wertham's concern that comics encouraged morbid sexuality: "And amidst all the violence... are big pictures of lush girls, as nude as the Post Office permits.... The impression of sex plus violence is definite... [an] invitation to sadistic perversion." — Seduction of the Innocent. Rinehart: 1954, p. 32.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2022 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art, vintage comic-related photos and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

A limited edition of 100 softcover and 6 hardcover catalogues are available. 140 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2022 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art, vintage comic-related photos and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.