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Author:
Title: DARK MYSTERIES No. 18
Place Published:
Publisher:Story, aka Master/Merit [Indicia: Master Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: June, 1954
Description:

VG (4.0). Spine stress, staples a bit pulled, a few color rubs near "K" in "DARK" and bottom spine, shallow crimp to top edge of back cover, distributor's mark to back cover (lightly penciled "3"). Off-white pages. An exemplary VG copy with crisp corners and edges, which might slab at 4.5. Cover: Hy Fleishman. Art: Hy Fleishman?, John D'Agostino, Gerald Altman, Alvin Hollingsworth. GPAnalysis: A 4.0 sold for $474 in November 2021.

Story's editorial M.O. was to rip off as many EC stories as it could, and this mag's "butcher shop of horrors" cover suggests that a swipe of EC's classic meat-is-murder yarn, "'Taint the Meat... It's the Humanity!," lies within. It's a red herring, though — the cover doesn't illustrate any of the stories. Fright fans will still find plenty to like about this mag, including burnings alive, hangings, cannibalism, and the grisly Nazi atrocity tale, "Terror of the Stolen Legs."

"This truly gruesome tale, like not a few 1950s horror comic stories, begins in a concentration camp with a mad Nazi scientist who likes to experiment upon the prisoners... [Gerald] Altman's mediocre but grittily moody work lends itself well to this grisly tale." — George Suarez, Tales To Terrible To Tell #5. NEC: 1992, p. 34.

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.