THE WEIRD WORLD OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS

If you were ever a teenage boy who bought those graphic horror mags in the 60’s and 70’s – and had to hide them from your mother – then this book will be an absolute wet dream come true!

Personally, I was reading (and, yes, hiding) those magazines myself before I could even HAVE wet dreams. When those dreams came (no pun intended), I was beyond the horror mags and into what we would call the “stroke books”.

But I digress.

Being caught with mags like HORROR TALES, WEIRD, TOMB OF TERROR, etc., meant the risk of THE BELT(!!!). I loved these magazines so much, though, that I was willing to take the chance. When I did eventually get caught with them, Dad ripped them up in front of my horrified eyes. I would re-live this memory years afterwards when I saw the prologue to the 1982 movie CREEPSHOW. Author Stephen King’s son, Joe, played a kid like me; my parents reacted pretty much like Joe’s parents did in the movie.

Anyway, considering the subject matter, I hesitate to call this book a “gift from God”, but it IS most certainly a gift of some kind.

It’s a huge hardcover book (300+ pages) with hundreds of magazine reprints, panels from original stories and, interestingly, crime and girly mags that I’d never previously seen or heard of. Never knew that mag publisher Myron Fass had his iron in so many fires.

Interestingly, the book starts out with the last page from a story I remember from all those years ago about giant ants who strip and man and woman to the bone and then – in a weird act of tenderness, drag their skeletons right next to the each other.

Then, another one: the final panel of a story about a modern-day ghoul. You have two police officers nonchalantly standing behind this guy while he’s chowing down on a corpse. Perhaps they felt it would be rude to interrupt him while he was eating.

Mike Howlett has done a masterful job at putting this book together. It’s good to know that there are a bunch of warped youngsters (like myself) who became warped adults (ditto) who will enjoy this type of warped entertainment.

Did I mention I was warped?

Check out the Facebook page for “Weird World of Eerie Publications” for ordering information.

There is also Mykal Banta's blog called "The Bloody Pulp" where you can go to see stories from some of these very magazines. See the links section of this blog for access. Tell Mykal the House of Whacks sent ya!