The Winds of Night Original Art - Identify that Artist!

Hello everyone. I just received a email from Tom who is the proud owner of the original artwork for The Winds of Night by Anne Buxton, writing as Anne Maybury.

Firstly, I should say that I am quite jealous. Secondly I should say that I don't know the artist. Tom doesn't either. Anyone out there recognize this one?

Tom has been kind enough to have posted a scan of this image, along with some other great stuff on his Flickr page. Click the link to take a look. I really like the fantastic Secrets of Haunted House cover. Sadly, an issue NOT in my collection.

Thanks Tom!

Snow Shadow

Snow Shadow by Andre Norton
published by Fawcett Crest Books
Copyright 1979

Being able to step back into the past

seemed a wonderful stroke of luck for Erica

Jansen. Northanger Abbey was like another

world. And her introduction to the family

there had come from a charming man,

Preston Donner. She felt very fortunate indeed.

PRISONER

OF

SHADOWS

But from the moment she became a guest

at the Abbey, she felt like a prisoner. First

there were the arguments she couldn't

avoid ... then the murders she could not

ignore ... and then the man who stepped out

of her own buried past to entwine her in a

terror from which she saw no escape ...

We have all met them. You know, those girl who, in a desperate attempt to feel better about themselves, cut down on those around them. Well, Andre Norton is one of those women. But don't worry, if I have learned nothing else in my very eventful life thus far, I have learned that what you send out comes back three fold. (Well, technically, I just learned that from 1996's The Craft but you get the picture.)

Snow Shadow is one of those rare Gothic romance books in which I picked up and read a few pages before posting it. And boy and I glad I did.

There is no doubt that Ms. Norton felt a good deal of shame about lowering herself to Gothic romance. It becomes quite obvious by the many comments of her heroine such as, and this isn't technically an EXACT quote, "If I had been a lame Gothic novelist I would have called the house brooding."

Now, that is unfair in a couple of ways. Firstly, it subtly insults the genre in which she is writing, thus giving the illusion of somehow being superior to it. And secondly, it gets away with using the adjective just belittled without even offering up a better one.

You've got to admit, it's pretty ballsy. Especially for someone who has taken the ultimate shortcut of writing about someone who is a writer and who also breaks the cardinal rule of never mentioning a better book (or author) in your book. Of course, we see that all the time. If we all had a dime for every haunted house story that quotes Shirley Jackson, we'd all be eating a chalupa right now. Her author of choice, Jane Austen. Again, pretty ballsy.

I also discovered that the male charactor who I suspect will turn out to be the romantic interests is the first Blackfoot Indiana to graduate from West Point. WOW! Louis L'Amour's got nothing on Andre Norton.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, I have a signature here but I am having a bit of a problem reading it. Any guesses?

UPDATE: If my research is to be believed, Andre Norton's three fold karma payback included being the first woman to win the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and the winning of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award in 1983. Huh, karma doesn't seem to function as I have been lead to believe.

The Lock

The Lock by Janet Lovesmith (Paul W. Fairman)
published by Popular Library
Copyright 1972

SOMETHING
FROM THE WORLD BEYOND
WAS STALKING
YOUNG LYN COURTNEY -

The lock was huge, rusted, ungainly. It guarded the
tomb that lay behind the old house - the tomb of the
ill-fated Gantry clan. Lyn Courtney, who had come to
work at Gantry Hill, became fascinated, haunted by
that lock. Her fears, her hopes, her fantasies cnetered
around it.

Could it explain the puzzling behavior of good-looking
Christopher Gantry? The mystery of beautiful, volatile
Lila? The invisible creature that even now was stalking
young Lyn? She must find out - if it wasn't already
too late ,,,

QUEEN-SIZE GOTHICS are a new idea. They offer the
very best in novels of romantic suspense, by the top
writers, greater in length and drama, richer in reading
pleasure. Each book is guaranteed to be:

"READING FIT FOR A QUEEN"

So, is that supposed to be our heroine on the cover? If it is, isn't Lyn Courtney supposed to be obsessed with a rusted lock? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a big old lock floating above her head? Or, if you really want to sell books, why not depict one of those "fantasies" involving that lock she's been going on and on about floating up there instead? I'm sure that would have all the ladies cat fighting for a copy at Barnes and Nobel.

It really looks like this cover is actually less an illustration of Lyn as it is an illustration of the author thinking about "her" book. As if part of the writing method required Paul W. Fairman to don a long wig and pale lip stain, then to stare off into space and let the story unfold in his mind. Really Mr. Fairman doesn't make a half-bad woman.

If fact, this cover inspires me to write a Gothic novel of my very own. But, being that I see no real point in being subtle, my story would involve the Amityville Horror house, a virginal math tutor and a shirtless land owner with a love of horses and giving presents. Cha-Ching!

Night Shade

Night Shade by Dorothy Daniels
cover art by Hector Garrido
published by Pocket Books
Copyright 1976

Alsion, a lovely, young clinical psychologies, was
called to investigate the possible suicide of a cor-
porate giant, Clifford Dalton. She knew of the
dead man's harsh reputation, his last bitter words,
and his recorded threat to return and ruin all his
enemies. At the request of Dalton's relatives, a
medium was brought to a seance, and contact with
Dalton's spirit was made. From then on, his shade
haunted the household, and his maniacal laugh
resounded in the halls. Suddenly, two people asso-
ciated with the investigation were murdered.

As Alsion zeroed in on the truth, she realized that
she was marked as the next victim!

Sounds to me like Clifford Dalton is someone I could really relate to. I'm not talking about the whole corporate giant thing, or even the harsh reputation bit but, while I can't say I've ever partaken of a "sumptuous banquet", eating at Hometown Buffet ALWAYS makes me want to commit suicide.

Now if I was Alison, the lovely (and young) clinical psychologist, sent in to investigate this mysterious dinner time death, I'd say that with Hometown Buffet it is probably better to rule out food poisoning before bothering with the suicide thing.

We have a Hector Garrido cover here. Sadly I was unable to find much information regarding this artists himself but I did manage to find several additional samples of his work. The art sampling includes an absolutely fantastic cover for the Gothic romance novel Lodge Sinister and a cover for a GI Joe - Choose Your Own Adventure book. (When I was in 3rd grade I thought Choose Your Own Adventure books totally rocked!)

You can see more of Hector Garrido's cover work Nancy Drew Mysteries and The Hardy Boys series of books.

This Strange Adventure

This Strange Adventure
published by Dell Books
Copyright 1971

Wedded to Terror

Young and beautiful Missie Colfax was

willing to keep her bargain with Wesley

Dexter when she married this worldly

older man and came to live in his magnifi-

cent mansion. She would do anything to

escape the poverty and want of her youth -

even be a wife to a man she barely knew.

Missie could not suspect the twisted

torment behind the icy arrogance of her

bridegroom ... nor realize until too late the

horror that awaited her in the hands of a

man bent on making her the victim of

a strange and terrible vengeance ...

MARY ROBERTS

RINEHART

whose bestseller novels have thrilled

millions the world over, has in This Strange

Adventure created a truly haunting story

of romance and danger.

Hate to break it to you Missie, but I'm not hearing anything all that out of the norm here. I mean aren't Wedded and Terror synonymous with one another?

Every wife must play her part in her husband's strange and terrible vengeance, it's in the job description. Sure, you marry yourself an older man he's bound to have more baggage, but that is the price you pay for that sweet situation. Remember, a lot of ladies would put up with a lot of shit to have themselves digs like that.

And if your husband isn't caressing you with the hands of a man bent on vengeance, you're just not doing your job right.

The Haunted

The Haunted
published by Prestige Books
Copyright 1972

HOUSE
OF
LIES

Something was terribly wrong. Jennifer Stone's
brother, in Vietnam, hadn't heard from his wife
Marcy for six months, and Jennifer had to find out
why. But she had hardly arrived at the
Barnsted farm, where Marcy was staying, when
Uncle Horace Barnsted tried to drive her away.
Even Aunt Elna Barnsted, who welcomed Jennifer's
presence, hardly seemed trustworthy, and handsome
young Lyman Parks, friendly enough at first
suddenly turned hostile. As for Marcy, she had
changed shockingly - a mental breakdown had
turned the once - beautiful girl into a frightened
child, incapable of speaking her secret.
There were explanations, of course - Elna had
explanations for everything - but somehow they
just didn't ring true. Jennifer had never before
known such an atmosphere of falsehood and deceit,
of lives with secrets desperately concealed. And
slowly in dawned on her that the Barnsteds no
longer wanted her to leave the farm. In fact, if they
had their way, she would never leave.
Not alive, that is ...

Looks to me like Jennifer Stone is just trying to get Lyme disease. We can only hope that Lyman Parks, as well as being both young and handsome also has an ample supply of matches.

I think maybe Jennifer is just being a little too suspicious. I'm two generations removed from hill-folks and farmers and I'd like to know one person who has ever visited the family farm who DIDN'T feel that being asked to string beans wasn't just an attempt to run them off.

And their is ALWAYS a simpleton. Always. Marcy is just theirs. Doug is ours. Or, as my Grandmother has called him for all the years I can remember, Poor Dumb Doug.

Barnabas, Quentin and the Scorpio Curse - Book 23

Barnabas, Quentin and the Scorpio Curse by Marilyn (Dan) Ross
published by Paperback Library
Copyright 1970

IS THE SIGN OF SCORPIO
THE MARK OF DEATH!

Terror reigns at Collinwood when several
patients at a nearby psychiatric clinic at
which Barnabas Collins is a patient are
stabbed to death. Each victim's forehead is
marked with a scorpion, the zodiacal symbol
of death.

Then Diana Collins, another relative of the
Collins family who is undergoing psychiatric
treatment at the hospital, finds a bloody knife
in her room. Diana, whose astrological sign
is Scorpio, is afraid that she may have com-
mitted the murders during one of her black-
outs. The fear that she is losing her mind is
compounded when no one will believe she has
seen a strange, wolf-like creature prowling
the grounds.

The only person who will listen to her story
is Barnabas. But how can he help her when
he too has become a suspect?

If I were to wager on the reason behind the vast number of Collins' seeking hospitalization for some unnamed psychiatric aliment, I would go with inbreeding.

Okay, so we know that Barnabas has a weird cousin fetish but, as it was recently pointed out to me, the sexual tension in Collinwood, a house that always seems to be dripping with various vagabonds from some branch of the family or other, could be cut with a knife.

You, of course, have Caroline who is a bit of a tramp but that isn't at all uncommon when a girl's daddy disappears on her. Then there's Barnabas who, after a tragic rejection by Josette, is sporting a Harvey Fierstein longing for love. But the real culprit, I think, is Quentin Collins.

Everything about that man oozes riding-crop to the ass while you're not looking. Just take a look at that cover. You totally get the feeling that David Selby and the camera man had just been up to something naughty in the props room.

What a great show!

And before you come complaining about yet another Dark Shadows paperback on WRFH, you can blame Mykal Banta's artfully crafted Gold Key Comics! blog for posting Dark Shadows issue number 28 from 1974. If you are not familiar with the thirty-five Gold Key Dark Shadows comics that were published between 1969 and 1976, incidentally running longer than the soap opera itself, now is your chance to take a peek. Just click HERE!

Also, if you are interested in viewing the 1968 set of View-Master reels of Dark Shadows click here!

Carol, the Pursued & NIghts with Sasquatch

Carol, the Pursued by Katheryn Kimbrough
published by Popular Library
Copyright 1979

KATHERYN KIMBROUGH'S
Saga of the Phenwich Women
CAROL
THE PURSUED

is one of the spellbinding novels in the greatest
series of Gothic romances ever conceived.
You won't want to miss the others,
all exclusively in Popular Library editions.

A captive of a nightmare religious cult - that was the
fate that beautiful young Carol Ingraham fled, as she
fought to achieve her destiny as a Phenwick woman. It
was her parents who first put her in the power of the
Shilohite cult, led by a man who turned his followers
into puppetlike slaves, made every woman an instru-
ment of men's lusts, and forbade all contact with out-
siders. It was a savage attack on her person that woke
her to danger, and a freakish accident that let her make
a break for freedom. It was a Phenwick heir who fell in
love with her, yet could not understand the inner
demons tormenting her or the evil closing in on her.
And it was only her own courage and strength that
could save her when she could fee no more ...

The idea of a crazy religious cult is not new. The idea that a crazy religious cult leader would make all the females in his cult there for his pleasure is also not new. But there are two things that stand out to me. Firstly, a religious cult survivor as the heroine of a Gothic romance book. I have never seen that and I have seen a ton of these. And secondly, that these Phenwick men really know how to pick'em.

So, the question is this , is THAT how a sex slaves dressed in ... um ... covered wagon times? I guess it is a well known fact that school marms are naturally attracted devil cults, so it would have been a logical jump for the artist to take.

Still, there is something wanting in this cover. Perhaps it is the lack of robes.

Now I would like to share another paperback I picked up a few weeks ago for the cover.

Apparently the true life tale of a woman assaulted by a bigfoot, I wouldn't want to belittle the tragedy or her pain BUT I feel the cover artist already did that SO it's now fair game.

If I was ever raped by bigfoot and then wrote a book about it I don't think I would give it such a sexy title. I would go for something more along the lines of "I was raped by a Bigfoot. I swear." And, if I WAS going to give it a sexy title, I would also give it a sexy cover. Or at least have the cover artist make me look hotter than THAT!

Okay, I give you that her make-up isn't smeared at all, which seems unlikely in the circumstances, but that hair is terrible.

Also it looks like the Sasquatch is having trouble holding her. He is a freaking Sasquatch! Aren't they supposed to be as strong as shit? I would want to have glamorous make-up, perfectly wild hair tumbling past my shoulders, and the look of near weightlessness.

Also Bigfoot should be hotter.

Modern Gothic Romance Art

The other day we were lamenting the lack of modern Woman Running from Houses cover art. Well Rob Kelly, Aquaman enthusiast, artist and all around renaissance man has come to our rescue.

Please take the time to check our his newest piece Mistress of the Moor and make sure to leave much praise.

The Last Member of the Family

The Last Member of the Family by Lois A. Sunagel
published by Manor Books
Copyright 1979

FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK

SHE SEARCHES FOR
THE AWFUL TRUTH!

HOLLY BRADEN WALKS IN TERROR AS SHE
ENDEAVORS TO LEARN THE AWFUL TRUTH ABOUT
THE DEATH OF HER UNCLE WALTER, FROM WHO SHE
HAS INHERITED A SUBSTANTIAL FORTUNE AND THE
FAMOUS BRADEN SAILING MUSEUM. WOULD SHE BE
NEXT ON THE LIST OF THE KILLER WHO MURDERED
HER UNCLE? SHE ALMOST GOES INSANE BEFORE SHE
DISCOVERS THE IDENTITY OF THE MURDERERS AND
OF HER ONE TRUE LOVE.

Okay, the way I see it Holly Braden is living my dream! When am I going to inherit a museum. And my museum wouldn't even have to already be famous, I would be willing to settle for a lesser known museum. Preferably a wax museum.

Of course that isn't to say, that I wouldn't be happy with some posh "Sailing Museum" and all the snottiness that implies. I'd just try my damnedest to make the whole think a little less intimidating to the everyday salt of the earth clientele. Maybe by adding a few wax sculptures or one of those amusement park pearl diving gift shops, like from Cedar Point back in the 80's, were you paid someone a few buck for a oyster, some dude in scuba gear would jump in to a tank, and you would close your eyes and wish a black pearl, or a freakishly large pearl or something to make that measly investment really pay off.

Or, if not that, at least one of those claw machines and a wing dedicated to things found in a shark.

Gay for Lois Lane

Need yet another blog in your life? Well I do! Please stop by and check out my new tribute to Lois Lane.

Gay for Lois Lane

Here I'll be sharing some of my favorite stories featuring the First Lady of Comics.

Smut, Smut, Everywhere

I am kind of out of the new book loop these days.

I love to read. In fact, some of my best college memories involved skipping class and spending all day reading. Why can't I do that now?! Oh, that's right, too many responsibilities. Anyway, that means that when I do have an opportunity to read I feel like the book should be, well, worth while.

Not to say that I'm into self-help, I mean, how can you improve on perfection? Just something well written. It doesn't have to be Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Alexandre Dumas or anything (Though that revenge stuff is total catnip) just something that's good. Please note: I still have spent my fair share of time reading rubbish but then I feel guilty about it.

Anyway, a friend of mine is what you might call an "author stalker-ho". If you've had a book published it is only a matter of time before she is picking through your garbage. At her invitation I joined her for an RT Booklovers Convention a couple of weeks ago. (I'm not sure, but I think the T stands for Trash.) Wow, a chance to wander through tables and tables of less then "worth while" books. I perused the wares of more than 300 authors looking for any modern WRFH covers to no avail.

Could it be that Gothic romance covers, as we know them, have changed? Could it be that Gothic romances will soon be no more?

I have not idea. And, quite frankly, I'm don't feel like guessing.

But, from what I did see, I suspect that at the moment the implied supernatural of the Gothic romance "niche" has been replaced by actual monsters. And I'm not talking about Vampires and Werewolves. That is SO old school. No, I'm talking about lots of Zombie romance books. Or, if not romance, at least smut-trash. COULD ANYTHING BE GREATER? Nothing that I could thing of.

So here are a few of the books I purchased:

After a very entertaining conversation with Mark Henry I purchased his Happy Hour of the Damned, Road Trip of the Living Dead and Battle of the Network Zombies. He promised his books were "now with extra zombie smut" so who could say no?

I also purchased My Zombie Valentine a collection of short stories by Katie MacAlister, Angie Fox, Marianne Mancusi and Lisa Cach.

And last, but certainly not least, after a rather, for lack of a better word, filthy conversation with Mario Acevedo I picked up his The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-Rated Bloodsuckers, Jailbait Zombie, The Undead Kama Sutra and Werewolf Smackdown: A Novel.

Will I read these? Absolutely! When? That I can't say.

The Spectral Bride

The Spectral Bride by Margaret Campbell
published by Signet Books
Copyright 1975

Terror or Romance,
Legend or Love?

Was lovely Adelaide Fenton a simple country girl, or was
she the pale shadow of another maiden who had met
violent death many years before? Was handsome James
Daintry, the last Earl of the Seagroves, a fanciful
young man, or the final victim of a legendary specter
which had taken its toll in madness and sorrow?
Was it the power of love which drew them together, or
were they caught in a darker pattern - cursed for a crime
they did not commit, reliving a tale they scarcely knew?

Adelaide's family warned her not to look beyond her
station. James's advisors tried to keep him from their
secret trysts. But fate beckoned them on, down a
pathway from which no once could turn them, on a journey
which must lead them to happiness or death ...

Okay, so is this cover supposed to lead us to believe that these "trysts" between Adelaide and James take place in a cemetery? And not just any normal run-of-the-mill cemetery either but a long forgotten, tall-grass, crumbling tombstone, condemned "where's the roof" abandoned church, kind of cemetery?

I mean, stealing a few hours with a forbidden lover could be great, but not if you spend those few hours checking each other's hair for ticks. I feel certain if they don't have ticks they are at least assaulted by chiggers.

I just don't think that shaw is going to give Adelaide the protection she needs in that environment but I'm not sure what would. Maybe one of those suits that people who keep bees have. Or at the very least she needs to be carrying a fly-swatter. Maybe it could be hanging elegantly from her wrist tied with a little satin ribbon.

The House of Ravenbourne

The House of Ravensbourne by Mary Ann Gibbs
Cover Art by Mort Engel
published by Pyramid Books
Copyright 1964

A SUDDEN TWIST OF FATE

left Catherine Wittingham penniless and alone,
Disregarding the advice of others and her own
premonitions, she took the position of governess
in the foreboding Ravensbourne mansion.



But the chilling memory of Mary Ravensbourne
lurked in every shadow of the ill-fated house.
And Catherine found herself the terrified target
of unspeakable evil.

A Gothic novel of romance and terror in the tradition of Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt

Ah ... the penniless and alone. You've got to love them. They've got nothin' to lose and no one to protect them. I've got to get me one. Kind of like a canary in a coal mine, they seem to be able to detect unspeakable evil. And THAT always comes in handy.

I like the cover but I LOVE the close up on the back cover. I think our amateur governess would be one of those people who just photograph better in black and white. This cover is the work of the very talented Mort Engel. Below you'll find samples of some of his other work.

Gorgeous!

The way he seems to not be paying any attention to what he is doing with that ax, makes me glad she's a nurse.

Ow .. I want that one. That is an official "Weird Dude on the Cover"!

Well this can't be good.
Even if no one plans to shoot anyone he's still drinking out of puddle. Ick!

Thunder Heights & Baton Sinister

Thunder Heightsl by Phyllis A. Whitney
published by Ace Books
Copyright 1960

"THUNDER HEIGHTS IS A SUSPENSE
AND LOVE STORY APPEALING TO THOSE
WHO LOVE BRONTE, DU MAURIER
AND MARY STEWART" - Library Journal

Years ago Camilla King's mother died under
mysterious circumstances at Thunder Heights,
a gloomy, menacing old Gothic mansion
along the banks of the Hudson River.

Camilla's father, now dead, had always
forbidden her to set foot within Thunder
Heights' forbidding walls, but when her ailing
grandfather now summoned her, Camilla
went eagerly, hoping to find a home and a
family again.

What she found in this nest of bitter rivalries,
enduring hates and constant
dangers was that the same fate
that had befallen her mother
was being readied for her!

Its dark mood, brooking
atmosphere and realistic
backgrounds make
THUNDER HEIGHTS
"A romantic tale in
the turn Gothic
tradition." - Booklist.

I was already pretty impressed with this novel when I realized that the Ft. Wayne News - Sentinel compared it to "Rebecca" but when the back also promised "bitter rivalries" and "enduring hates" I was SOLD! Any one who has read this blog for any amount of time should know that the only thing better would be to boast "evil" and "the occult". This book is well deserving of my "Empty Promise" award. I promise I will read this one and get back to you regarding all of its splendor.

Okay, I love cover illustrations from the 50's, 60's and 70's. for any genre, but especially Gothic romance and the more racy men's novels. So when I ran into this graphic little cover, I had to scoop it up.

This back cover promises that Baton Sinister is going to duel and wench his way through "the glittering pomp of Renaissance Genoa". With this cover I believe it!

Some how it seems dirtier in red.

This Ancient Evil

This Ancient Evil by Dorothy Daniels
published by Lancer Books
Copyright 1966

THE BROODING GHOSTS

Verna Ward was worried. Worried ... and determined
in spite of her fear.

A strange, apparently supernatural menace had taken
hold of her best friend, Lucia. Elusive and silent by
day - she walked by night and performed rituals to
the Aztec gods whose pyramid temple loomed men-
acingly over the Mendoz ranch.

Verna had to find the explanation - no matter what the
cost of her own life and wonderful new love ...

Unless Verna Ward plans to handle some highly toxic liquid I don't know why she is wearing those awful gloves.

Several years back I worked for the kind of research and development company where there were almost as many men in military uniforms as there were people in lab coats, and I can tell you that her gloves are pretty heavy duty for a chick wearing a bow that's wider than her waist.

But maybe the bow is so large to help minimise her waist and the gigantic "Umbrella Corporation" gloves are to distract from the crazy-ass giant bow. Maybe her whole fashion statement is a variation on the "Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" thing and if we were able to see her feet it would just get WAY uglier.

I'd sure like to think so!

The Most Dangerous Game - Mill Reef Hall

Mill Reef Hall by Ariadne Pritchett
published by Fawcett Books
Copyright 1968

From the moment she stepped out
of the coach into the blinding
snowstorm, Lilia Franklin felt a strange chill
that was from something more than the
icy blasts that whipped at her.

Another might have turned back. But the
raven-haired young girl who had been
hired as nurse-companion to old Lord Reef
had curiosity as well as courage. Besides,
there was no alternative. She was a
penniless orphan.

Then she met Lord Reef's brother Seaton
and nephew Edgar and was more certain
than ever that she was in danger. Never had
she been made to feel so unwelcome. She
could not know then that she was in their way.

For they did not want to wait for old
Lord Reef to die. And now they had to plan
for Lilia, too. But Lilia was more than
they bargained for - much
more. And she had a few
plans of her own ...

If someday in the far future I need to hire a nurse-companion I will definitely hire myself a penniless orphan. It appears they will take all kinds of shit from you. I bet you could even hunt them. You know, give them something like an hour head start on the extensive grounds of your evil mansion and then just hunt them. My weapon of choice would be a bow but it is really a hell of a lot of fun to shoot a gun.

But anyway, back to my possible far future employee needs. I will hire a nurse-companion BUT will not hire a nurse-companion with such a long neck. I would have problems not staring and staring would just be rude. Still, a neck like that would really look great mounted on the wall of my game room.

Here we have a signed cover by the prolific Harry Bennett.

Born in Lewisboro, New York in 1925, Bennett was raised in Connecticut and studied painting and illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago after returning from his service in the South Pacific during World War II.

He began is commercial illustration career working in advertising with companies such as Pepsi and Keds in the late 40's and early 50's before moving on to illustrating book covers for publishers such as Fawcett, Crest and many others.

Below are several examples of other cover illustration you may or may not have seen.

Cry Shame, 1950 Illustrated Cover

Spectergirl's Crypt of Post-Code Horror

Life not horrific enough? Stop by...

Spectergirl's Crypt of Post-Code Horror

We've dusted off a mouldering short-box of penny-dreadfuls from the Bronze Age of FEAR!

It's TERROR only the Comics Code Authority would DARE approve!