When I was a kid in the Sixties the two scariest book covers in the family bookcase where two horror paperbacks.
Dracula's Guest is the the one I have been able to remember for years and years. With its seeming rapid movements in a circular direction: the flying skeleton, the running wolf and the second wolf and what appears to be a corpse falling down through the mausoleum, its a maelstrom of creepiness and truly gave me the willies!
The second book cover I just couldn't recall .... until
... now!
Its this one, Twisted!
Blimey, this is a trip down cemetery lane!
That cover sent shivers down my spine as a nipper and seeing it again this week it still does!
There's just something about the long-haired, skull, the purple lace curtains and most of all the black snakes and crawlies spewing out from what is presumabley a bed that is distinctly jarring.
I'm so glad I've found it again though
And what about that name! Bram Stoker's pretty fine but Groff Conklin is just priceless!
Do you have any fave book covers, scary or otherwise?
This is another one like the music tracks the other day where I'm honestly unsure if it's real or some mad dream I had but it must have been late 60's/early 70's in a highland gift shop amongst tartan teddies and shortbread there was a paperback spinner rack with the most gruesome cover of a girl's body on the ground and her head a few feet away with a trail of blood and a samurai/japanese like soldier or monster standing over her with a bloodied sword. I think it was a Pan book of horror title but in spite of many years searching online I never found it so kind of gave up figuring maybe it was all in my head - very frustrating tho' because I can still see it clearly in my mind's eye.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean Mike. I've had a bash at searching for your mystery cover and zilch. It couldn't have been a horror comic could it?
DeleteAs far as the old grey matter can recall - and it is a pretty crystal clear picture - definitely a paperback and fairly sure it was Pan Books ...but then again I've been sooooo certain about things like that before lol. It's an age thing mate!
DeleteThis is the closest I've got but its not a Pan Horror alas,
Deletehttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQr2Tl_w-lL6XH_PLs4m6Ksz8XupI3iovq7Mpk_uE8BcccOvUb2
This is tricky!
Ah good old John Buscema's paintings were always under-appreciated - but I'm 100% sure it was a paperback cover. That said you have me now thinking it may not have been a horror book because we had the Hammer Fu Manchu movies around then so it could have been an eastern fantasy title instead. The beheaded girl looked like she was wearing some kind of kimono and the sword had a curved blade, eastern style and there was a very red and slick looking pool of blood between head and body. Need to widen my search parameters I reckon - thanks for getting the brain cells working together again mate!!!
DeleteNow that is one vivid recollection Mike and a fair grisly cover for sure. Notone that rings a bell at all. For some reason I can see Peter Cushing lopping off a head. i think that was the Vasmpire Lovers so no oriental collection. the Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires may have had curved blades in it though. Creepy and Eerie comics had Ditko-drawn curved-blade weilding mongols inside but I don't recall a cover showing one in colour. There is an barbarian axeman executioner cover on one of them http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/creepy/17-1.jpg.
DeleteThe search goes on though!
Cheers Woodsy - I reckon I'll give it one more try on t'interweb and if that fails I'll draw the bloomin' thing myself - for all I know it might be a mad amalgamation of movies and books I'd seen in my early childhood (I was ALWAYS haunting bookshops and newsagents) and I know I have had dreams about finding Frank Bellamy artwork from TV21 which I know never existed (having spent years collecting and cataloging about 99% of his art) so yup it may be the old brain fever lol.
DeleteIts a daft question I'm sure Mike but have you got a website of all your Frank Bellamy research? If you've told me already I apologise!
DeleteSorry for the delay in replying mate - blame the House on the Borderland! Cryptic? Moi? No website I'm afraid - was advised that would cause copyright problems - so the collection rests in my old faithful computer at the moment. I'm a huge fan of the classic 50's and 60's band of UK artists and started collecting when I first got online a few years ago. I have almost all of Bellamy, the vast majority of Mike Noble and a good chunk of Rom Embleton (he was SO prolific!!!), John Burns Brian Lewis, Gerry Haylock et al. Would love to create a "Classic UK Comics Art" Website but between the 9-5, family and my secret identity as a comic artist I really would not have the time. If you're loo king for Bellamy stuff check out Norman Boyd's excellent blog and if there's anything you'd like to see or any other artist for that matter, I have literally gigabytes of material and I'm happy to share it, so just give me a shout, ok? Cheers!!!
DeleteEqually apologetic for this tardy missif Mike. Blogger have stopped telling me when ther's been a comment. I have to search through the blog now. Hope its a temp thing. The House on the Borderland? I have that book. Not read it yet! Is it the missing cover youre seeking? I've seen Norman B's site and its a cracker. I've just checked for your stuff on there. I always appreciate new material for Moonbase. Posting something every day requires lots of fuel! Anything Anderson or Space always has a home in the house on bloggerland! Any time. Have you my email addy?
DeleteThings get a bit confusing with the emails Woodsy as I had 2 names online - Mike Nicoll and Bill Storie, the reason being that I've been producing 2 different types of art over the years, CGI art and traditional hand-drawn and i was advised that to avoid being "typecast" as a CGI artist (and possibly lose out on work offers) I should draw stuff under a different name, hence the Storie/Nicoll thing. However, blogs such as this are a problem because they don't accept my hotmail account name so rather than create yet another email account for that purpose I just used the Nicoll account which was accepted by the blogs. I keep meaning to try to sort it out but most folks who know me are aware of the situation so ... also, in spite of being a CGI artist I'm crap at sorting out social media stuff. I leave that to my kids lol. Anyhoo, just drop me a line at billstorie@hotmail.com and we can chat, ok? Cheers!!
DeleteOKidoki Mike.
DeleteI like what you've dug up from the graveyard of old paperbacks, Woodsy. Both books have unsettling cover art, especially Twisted. It's like an image from a lucid childhood nightmare which still trails after the grown-up reader :)
ReplyDeleteTwisted is startling Tone for sure and as a kid it was on my mind!
Delete