Friday, September 17, 2021

Song of the Undead!

A beautiful vampire with a sinister song of undead evil highlights this impressively silly Avon tale from the August - September 1952 issue of Eerie #8 --though as usual, the best part of the whole thing is the black and white preface page illustration by the great, Everett Raymond Kinstler. 

6 comments:

Brian Barnes said...

One thing that entertains me about the more goofy stories is just how many warning signs the victims ignore. I don't believe in ghost and ghouls but I do believe in evidence and even I do need to be hit with that many clues to be a bit suspicious!

I like the art in this thing -- the stunningly hot vampire in a village full of women that are drawn like they transformed from a monster truck and comically old dudes. Also, are guitars that hard to draw?

The B&W print is great!

Mr. Karswell said...

Eh, maybe it’s a ukulele.

Doc, please resubmit your comment— I accidentally hit the delete button like a doofus! :(

Mr. Cavin said...

I feel like I'm coming to this one from another whole place than you gents. I kind of love the folkloric mechanism here, which feel rather mythic. Like, singing seems like one way to get in and out of Valhalla, or Fearie, or Hell. It's like sneezing and letting the demons in. I find the whole idea really fanciful and charming, miles from another dreary list of Hollywood vampire rules. Maybe one must imagine some kind of excuse for the more self-destructive choices made my the protagonists here, but the story is clear that they were besotted by the monster hex right off the bat. Who wouldn't want to get their hands on the Song of the Undead anyway? That's pure-T gold to the hepcats down at the Voodoo Lounge.

I dig the art here too. After several weeks of sweet Atlas goodness, it's nice to get back to a little bit rougher fare. This stuff hits the spot: Emotionally charged bold thick brush strokes and chewy details, barely contained. And it's got a lot of good color choices, too. I love the pair of panels book-ending the couple's dismissal of Ramon at the bottom of page three and the top of page four. And I love the yellow bodies panel at the bottom of the last page, too. Swell stuff!

Long live Friday!

Doc Briar said...

I fear The Song of the Undead less than I do The Songs of the Braindead streamed and broadcast daily.

Karswell, you are so right about the b&w sketch. A man would be a darned fool to reject that deadly, delectable senorita. The vamp in the story itself is drawn like Wolf Gal in Li'l Abner.

Wendy said...

Is it just me, or does Xatl look a bit like Jane Russell on page 2??

Mr. Karswell said...

That could be a good example of the artist using photo reference because yeah it totally looks like her