Classic Creepy Comics - Chamber of Chills

I had such a fun time looking through old horror comics last year, that Creepy Classic Comics is back again! And since Wednesday is known as "comic book day" what better time to do it? Okay, so these aren't new comics, but still...

 

As before, all the books I talk about are legally available for free on Comic Book+. You can read them online or, if you create a free account, you can download them.

Chamber of Chills was a 26 issue series that ran from June 1951 to December 1954 published by Harvey Comics. Yes, the same Harvey Comics that's probably best known for Casper the Friendly Ghost.

 

The cover of each issue dares you...to open the mysterious door into a world of horror! At least until issue 5 anyway. Speaking of numbering, the above cover shows 21 even though it is the first issue. The numbering was carried over from Blondie Comics of all things. Starting with issue 5, the numbering matched the actual issue number.

 

Although there would be a Marvel Comics series of the same name starting in 1972, the books are not related. You just can't beat a good alliterative title!

Issue 7 (above) was mentioned in 1954's Seduction of the Innocent, a book that claimed comic books had a negative effect on young minds and lead to the creation of the Comics Code Authority. It's bad enough there's a hanging skeleton with a knife stuck in its skull, but look at the poor girl in the background shackled by her neck! Also, I love that this guy is prying open the wall to get away and there's some ghoulish hands trying to pull the rock back.

And to close out our showcase this week, here's some nightmare fuel.

What even is this thing? Is that a robot head or some kind of iron mask? You'll never know because this thing doesn't even appear in the issue!

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