If you missed the last one…
While Gold Key had their own Sword & Sorcery hero in Dagar the Invincible, the publishers liked to include tales set in distant times in their Horror comics. These historical ghost stories often feel like heroic fantasy. Grimm’s Ghost Stories actually produced the most of this type of blend of swords and ghosts with a selection of Egyptian, Roman, Medieval and sometimes later stories. The people who wrote and drew them are the same as the other Gold Key comics, with familiar names like Luis Dominguez, Adolfo Buylla, John Celardo, Win Mortimer and Sal Trapani. The majority of stories were written by Paul S. Newman. He won the Inkpot Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998. Much of that achievement was at Gold Key during the Bronze Age.
“The Headless King” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #9, May 1973) was written by Paul S. Newman. Gaspar is a troubadour and ventriloquist but he falls foul of the king who sentences him to death. Gaspar also knows poison and puts arsenic in the king’s wine. To escape, he voices the king’s armor using his ventriloquist skills and challenges Gaspar to a jousting match. The bodyless suit of armor is put on a horse but still manages to point the finger at Gaspar. He is executed for being a sorcerer.
“The Unborn Ghost” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #9, May 1973) was written by Paul S. Newman. Ebro the gladiator wins his ninety-ninth victory but begs Emperor Sulva not to make him fight a man for the hundredth. Ebro doesn’t want to be haunted by his ghost. Sulva tells him he is a fool and ghosts don’t exist. That night Sulva is haunted by the ghost of the man who is yet to die. The next day, when he sees Ebro’s opponent, a face he knows from his vision, he declares both men victors and stops the fight. The audience isn’t happy.
“Dead Man’s Castle” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #16, May 1974) was written by Paul S. Newman. Lorenzo Gratti inherits a castle from his dying father but it is haunted. He meets Laura Benedetto, the previous owner, who has been in a convent for five years. A voice bade her to come to the castle at once. The two enter the castle and discover a skeleton on the rack. The ghost appears. It is Lorenzo’s father’s ghost. He tells how he tortured the other to sign away Laura’s inheritance. He proves he is Lorenzo’s father by telling of scar that Lorenzo got as a child. Lorenzo gives the deed to Laura, but all is not lost. The two strike up a romance the will lead to both owning the castle together.
“Death Rattle” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #16, July 1974) was written by an unknown author. Prince Roy is unhappy that his brother’s wife has had the new heir to the throne. He designs to get rid of the baby by giving it a silver rattle covered with plague. The baby dies. The ghost of the baby appears, driving Roy mad with its rattling. To deal with the spirit, he is locked in a room with the ghost. If he survives, the ghost will be banished. It is only then he learns that the ghost is not the baby but the nurse who hanged herself after the babe’s death. She wants revenge.
“The Ghost Knocked Twice” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #19, September 1974) was written by an unknown author. The Viking Eric returns from Normandy with a wife and a new philosophy. He won’t fight anymore and becomes a fisherman. His half brother Olaf is now the heir. The old king is murdered. The king’s ghost comes to Eric and tells of how Olaf’s knife killed him. Eric throws his brother from a balcony in revenge. The king’s ghost appears again saying it wasn’t Olaf but the new wife. Eric poisons his girl only to learn that Olaf really was the killer and the ghost was mistaken. What a Shakespearean level death-fest!
“Cowards Yield” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #21, January 1975) was written by an unknown author. Two knights, Sir Garain and Sir Darent, fight over the fair Leda. Garain loses and yields. The girl rides off with the victor. Jump to modern times, where a man and woman buy both suits of armor. Ghosts appear in the armor and continue the fight. They only disappear when the modern woman, Ginny, declares Sir Garain was not a coward but a great lover.
“Arm of the Law” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #28, December 1975) was written by Paul S. Newman. In 1610, Luis Osuna, the king’s messenger is a one-armed swordsman. He lost his arm fighting a bandit with a strange birthmark. (You guessed it! My name is Inigo Montoya…) At an inn, a ghostly hand appears, pointing to man across the room. It proves to be Carlos de Mendes, the man Luis has been sent to find. Carlos reads his message, a summons to appear before the king. Luis wants to kill the man because he bears the birthmark but does his duty, taking him to the king. The king charges Carlos with highway robbery but the villain grabs the king’s niece as hostage. The ghost hand appears again, pointing at Carlos. Only Luis and Carlos can see it. It knocks Carlos’s sword aside and Luis kills him with his sword. This one is getting a little late to be included but it reminded me a little of Solomon Kane , so why not?
“My Father Is Watching” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #37, May 1977) was written by George Kashden. Uncle Osric attempts to kill his nephew, Edmond, by putting whale oil on the cellar stairs. Edmond claims his father’s ghost caught him and saved him. The second attempt is a rope in the woods to trip Edmond’s horse. He falls and again father saves him. Osric is tired of traps so he takes a dagger and goes to the boy’s bedroom to stab him. A ghost hand stops him, killing Osric instead. They find the dead father’s ring on the floor despite it having been buried with him.
“Her Own Victim” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #37, May 1977) was written by Paul S. Newman. Ellen, sister of the Count, is married to a boorish baron. She plans to kill him with poison. The baron is no dummy, pouring the wine into her mouth. It is poisoned. The baron is arrested and taken to Ellen’s brother to be sentenced. The dead woman’s ghost appears, clearing the baron of any crime. I thought of Robert Baratheon and Circe in Game of Thrones, a similar happy marriage.
“The Apprentice Magician” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #51, July 1979) was written by Paul S. Newman. Baron Garth sees a ghost at another noble’s castle and wants to get one. But there are problems. The magician who summoned the ghost has died, but he has an apprentice. Garth gets the apprentice but Garth’s castle is new and not haunted. Eventually the bumbling apprentice hears about a slain chef named Jason. He summons Jason over and over filling the castle with not one but dozens of phantoms.
“The Dead Hand of a Druid” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #52, September 1979) was written by Arnold Drake. General Aurelian visits his old friend, Solonius, now a Christian. The general takes the boy, Marcellus, with him to war against the Gauls, to make a man of him. The former slave does not act like a free man. Aurelius will change that. Marcellus later kills a druid that curses him: “That which you lost will be twice lost.” Grown up, Marcellus returns to Solonius, wishing to marry his daughter, Selena, who once used to beat him. Solonius refuses because he doesn’t want his daughter to marry a warrior. Later, he learns that the merchant Justinian is to marry Selena, so he murders him. At a banquet for Marcellus, now the youngest general ever, Justinian’s ghost appears and reveals Marcellus’s crimes. In the end, he learns Selena had loved Justinian. He loses his love and his life, as per the druid’s curse.
“The Falcon’s Quarry” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #54, November 1979) was written by Paul S. Newman. In 15th Century, Italy a boy named Guido trains a wonderful hawk, Victor, that he won’t sell. The greedy duke kills him for the bird. Victor attacks the duke, scarring his face, before the nobleman stabs the bird, too. The bodies are discovered and the duke declares he will kill the murderer. A ghostly hawk attacks him, causing him to fall on his own dagger.
“The Mummy’s Ghost” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #55, April 1981) was written by Arnold Drake. We follow King Tut from boyhood to manhood. His father fought with the priesthood to make Aten the only god in Egypt. Tut rises to kinghood but is later murdered by the priests. His wife Nefertiti tries to broker a deal with the invading Hittites but the priests discover this, too. When the high priest tries to harm Nefertiti, Tut’s ghost appears with his sword and kills him. Nefertiti places the sword in his sarcophagus along with a bunch of wild flowers. James Patterson would write a murder mystery novel along the same lines in 2009.
“Duel to the Death” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #57, December 1981) was written by Paul S. Newman. The Red Knight and the Green Knight have been fighting each other for a long time. It is the serfs of these two factions who suffer hunger for it. The serfs of both sides demand that the two knight duel and end the long struggle. The knights agree, jousting then fighting each other hand-to-hand. Both die but their ghosts go on fighting for eternity.
“Valhalla” (Grimm’s Ghost Stories #60, June 1982) was written by Roger McKenzie. A warrior wakes to find a woman fleeing wolf-headed warriors. He fights but dies at their deceitful hands. He wakes in what he thinks is Valhalla. A beautiful woman waits for him there. When he sees her reflection in a mirror he knows she is death. Her head becomes a skull. She wants to embrace him. Instead he crushes her skull in his hands. Warriors arrive. It is time to ride out and fight. If they are slain, it doesn’t matter, for in Valhalla they will be resurrected the next day to fight again. As the warriors die around him, he learns he is not in Valhalla but in Hell.
Conclusion
These Gold Key coics span many centuries, playing with history and old settings, but few are really Sword & Sorcery per se. Only the last “Valhalla” comes close with its wolf-headed warriors. Despite that, these are ghost stories that heroic fantasy fans can enjoy. The biggest lack here, despite the swords and castles and supernatural elements, is the sense that the hero is in charge. The Sword & Sorcery lead is usually a man or woman in charge of their own destiny. The players here are all pawns to the shivery hand of death, most often shown as a ghost. (It is Grimm’s Ghost Stories, right?) Which isn’t to say Robert E. Howard didn’t write stories of this ilk like “For the Love of Barbara Allen”. He was fond of Irish tales of fate and boogies. But there is no Conan here, no King Kull or Bran Mak Morn. These are tales more akin to Clark Ashton Smith’s version of Sword & Sorcery, where people are small beings after all.
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