The rest of 1952 and into 1953 saw werewolves in all the ACG horror titles. Again traditional ideas and some new weird ones including Greek gods, gypsy curses and Finnish cave explosions.
“The Prowling Terror” (Forbidden Worlds #7, July 1952) was written by an unknown author and drawn by Peter Riss. The story has Dr. Jarro come from Europe and a werewolf show up at the same time. Over time Jarro begins to have influence over Alice, Allan Taylor’s fiancee. The werewolf attacks Allan but he chases it off.
Later they learn that Jarro is an imposter who was turned into a werewolf because of an elixir. The real Dr. Jarro explains he is Ludwig Gaynor. The men chase Gaynor and he and Allan fall off a cliff. Allan is saved and the werewolf dies. What caught my eye here is the use of the word “Wolfman”, which speaks to its inspiration.
“Strange Flower” (Adventures Into the Unknown #34, August 1952) was written by an unknown author and drawn by Harry Lazarus. Carlotta Morti hires Burt Tyler to take her to the mountains of Kilimanjaro to find the Kasaku flower. Carlotta is a horticulturist who always wears a mask. To get the flower they have to enter the Valley of the werewolves. The flower can cure Carlotta but it gets struck by lightning. she resigns herself to being the Queen of the Werewolves.
“The Fangs of the Fiend” (Forbidden Worlds #8, August 1952) has an unknown author and was drawn by Art Gates. A young couple inherit a creepy house full of weird heirlooms (again!) including a necklace of fangs. A ghost appears, taking the necklace away. Jim takes the necklace but when the ghost appears on the road Nora pulls the wheel and they go off the road. No one is hurt but Jim’s neck gets pierced by one of the fangs. A werewolf appears and chases them though a graveyard. Jim finds he is starting to change.
They go back to the house look through Nora’s uncles journals. They learn that by midnight Jim will become a werewolf. They lure the werewolf into the house, to a room filled with African vases. The ghosts of witch doctors destroy the werewolf. Once again we have a werewolf defeated by ghosts.
“The Midnight Howl” (Adventures into the Unknown #36, October 1952) was written by an unknown author with art by Ed Moritz. This Northern has Linda and Fred in the North Woods to test out a new airplane engine. A storm forces them to land. They encounter a werewolf, but Fred punches it. They keep moving and come to a village of log cabins. The inhabitants are also werewolves. Their Midnight Howl protects them from harm and insures they will caught their prey by dawn. Fred and Linda barricade themselves in a cabin, where Fred finds something in a trunk. He doesn’t show Linda.
The couple return to the plane. Fred has a desperate plan. They drag the plane back to the village, where the engine’s noise causes an avalanche that buries the werewolves. The Midnight Howl is now destroyed with the werewolves. Except there is still one left. Fred turns into a werewolf and reveals that he once came from that village. A trapper had found him and taken him to civilization. The sun rises and the Midnight Howl is gone forever, and so is Fred’s curse.
“The Wolf-Children of Bengal” (Out of the Night #6, December 1952-January 1953) may have been written by Richard Hughes with art by Peter Riss. Peter Jarvis and his explorers find a cave full of wolf children. They shoot the ones in wolf form but capture the ones in human form. He takes them back to civilization, where doctors think he is crazy. Peter goes to the asylum and the children go to the orphanage, where they can get up to werewolf evil.
“Apollo’s Fatal Gloves” (Adventures Into the Unknown #39, January 1953) was written by an unknown author with art by Al Camy and George Wilhelms. Second rate pianist Glen Sanders finds a pair of gloves blessed by Apollo. They make him into a star.
But when an evil-minded janitor steals the gloves he turns into a werewolf and kills people. Glen appeals to Apollo to give him a second pair of gloves so he can take care of the janitor. Glen knocks the werewolf out and takes his gloves. Apollo takes back both pairs but Glen is still a great musician. The author never uses the word werewolf. It is just how Al Camy drew him. Perhaps he is supposed to look more like Mr. Hyde?
“The Vampire-Cat” (Forbidden Worlds #15, March 1953) was written by an unknown author and drawn by Art Gates. Steve and Flo are engaged to be married but Vilma, a gypsy girl, intrudes on their life. Making a wish on the Philospher’s Tree on Halloween, Vilma wishes to kiss Steve and does. Flo sees them and wishes Vilma would turn into a cat. The curse works. Vilma goes to her grandmother and learns that she must drink blood every night or turn into a cat forever.
She preys on locals until she goes after Flo. Steve saves the day by distracting her with cat nip. When she strikes again she flies through a window and dies. Despite the title, this story is really more about a shape-changer than a vampire so I have included it here instead of my future pieces on ACG vampire comics.
“True Werewolves of History: The Rajah of Balaralphur” (Forbidden Worlds #16, April 1953) was penned by an unknown author with art by Ed Moritz. A village in India goes to the Rajah about a wolf problem. The Rajah sends them away and tells them to deal with their own wolf problems.
Later when a villager throws a rock and hits the wolf in the head, the Rajah has a wound in the same place. The villagers are suspicious. When the werewolf is caught in a trap, it has to turn to human form to escape. The Rajah has been revealed. The villagers deal with their own wolf problem and beat him to death with clubs.
“Werewolves of the Rockies” (Forbidden Worlds #17, May 1953) was written by an unknown author and may have been penciled by Leo Morey. Inking was done by Ed Moritz. Lars Norden and his girl, Fria, are on the train going to a ski competition. An avalanche blocks the tracks so they go to a ski village for help. The men there seem creepy but willing to help. An ice crevasse blocks the path so the couple are forced to stay over night. At the full moon the men turn into werewolves. Lars and Fria go skiing in the moonlight. Lars cuts alder poles while Fria has an encounter.
The next day the men build a bridge to cross the crevasse. While they cross, Lars cuts the rope and kills most of them. One of the wolves that survives attack, but he blocks it with his skis then spears it with the alder pole hidden in his ski pole. The werewolves are all dead. Or are they? As Lars and Fria go back to the train, she changes behind him. Ken Bald chose to give away the end with his cover drawing.
“The Were-Fiends of Finland” (The Skeleton Hand #5, May-June 1953) may have been written by Richard Hughes with art by Frank Simienski. Dr. Koljas develops a serum that can cure werewolves. He and his eager assistant, Mark, go to Finland with the serum. The werewolves learn of the serum and plan to kill the doctor. Mark saves him, shooting several of the werewolves.
When they get back to the house, Kristin, the doctor’s beautiful daughter is gone, taken captive. Mark has to follow the werewolves back to their cave, using a bloodhound. The dog attacks a werewolf and Mark and Kristin flee. The rest of the werewolves give chase but Mark kills them all by lighting the gases in the cave, gases from the bodies of the werewolves’ victims, and causing an explosion.
