My Rating
“The Demon Is Dying”
In a frozen valley of Skaaland, a tyrant sits on a throne of blood. This monster has dominated the country and its people for decades, but his tyranny is about to end. The church bishop has devised a plan to starve the demon named Kandelrue by stopping his never-ending feast upon their daughters’ virgin flesh.
Can the villagers trap an unholy nightmare with relics coveted from ancient times? Have all the soldiers perished in the war against ghoulish invaders? Who will betray the other to survive past dawn?
“Time Lapse”
Was this a déjà vu moment for accountant Charles Berkowitz? Ever since that old antique clock has been in his apartment, moments of time keep repeating. He awakes, has breakfast, thinks about his six-o’clock date with Lisa, then the morning of Saturday the12th starts over, and over again.
What is the strange anomaly that is preventing Charles Berkowitz from having dinner with his coworker Lisa? Has his local antiques dealer cursed him to an eternity of hell? Did Ben receive Charles’ phone call before Saturday the 12th began once again?
“The Many Horrors of Dan Curtis”
Gary Gerani presents a seven-page article on the works of writer, director, and producer Dan Curtis. From his early years working on the “Dark Shadows” television series, to the “Night Stalker” and “Night Strangler” television movies, Gary presents some of the struggles which Dan Curtis faced. Can the producer-director recover from his more recent (1975) lackluster projects? Atlas/Seaboard’s own reviewer, Gary Gerani, seems to think so.
“A Second Life”
He met the strange woman last night on a dark country road while driving through the woods to his cabin upstate. She had seemed very disoriented, as if not aware of her current state or surroundings but was friendly. So, the driver picked her up with exhilaration masked in conservative hesitation.
It was her “second life,” the woman exclaimed. The driver had no idea what she was referring to, but it was clear that the hitchhiker thirsted for the love of a good man. He knew exactly what she wanted right then, and there. The driver took her to his cabin in the woods and pleased her every desire. What the driver did not know about the mystery woman he would learn about in the next morning’s newspaper.
“The Cheese is for Rats”
Life on the open road can be difficult sometimes, even for veteran hobos like Mark and Roger. One night, they convinced an eccentric old manor lord to feed and lodge them. The only thing standing in their way of a decent meal, however, was the rats. The old man’s house was infested with those nasty little things.
As Nestor Charlton showed the two vagabonds to their room, he gave them a loaf of bread and a stark warning.
“Whatever you do, do not eat the cheese.” Nester insisted. “It is for the rats, and the rats only!”
Mark and Roger agreed to pay the old man for his troubles, even though their pockets were bare. Neither man, of course, had any intention of fulfilling their promise to pay, nor avoiding that delicious cheese. They were starving, in fact, and hunger can make even the most honest men lie.
As Mark snuck away to the house pantry, Roger took notice of the strange copper pipes that lined two sides of their room. Why would anyone want drainage pipes emptying into an interior chamber like this? Soon they would find out.
“Tour De Force”
Actor Noah Claye used to be box-office gold until he let alcoholism take over. Now, Noah had been reduced to playing bit-parts in low-budget horror movies, while his marriage and fortune crumble right before his eyes. Fate has a cruel way of punishing those who live to obsess. For some, things can swing the other way.
During the summer of 1926, somewhere within the Oregon forest, Noah’s luck was about to change. He had been given one last chance to prove himself in front of a camera. To his estranged wife, and co-star of the upcoming movie release of “Track of the Wolf”, everything was on the line.
Can Noah Claye deliver a groundbreaking performance while disguised in full werewolf makeup? Will the has-been actor be upstaged by his wife, or the rabid wolf lurking just outside the movie set? Has Ruby Claye kept an affair with the lead actor a secret from her husband and film crew?
“Speed Demon”
Neal Evers, a race car driver, had clawed his way to the top of the pole position at the Daneport 500. It had been a challenging qualifier run, but with the help of his chief mechanic and the “special modifiers” to his car, Neal had pulled off one of the best times on the track. Now he must win the race by hook or crook to keep all his sponsors from dropping him for another driver.
Can the last-minute modification to his car pass official inspection? How many of the competing drivers have a personal grudge with Neal Evers? Will the most hated man in Formula 1 racing take the checker flag before death catches up to him? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
In the competitive world of 1970s horror comics and magazines, Atlas/Seaboard introduced ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’’ to an oversaturated market. Offering the best advertising rates for the time, the main goal was to pull artists and advertisers from Marvel Comics, hurting Marvel’s market share. It worked briefly, but the product was not the quality Marvel and DC readers were accustomed to at the time. “Weird Tales of the Macabre” only lasted for two issues (starting in 1975 and ending in the same year).
What did ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’ offer that was different to competing books on the newsstand? Not much, unfortunately. Unlike Atlas/Seaboard’s other horror comic series, ‘Devilina’, which included a continuing mini story of the Devilina character between issues, ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’ used the exact same format common to horror comic books at the time. This format is multiple, unjoined, horror stories written and illustrated by different artists. This format was an industry norm in 1975, so Atlas/Seaboard offered nothing new.
Being an upstart comic book publisher, in my opinion, Atlas Seaboard should have saved their money and focused directly on the ‘Devilina’ series. ‘Devilina’ had everything that ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’ offered but was a better product, I’m my opinion. Atlas/Seaboard was competing with itself as well as Marvel Comics. If I remember correctly, Atlas Comics signed more artists to contracts than they
The artwork and writing are very solid for the 1970s era, but unfortunately there is only so much a horror artist can do in the confines of black and white (thanks to U.S. government regulations of the time). Also, the varying art styles in the two issues of “Weird Tales of the Macabre” does not help pull the reader into a coherent universe. I feel I It would have been a better series if Atlas Seaboard used the same artist in each story.
On a positive note, ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’ does include an article section dedicated to horror in movies and television. In issue number one, Gary Gerani covers horror director Dan Curtis. The article was highly informative and covers his work from the ‘Dark Shadows’ soap opera to ‘Kolchak the Night Stalker’ (one of my favorite TV shows as a kid).
I am glad to have this book in my collection, for nostalgia alone, but I can see why ‘Weird Tales of the Macabre’ had a very limited run. I give issue number one a solid three stars.
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