The House of Mystery - Book #2

It's been nearly four years since I read the first of the two The House of Mystery novels based on the old DC Comics horror anthology title.  After obtaining the first book, I spent a number of years tracking down the second prose novel at a reasonable price (I found several online, but the prices were more than I was willing to pay).  I happened across this particular copy of No. 2 at a decent price, so I bought it - and when I got it, I was surprised to find that it was autographed on the cover by Bernie Wrightson, the artist who illustrated the book!  Wrightson (1948-2017) was a rather famous comic book artist, most particularly known for his art in the horror genre - so, to have his autograph on this book is pretty special, in my opinion.  And now that I had the second novel, it was time to sit down and read it.

The House of Mystery (no. 2) followed the format of its predecessor, in that it contained eight stories of horror and suspense written by Jack Oleck.  Just like the old DC comic series, each story is set in a various time period, with settings ranging from high-rise apartment buildings to Transylvania castles to long forgotten islands.  And each story ends with an ironic twist that, in most cases, an astute reader will see coming a mile away.  But that doesn't lessen the impact of those endings, as they remind the reader that nothing is ever really what it seems, and you have to be very careful what you wish for, because you just might get it - only not in the way you expect!

The book gets us started with "Wolf Spawn," a story about a man who is absolutely convinced that his wife is a werewolf.  He calls his brother-in-law and begs him to put an end to his wife's nocturnal frenzies - but it turns out it is all a ruse to rid himself of his wife and inherit her fortune! He quickly discovers though that lycanthropy can be a family curse!  After that rather long opening tale, Oleck treats us to a brief story about the "Sweet Smell of Success," in which a man congratulates himself on finally ridding himself of a nagging wife that he never loved - but there's something still nagging at him, and he can't shake the feeling his wife is still around!

"Island of the Damned" is a rather sad tale about a woman who sets about conning a deformed man in the hopes of stealing whatever treasure he has hidden on his island home for misfits.  But she learns that every action has its consequences!  "Where Dead Men Walk" is probably my favorite story of this collection, as it deals with a deadly vampire and a woman's attempt to convince her husband the abandoned castle they are honeymooning in is actually the home to a real vampire.  With the help of a determined priest, the woman sets about trapping the vampire and ending his reign of terror - and in the end, it's the priest who is the final nail in the coffin!

The fifth story, "Message from Beyond," is less supernatural and more about karma.  It tells the tale of a charlatan psychic who has been scamming widows and unsuspecting women out of their money - only this time, his tricks backfire and his true nature is revealed.  "Sacrifice" is one of those ironic stories about a man wanting to live forever, and he continually regains his youth by sacrificing his wives - but what happens when you have a wife you really love and she willingly offers to sacrifice herself for you?  Tobin soon finds out!

The penultimate tale, "Never Say Die," is rather unique - a petty thief gets caught in the act, and when he is shot by the police, he finds himself on a strange train ride to purgatory.  Desperate to get off the train and back to his life, he makes a deal that sends him back to the real world - but what he comes back to is not the life he was expecting!  And the final horror story in this collection is "Donovan's Demon."  This is a love story of sorts, as Donovan attempts to summon a demon of avarice in order to get the riches he needs to keep the woman he loves.  But someone stands in his way, so he makes a deal with the demon to remove that obstacle - and, as always, fate has a way of intervening, teaching Donovan a horrifying lesson!

The one thing I really wish they had added to this (and the previous) book was the inclusion of Cain, the caretaker of The House of Mystery in the comic series published by DC.  A comedic narrator who introduced the stories in the comic, it would have been fun to see (or rather, read) him introducing each of these tales.  We do still get the beautiful pen and ink line drawings by Wrightson at the beginning of each story, which are dark and horrific, setting the mood for each tale.  But Cain's absence is definitely felt, although we do get his one and only novel appearance here on the cover of the second collection of stories.  Perhaps they wanted to avoid the humor, to keep the stories dark and "scary" for readers.  In any event, there was no third book in this series, so this ends the jaunt into the the terrifying tales awaiting just inside The House of Mystery!

RATING:  10 magnetic chalk boards out of 10 for hearkening back to the days of good old horrific tales of terror and suspense!