If you grew up in the 1960s or 70s, you might recall the many black and white comic magazines that flooded newstands.
Most of the titles were horror-focused. Warren Publishing delivered quality publications with great artwork including "Creepy" and "Eerie." Marvel offered supernatural fare such as "Dracula Lives," "Tales of the Zombie" and "Monsters Unleashed."
Also on the stands were a line of magazines from Eerie Publications (not to be confused with the Warren magazine). These black and white comics were extremely gory, excessively violent and mainly comprised of reprinted stories (touched up with additional blood and guts).
As a kid, I only owned one or two of these gems. I knew they were inferior to mags from Marvel and Warren but loved them all the same. I can't really explain my soft spot for all things cheapo, but these mags bring back some fond comics memories. I particularly liked their wild-ass covers that featured mummies driving stakes into vampires while werewoves mauled zombies.
Eerie Pubs are gone but not forgotten. Fans can reminisce about these low budget horror mags in the book "The Weird World of Eerie Publications" edited by Mike Howlett.
Howlett does an excellent job detailing the history of these magazines and their publisher Myron Fass, a loose cannon and pistol packing publisher of sleazy mags. Fass was known for recycling artwork, stories, cover paintings and just about anything else to save a buck. His team of artists included Carl Burgos (creator of the original Human Torch for Timely/Marvel Comics) and Dick Ayers (longtime Marvel artist/inker).
This book is for Eerie Pubs purists but newbies to these gory classics should appreciate it. In addition to insight on the line of Eerie Pubs (Weird, Tales from the Tomb, Tales of Voodoo, Horror Tales, Terror Tales, Witches' Tales), Howlett also examines many of yesteryear's black and white mags and pre-comics code horror comics.
Be advised that there is no reprinted material from the Eerie Pubs. I was hoping for at least a few stories. That's my only critique of this this pretty cool book that contains a cool cover gallery and tons of great photos.
For reprints, see the paperback "Zombie Factory" or visit The Dead Demons! The Claw's Eerie Publications Online Archive.
If you're nostalgic for the days of black and white horror books, this volume is for you. It's pretty comprehensive and a fun read. Not as fun as the Eerie Pubs themselves but certainly worth checking out.
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