Today's visit to the Digital Comic Museum finds us a tale of pure greed and betrayal, allegedly out on the waves of Scotland's seas, although I've never heard of Bornan Bay..although maybe they changed the name?? Anyway, thi scomes from the slighly less usual source of Hillman Periodical'sAirboy Comics, Volume 9, Issue 4...dated May 1952!
Well, I guess it was a case of HAIR today, gone tomorrow for greedy old Albert! That's what he gets for trying to LOCK away his wealth! It ended up being a tale of SHEER terror. I mean, if he had been a nice chap he could have got the wealth, married Maria and lived happily ever after, but I guess he just didn't CUT it!!
(Sorry!)
Thanks go to freddyfly who uploaded the comic to the museum for us to find!
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Be sure to head over to the Countdown hub and check out what the other Cryptkeepers are up to today by clicking the badge below. They all have loads of cool things to look at...like Action Figure Barbecue, who is taking a look at the Baja Hauler from Hot Wheels!!
Tonight, Cinema of Stuff presents Blood Thirst, a 1971 Filipino-American black-and-white horror film produced and directed by Newt Arnold, and starring Robert Winston, Katherine Henryk and Yvonne Nielson. Shot on location in the Philippines in 1965, the film tells the story of an American detective investigating a series of murders linked to a Manila nightclub. The killings are carried out by a monster so that a beautiful blonde woman, who is actually hundreds of years old, can use the victim's blood to stay forever young.
Blood Thirst was actually completed in 1965 but was not released in the US until 1971, where it was put on a double bill with the British film Bloodsuckers (UK, 1971). Blood Thirst mostly played the grindhouse circuit
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(With thanks to the Boomer Channel on YouTube)
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How are we already almost a third of the way through the month!? Time just seems to fly by faster and faster...so you better hurry along to the Countdown to Halloween hub and see what the other Cryptkeepers are up to by clicking the badge below...or you could just head straight over to see Alexis Skrull over at Alexis' 31 Days of Halloweenwho has some great Peanuts strips for us to read today....
(Portrait of a fashionable lady with an umbrella, Josef Löwy, 1889) (Not related to story, but used as an example of 1889 fashion)
This story come from The St. Louis Globe Democrat, 19th January 1889 ....
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A Spectral Face Everywhere,
Special Correspondence of the Globe Democrat.
OTTAWA, KAN., January 15. - A man named W. died a few days ago at the house of a farmer about twenty-two miles from here. The farmer, a Mr. H., bears a good reputation for veracity. He told me the story, but exacted a promise that his name would not be revealed.
"Away last spring," he said, "as I was making my hotbed, a man wearing a partial uniform, which, together with his face, had a worn appearance, languidly climbed the fence and asked me for work. He was not particular about wages - he only wanted to earn a home for the few remaining months he had to live, he said. I took him in, and he proved to be quite energetic. We took a liking to him, as he was quite affable and gentlemanly, though very silent. Two days before his death he was taken ill, and, for the first time, explained the mystery that annoyed him by the story given below.
"W. had been a cable car conductor in St. Louis, he said. He had been doing nicely until a female form began to haunt him. Her manner of doing this was peculiar. One day, he noticed her standing, slightly leaning, against a lamp-post at Sixth and Locust streets. There was that about the woman that any one once seeing would be impressed with. Her features were prominent. But what attracted his attention most was that she seemed searching him out, and staring in his face with a cold, dull expression that attracted his eye and sent a chill through his system. He watched her until a block distant. She still stood there, unmoved, but following him with that leaden stare. But, to his amazement, as he turned his eyes to the corner ahead, he saw her in the same manner and in precisely the same relative position.
1889 Fashion
He was startled somewhat, but concluded it was a coincident resemblance. As such he dismissed it. But as the Morgan Street curve was turned, he saw the same woman again, in a similar position. Again, near Grand Avenue, she appeared, always with that piercing gaze directed at him, and always leaning, with an indifferent air, against a lamp-post on the northwestern street corner. At night, under the gaslight, the face looked frightfully ghostly.
"For two days he underwent the annoyance of the strange manisfestation silently. Then he told the story to his gripman, who laughed incredulously at first, telling W. it was some woman smitten with him. The next time, however, that the ubiquitous woman apppeared she was pointed out to the gripman, who admitted he saw her, but could see nothing more to corroborate W.'s tale. Then the conductor started toward what he declared to be a phantom, when she walked nonchalantly away, disappearing in the crowd.
"A few streets further and the figure appeared again to the worried conductor, though the gripman failed to see it. If a woman, the question was, how did she get about faster than the car, and why did she invariably assume the same attitude.. and evince so much interest in the conductor with those glassy eyes? If a spirit -
"Here, W. and the gripman paused in their questioning. The next morning the haunted man started from the frontend of the grip car to collect fares, when, as he glanced back at the front window of the coach, he was horrified to see that white face pressed against the pane and those fearful glances directed at him.
He hesitated a minute, then passed by the other passengers and entered the coach as quickly as possible, resolved to fathom the mystery. But just as he entered one door she went out the other. He stepped quicker to overtake her, but she, with no apparent effort, kept just ahead of him. he forgot himself and ran.
The cable train waited, and the passengers watched and wondered. The race continued, but the woman did not seem to move - she seemed as if borne along by something invisible. A police officer put himself in her way, but she seemed to pass right through him, as it were, without being interrupted, until the pursuer was so close behind that he fell against the officer just as the pursued blended with the crowd.
(The Haunted Lane, Melander and Bro., 1889)
He saw her frequently after that. Sometimes on the grip car, but always on the other end of the train, or posing in that lamp-post position on the street. At last he could endure it no longer. He left the city. Whether or not that spectral woman followed him he never disclosed to the farmer, but he would sometimes stare and stare into vacancy, with horror depicted on his face.
"The night before his death he continued the narration. The death rattle was almost beginning to sound in his throat, when he made an effort and confessed that the *(word has faded - DF)* that had haunted him was the perfect resemblance of a woman that had been killed by his car when he was a gripman, and whose life could have been saved had he not been careless."
Sorry for the no show yesterday...the steroids for the leg have had me feeling a bit rough the last few days, and I had a headache last night. Not as bad today though thankfully, and hopefully it will be shifted by tomorrow..Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this odd little tale I found!
Now go check out the other Cryptkeepers taking part in the Countdown by clicking the badge below, or head straight on over to see Tom at Garage Sale Findswho has a tiny blow molded witch to show off today!
Here's something a little different..it's an old Japanese 'kaidan' or 'strange talk/tale', that tells of a Goblin spider, and which was translated into English way back in 1899 by Lafcadio Hearn, and published in this book, which is part of a series of Japanese Fairy Tales....
The Goblin Spider was lavishly illustrated in Takejiro Hasegawa’s five-volume set of crepe-paper books, which were hand-printed using wood blocks on textured pages.
These spider goblins are closely related to another Yokai called Jorōgumo, spiders who appear as attractive young women to lure in virile young men, who they then wrap up and consume as prey!
But also, goblin spiders are an actual arachnid, with a new variant being found as late as 2023 on Iriomote island! Below is a picture of a female Ogata-Yoroi-Danigum...
Hopefully this actual gobnlin spider won't grow massive and lure young men to their doom...no reports of any such dodgy dealings so far!
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Thanks for dropping by the blog again today...be sure to go check out what the othe Countdown Cryptkeepers are up to by clicking the badge below....or you could just head straight over to Vraie Fiction, where Guillaume is showing off some spooky Fanta cans today and recommending some excellent spooky TV shows! Or My Two Yen Worth again, for more Japanese based spookiness!! Today he's showing off a visit to an Oni Museum, which looks awesome!!
Last night was a stressful one due to previously mentioned issues that I will elaborate on at a later date,so today I'm a bit drained and not feeling up to writing much of a post.... so let's just settle down and watch another episode of Ghost Hunters UK. This episode first aired on The Discovery Channel in 1997...
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Hopefully tomorrow normal service will resume! In the meantime, please go check out what the other Cryptkeepers have been up to by heading over to the Countdown to Halloween hub with a click of the badge below....or you could head straight over to see Lady M who yesterday showed how busy she's been in giving a spooky feel to her garden!
Not the vaults of The Digital Comic Museum tonight, but the dusty depths of Comic Book Plus which has rustled up this oddity from Charlton's Unusual Tales Issue 7, dated May 1957, about a painter who seems to have discovered a way to create pictures without any canvas.....
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What a GAS that story was, huh? Al had a BRUSH with death there, but hearing the aliens plans was a STROKE of good luck wasn't it! Sorry, these puns are terrible...I was just trying to ADD SOME COLOUR to this post...but I can tell its falling flat, so I'll get my COAT......
If those puns haven't tortured you into wanting to quit the internet for the night, why not go check out the Countdown Hub to see what the other bloggers taking part in the Countdown to Halloween have on offer for you...just click the badge below and you'll be whisked off there...or you could just head straight over to Dex's AEIOU...and Sometimes Why who is reminiscing about a very seasonal office space today!
Tonight's Spook Sighting is less about the spook itself, and more about looking at how quickly rumours and panic can spread when such tales arise, even as late as 1971.......
From The Mobile Register, dated 8th April 1971
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Is 'Wolf Woman' Skulking Around The City?
Various Area Persons Claim Seeing Creature
Does a "wolf woman" exist in Mobile?
Listening to as many as 50 phone calls the Press Register has received day and night, in approximately a week, you wonder if perhaps there isn't something out there.
According to dozens of frightened residents along Davis Avenue and in Plateau, a strange creature,a half woman and half wolf, has been making nightly rounds of the Port City. Reportedly, that apparition first appeared near Davis Avenue about one week ago.
"It was like a woman and wolf, pretty and hairy," said one worried witness.
"My daddy saw it down in a marsh, and it chased him home," reported a teen-ager, who added, "Now, my mommy keeps all the doors and windows locked."
"The top half was a woman and the bottom was a wolf," explained another viewer, "It didn't seem natural," he added.
Apparently the fears are real, regardless of the status of the phantom or whatever. One usually unflappable teen-ager said with a straight face that he does not go out on the streets at night now. One woman said she understood the creature had escaped from a circus sideshow. Mobile police refused official comment on the reports. However, it was unofficially indicated that an investigation has been launched into ascertaining exactly what the situation is.
Paris had its Hunchback of Notre Dame. Maybe Mobile has its Wolf Woman of Davis Avenue.
On the other hand, many years ago Mobile had its Monster of Fisher's Alley. To terrified residents of the area it was reported in, it assumed proportions of up to the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and never smaller than a full-grown puma.
The Monster turned out to be an otter, harmless to everything but fish. It rather blows the mind to consider what the Wolf Woman may turn out to be.
A few days ago the Mobile Press Register news staff began to receive telephone calls about a mysterious "wolf woman" or "dog woman" reported in certain sections of the city.
At first no one paid much attention. Newspapers get a lot strange inquiries. The calls, however, increased. It was evident that some of the people were genuinely frightened.
Finally it was decided that the thing had grown to such proportions as to be newsworthy. We came to the conclusion that a tongue-in-cheek approach was best. A lot of frightening things tend to be washed away with a little laughter. The "haunted" house becomes just another old building if a couple of people can laugh at each other's jumpiness while exploring it.
So it was done, complete with a fanciful drawing.
The phone calls rose to a crescendo. Some folks took it seriously and a few accused us of frightening their children.
Maybe this is a bad time to make fun in a scary way. Certainly we didn't and don't want to frighten any little ones. Perhaps we thought the movies and TV had them all pretty calloused. Anyway, any parents so concerned might want to read the following to their kiddies or ask them to read it, if they can :
We don't know how the wolf woman stories got started. Maybe somebody got scared by some little thing and told a friend. The friend told two more and pretty soon a lot of people were looking over their shoulders. You know how it is when someone starts telling ghost stories.
Anyway, all the "Wolf Women" or other such odd creatures we ever heard of were in the story books or the movies or on TV. They can't get out of there.
Some unfortunate people are born looking different from the rest of us. Others let their clothing, nails and hair go until they look "different." Most of these poor folks need help more than anything else.
Now we don't want to kid you. There are real "monsters - sort of" in this world. The thing about them is that they look pretty much like you and me - no claws, no long fur.
They don't eat people, but some of the things they do are rob people of their possessions, sometimes killing or hurting people in the process. Or they drive their cars very fast through the streets where children are playing. Or they try and show off and drive cars so that they wreck and kill their friends riding with them.
Still others, almost as bad, spoil other people's good times, like ball games, parades and parties by fights and being rowdy.
Your parents and the law men try to protect you from these and other unmarked monsters. Generally they do a good job.
But you have to remember that the furry or scaly monsters people make stories or films about vanish in the daylight and at night any little boy or girl can make them evaporate with the click of a light switch, the turn of a page or flipping off the TV switch.
From The Pensacola News Journal, dated Saturday, April 17, 1971
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Phones Buzzing
Wolf-Woman Rumors Heard In Two States
The "Wolf-Woman" bounded from bad joke to hairy, vandalizing rumor Friday, showing herself furtively in at least two states at once.
She apparently started in Mobile, Ala., about mid-week and by Friday, she was the cause of cluttered telephone lines throughout South Alabama and Northwest Florida.
No one in the Pensacola area had reported seeing the old gal, but sheriff's dispatchers talked to a pair who said they saw her on the way back from Mobile.
Dispatchers at both the Sheriff's Department and Pensacola Police Department reported scores of telphone calls Friday, all asking for more information about the Wolf-Woman.
Reports from Mobile indicated the Wolf-Woman escaped from a carnival,was half-woman, half-wolf, powerful and elusive.
While the joke was late for April Fool Day it arrived in plenty time to pester the Pensacola News Journal telephone operator.
Most of the calls asked for information about the rumor, but there were some solutions too.
"I know where the Wolf-Woman came from," one caller asserted. "She wafted from an empty bourbon bottle."
A late caller assured reporters there is no more cause for alarm.
"Don shweat de Wolf Woman," he said, "My ole lady went to de beauty parlor thish mornin' and got losht on de way back. When she finally got back I locked her in de lair 'n came out for a drink......."
From The Mobile Press, Dated Thursday, April 22nd, 1971
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Kiwanians Told Of Robbery Wave By Davis
Dan T. Davis, chief of the Pritchard Police Department, addressed members of the Prichard Kiwanis Club, and discussed the rash of armed robberies prevalent in the area and also presented his thoughts on the latest apparition about town, the "wolf woman."
Davis said hardly a day or night goes by in Mobile County without an armed robbery. To dtae this year, he pointed out, that 25 persons alone have been arrested by Prichard police for such crimes.
"However, problems in prosecuting these violators arises when victims of the robberies decline to testify in court and the accused is then allowed to go free," the chief said.
Davis also said Pricard police had received many telephone calls from area residents claiming to have seen the "wolf woman."
One slightly intoxicated man swore he had the curious critter, cornered up, he added, but when police officers arrived, all they could find was one very frightened collie dog.
The chief also discussed briefly the department's auxiliary police force, which he said now numbers 30 men, strictly volunteers who receive no pay for their work. They are required to work two shifts per month or 16 hours.
Roland Sanders, president, conducted the meeting at the Chatterbox Restaurant on Wildon Avenue.
So there you have it...what do you make of all that? Was it just a bit of mass panic? Was there something that people were seeing out and about, other than a random collie dog? I guess we'll never know, as that is where the reports dry up...well, other than this ad for a drive-in below....
I have to give special thanks to both Newspapers.comand to the YouTube channel Dime Store Adventures whose videos alerted me to the Wolf Woman in the first place! Especially go and check out the channel, as they basically do what I do with Spook Sightings but in video form and with far more research!
Right...I'll be back tomorrow with another post! In the meantime go check out the other bloggers who are taking part in the Countdown by clicking the badge below, or you could just head straight over to see My Two Yen Worthwho has a cool Sadako figure to show you!
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