"A Little Stranger!"

[cyberghostface]

So for the month of October, I'll be posting some EC stories. It'll be a bit of an experiment for me, as I'll be posting them "abridged" for the 1/3 rule. So let me know if you still enjoy them or not.

First up is "A Little Stranger!" from The Haunt of Fear #14.

The story (which is narrated by the "Old Witch") opens with two villagers discovering a dead body. One man notices there are puncture marks on the man's neck and deduces it is the work of a vampire. The other notices that the corpse is partially devoured, and therefore believes that a a werewolf is responsible.

We then have a little flashback...





The two hide out in a cave, where they rest for the next full moon until they can go out again and feast. Their relationship doesn't last long, unfortunately--after a certain amount of time, an angry mob discovers their hiding place. Zorgo is shot with a silver bullet, and Elicia is staked. They are then buried in "The Devil's Graveyard", a place where murderers and creatures of evil are interred.

As night falls, corpses begin to rise from their graves. They are all excited to hear that a werewolf and a vampire are betrothed, and hurry to attend the wedding.

Comments

[bradhanon]

Still one of my favorites. I've always maintained that EC had some incredible artists, but Ingels was in a class by himself.

[icon_uk]

Zorgo IS such a proud daddy.

Werevamps are one of the species R Chetwynd-Hayes devised in his short stories and novels, second generation hybrid monsters based on the three main groups; Vampires, Werewolves and Ghouls. So you could have Werevamps, Weregoos, and Vampgoos.

[silverzeo]

Huh... I prefer the manga version og a werwolf/vampire shipping...

[proteus_lives]

Awww, so cute.

[dr_archeville]

I wonder if Vault Keeper got an origin, too.

Crypt Keeper did, in the tv series at least (his poppa was Enoch, the Two-Faced Man, and his mommy was a mummy).

[crinos]

Yeah, that one was straight from a comic.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

The story's called "Lower Berth!" and it might be worth posting here (or has it been posted here before?).

[cyberghostface]

I tried posting that but I didn't see how I could make it work with the limits.

I have the scans, so I'll send them to anyone if they want to give it a try.

[meatwhichdreams]

Oh man, this is AWESOME

Nice story

[roguefankc]

But...does wolfsbane even work that way?

Or am I wrong in remembering the belief that wolfsbane was something that drove werewolves away like garlic does to a vampire?

Re: Nice story

[psychopathicus_rex]

Nope, you're right. It's no coincidence that it's called WolfsBANE, i.e, 'the bane of wolves'.

Re: Nice story

[icon_uk]

Most "commonly known" monster lore these days comes from the Universal and Hammer movies, who made most of it up themselves. Wolfsbane in "The Wolfman" is one of the things which triggers the transformation.

"Even a man who is pure of heart,
And says his prayers at night.
May become a werewolf
When the wolfsbane blooms,
And the moon is full and bright"

Re: Nice story

[arilou_skiff]

In actual folklore it's supposed to be poison though.

Then again, in actual folklore you give birth to a werewolf if you jumped over the shackles of a wagon while pregnant so...

Re: Nice story

[his_spiffynesss]

And honestly not the dumbest wolfman curse I heard. I have this Italian horror film where the guy gets turned into a werewolf after being attacked by a Yeti in Nepal....

Re: Nice story

[arilou_skiff]

I should probably note that jumping over the shackles of a wagon was supposed to ensure an easier delivery, too.

Re: Nice story

[karthzon]

So... "I won't be in horrific, debilitating pain when the baby comes, but he will be really hairy"? I'm suprised there weren't more women jumping over shackles of wagons.

Re: Nice story

[psychopathicus_rex]

I'd always interpreted that as Wolfsbane being one of the things that HERALDS the transformation, not causes it. In other words, the Wolfsbane is supposed to bloom around the time of the full moon, which is when the werewolf transforms. Which is, of course, nonsense - a plant that blooms regularly on the full moon? No such critter, as far as I know - but this is supposed to be 'folk wisdom'; it doesn't necessarily have to make sense.
Oh, and incidentally, it's just 'wolf' in the rhyme, not 'werewolf'. 'May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms'. I'd also remembered the last line as being 'and the autumn moon is bright', but I could be wrong on that one.

Re: Nice story

[icon_uk]

Thanks for the "wolf" correction. The poem was made up out of whole cloth by a chap named Curt Siodmak.

It was "autumn moon is bright" in the original "The Wolfman", but later films used "And the moon is full and bright" so they weren't limited by being set in autumn.

Re: Nice story

[psychopathicus_rex]

Yeah, I'd heard about that. Telling, isn't it, that our main cultural reference point for a bit of folklore that's been around for thousands of years is a memorable bit of made-up folk wisdom written by a Hollywood screenwriter.
I see. That would explain it. It's kind of a pity, though; I like 'the autumn moon is bright'. It kind of lends a Halloween-ish air to the proceedings - a werewolf just seems like the sort of creature that WOULD show up in autumn.

[abbadie]

Thanks! :-)

[psychopathicus_rex]

That's... strangely adorable, actually. It's also more or less plausible - there are some versions of the werewolf legend that involve them rising from the grave, so having him maintain a relationship after death is not that much of a stretch. She should have died permanent-like when she was staked, though - unless 'love conquers death, literally' is the message here.
And someone had a seriously wrong idea about wolfsbane. It's supposed to ward werewolves OFF, not create them.

[kamino_neko]

She should have died permanent-like when she was staked, though

Not really. Most stories, the stake was just to immobilize. Actually killing them for good involved beheading. Usually also involving consecrated hosts and reburial.

[psychopathicus_rex]

True enough, I suppose. Still, if she was 'immobilized', she shouldn't have been out and about much.

[lissa_quon]

I love how proud Zorgo looks in that last panel. He's like busting his buttons over there.

I'm also loving the fact that the vampire and werewolf apparently waited for warriage before creating any evil spawn. So hilarious, so cute.

[stig]

Kind of makes me want to post that one 'Mad Magazine' comic that played on a similar theme.

[thehefner]

YAY MORE EC. Feels like old times!

[joasakura]

Oh this is a CLASSIC. Love this so much :D

[tacobob]

Oye!

"My Name Is Elicia!"
"My Name Is Zorgo!"

"My Name Is Dr Tacobob, I'm A Dentist! You both need me very much!"

[joasakura]

see, this is the niche that Jaime Reyes could be filling in comics if he ever pursues his dreams of becoming a Dentist :D

[psychopathicus_rex]

Vampires and werewolves have differing standards of dental health. They don't care if they're snaggle-toothed and overly fang-bedecked - that's normal - they just start getting worried when said fangs can no longer pierce skin.

[ormardu.blogspot.com]

This is a great post!

Seriously handsome Werewolf there- wonder if his rampages caused anymore werewolves to be created? Sorta half siblings to our little one in the last panels...

[halloweenjack]

There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.

There's a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time spare,
Time to learn, time to care,
Some day!

Somewhere.
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere . . .

There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're halfway there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!