Weird Mysteries: Swamp Monster

[alicemacher]

For my final horror-themed post of the month, here's a Basil Wolverton creeper from Gillmor's Weird Mysteries #5 (June 1953). Public domain; thanks once again to ComicBookPlus.com for the scans.














Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!

Comments

[drtechnobabel]

I have to say, I am amazed at the level of restraint on those cops that when a literal monster answered the door, they didn't immediately shoot him.

[vspope]

Hey, monsters pay taxes, too.

[cainofdreaming]

They're also very active voters.

[q99]

Or freak out and run or something.

[silverhammerman]

I am at once impressed that this story didn't take the direction I expected, just having the crook get eaten by a swamp monster, and at the same time very disappointed that it had such an anti-climactic ending, with the monster just killing himself by accident.

The idea of a being turned into a monster that reflects one's inner self is pretty interesting and I would have liked to see it explored in a more corruption/redemption oriented story.

[drtechnobabel]

But isn't that basically the plot of 'Beauty and the Beast'?

[silverhammerman]

Yes, come to think of it, but it's a pretty broad idea, and the fact that this version features some kind of swamp vampire(?) and no weird domestic abuse metaphors makes it instantly more awesome.

[veleda_k]

As unlikely as it seems that a vine would hold all that weight, I'll give it full points for coming full circle. (Cabot ends up hanged up after all.)

The cops are awfully on board the whole, "Oh yeah, those mystical demon bats" explanation, but they did see the guy transform right in front of them.

[icon_uk]

I suspect that when you live next to the big mystical swampland, you get sanguine about the weirdly mystical pretty quickly, see also their casual reaction to a basically non-human life form answering the door.

[writeofway]

They probably live in an area that's heavy with superstition and such that they grew up hearing tales about marshes, swamps, magic, and monsters as kids, so it isn't as surprising as it should be.