House of Mystery #183

House of Mystery #183 (On Sale: September 11, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with an intro page featuring Cain by Joe Orlando, which leads into "The Haunting" by Jack Oleck and Jerry Grandenetti. Before I get into the story, which is great, by the way, I have to say that the Grandenetti artwork on this story is just wonderful in its creepiness. His exaggerated faces, odd panel shapes and imaginative use of zip-a-time really shine in this story.

Frank and Peggy Abel find themselves walking through a cemetery one night and not remembering how they got there. As they walk back to their house they see a light on in their attic and rush to investigate.

They are terrified to find a ghost walking trough their house, a ghost that does not see them and in fact walks right through them. Frank thinks the ghost might be harmless, but Peggy wants out of the house. When they try to leave the door will not unlock to let them out. Soon the doorbell rings and the ghost answers it to find another ghost.

The Abels are amazed that they can hear the ghosts when they talk to each other. the new arrival, Joyce, is the fiancé of the original ghost, Paul. Joyce asks Paul how he got the house so cheaply and he says it was because the house is haunted by the former owners who died in their sleep from a gas leak. That is when Frank and Peggy realize that the real ghosts are themselves.

This is followed by an one-page Odds and Ends from Cain's Cellar a reprint by an unknown writer and artist.

Next from Cain's True Files we have "The Dead Can Kill!" by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson. Two friends are camping by a cave in the Australian outback when they see a ghost walk out of the cave, through their camp, and into a waterfall. They manage to get to sleep and the next morning they explore the cave, where they find three dead bodies. One of the bodies is of a businessman who disappeared a few years ago. He left a note saying how he had murdered the other two 24 years earlier and how, the day before the 20th anniversary of the murders, he hears a voice saying "We shall expect you back." He was going to give this confession to the police once he made sure the bodies were still in the cave. However, he never returned.

That is followed by a Page 13 by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones and a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

We end with "The Secret of the Whale's Vengence" by Robert Kanigher, Jerry Grandenetti and Wally Wood. There are a few panels here and there where the combination of Grandenetti and Wood works really well, but most of it seems like a bad fit of penciler and inker. Brothers Jeremy and Austin Bridges  captain a whaling ship out of Nantucket. They love to throw their harpoons and laugh at what they will do the to the whales they meet. The other mates on the ship worry that they are laughing at the fates.  They find a pod of whales and tear into them, killing one after the other.

Jeremy harpoons a whale and is taken underwater by the beast, taking him straight to the underwater gathering place of the whales, where Jeremy is transformed into a huge white whale. When he surfaces he sees the ships and tries to destroy them in his rage. He is harpooned  by his brother Austin and dives deep. Suddenly the line Austin is holding goes slack and his brother's harpooned body floats to the surface.

The entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.