Scary Tales (comics)

This article is about the Charlton horror comic book. For the collection of animated films, see Scary Tales.

Scary Tales
250x450px Scary Tales #1 (Sept. 1971). Art by Joe Staton.
Publication information
Publisher	Charlton Comics
Schedule	Bimonthly
Format	anthology
Genre	Horror
Publication date	Aug. 1975-Oct. 1984
Number of issues	46
Main character(s)	Countess R.H. Von Bludd
Creative team
Artist(s)	Steve Ditko
Editor(s)	George Wildman

Scary Tales was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by Charlton Comics from 1975 to 1984. The book was "hosted" by Countess R.H. Von Bludd, an alluring female vampire in a tight-fitting dress. Artist Steve Ditko was a regular contributor to the book during its entire run.

Scary Tales was part of a wave of new horror and suspense comics published by Charlton during this period. Its sister titles, with many of the same creators, were the Charlton anthologies The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves (with host Dr. M.T. Graves), Ghostly Tales (with I.M. Dedd), Ghost Manor (with host Mr. Bones), Haunted (with Impy and then Baron Weirwulf), and Ghostly Haunts (with Winnie the Witch).

Publication history

Scary Tales was published bimonthly; it went on a publishing hiatus between issues #9 and #10, which lasted from February to September 1977 (Charlton's horror titles all went on hiatus during this period); another publishing break occurred between issues #20 and #21 (July 1979–July 1980). After the cancellation of the short-lived Charlton Bullseye showcase comic in late 1982, stories intended for that title were published in Scary Tales #36-40, which explains the superhero story "Mr. Jigsaw" in issue #38 and "Dragon Force" in issue #40. Altogether, Scary Tales published 46 issues.

Regular contributors to Scary Tales in addition to Ditko included Pat Boyette, Nicola Cuti, Joe Gill, Wayne Howard, Sanho Kim, Rich Larson, Pete Morisi, Steve Morisi, Charles Nicholas, Don Perlin, and Mike Zeck. Ghostly Haunts was edited by George Wildman for its entire run.

Horror comics in general were in decline in the early 1980s, and Charlton in particular was suffering financially. In the fall of 1984, Charlton suspended publication, and Scary Tales was cancelled along with the rest of the company's remaining titles.

References

• 'Scary Tales' at the Grand Comics Database
• Scary Tales at the Comic Book DB
• Scary Tales at Atomic Avenue

External links

• "Charlton horror: Countess R. H. Von Bludd from SCARY TALES," The Groovy Age of Horror