4 out of 5

From the early 70s, Marvel’s era of the anthology mag, comes this little gem of three original stories, one based on a Robert E. Howard bit, one a Gerber original, and one – I guess ironically – a Conan spin called “Brak the Barbarian” by John Jakes (with a plot from Dan Adkins).  Apparently Chamber of Chills would eventually turn to reprints of pre-code horror, and then eventually eventually to, like, not horror, but the first few issues – if they’re as fun as this one – might be worth tracking down for the unique content.

First up, Gardner F. Fox adapts Howard’s ‘Horror From the Mound’ into ‘Monster From the Mound’ – the thirst for gold leads a man to uncover something better left buried – brought to exciting life by some classic Frank Brunner art.  The lore regarding the horror is interestingly limited, but the lead character ends up having more personality than yer usual scoundrel, resulting in a successful horror yarn.  Next we have Stever Gerber’s “Thirst” (plotted also by Adkins) – vampires in space! – with equally amazing art by P. Craig Russell, credited here as Craig Russell.  It’s frankly the weakest tale in the book for how it follows a standard Tales From the Crypt formula (although it’s oddly telegraphed…), but it’s still an ejoyable read thanks to the quirky setup and great art.  Lastly is the Brak bit, with more awesome visuals from Val Mayerik and Joe Sinnott.  It has a sort of stumbly “don’t look back lest they turn to pillars of salt!” plot device, but the tale is well paced with the right blend of darkness and fantasy.

Reading this, you’d swear 70s comics are like a treasure trove of gems, but I have to believe that the select few CoC issues with all original material were probably a highlight of the era and not the standard.