“The Portrait of Sal Pullman” by Lonnie Nadler & Abby Howard (2019)
“You fools, do you not see what this truly is?"
Abby Howard is the ruler of the kingdom of creepy illustrated faces. Er, maybe the architect. The wizard behind the curtain? Oh, the god, the god.
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"The Black Stone Statue” by Mary Elizabeth Counselman (1937)
“And those were the last words he ever uttered.”
Finding scary things deep in the jungle is what it’s all about in adventure stories, but the turn in this one (which is presented right up front) is neat. It’s more of that morality tale we would get from stuff like The Twilight Zone later on.
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“O Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James & Abby Howard (2019)
“If you see any more spooks or beasties, please do let me know."
I often fantasize about illustrating text stories if I had the skill, just to visualize what’s in the brain. It’s cool to see Howard taking that on with one of these old timey and appropriately spooky stories.
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers dir. Don Siegel (1956)
"She’s not my mother! Don’t tell her where I am!”
The 30s movies are rough but things start to feel more my pace here in the 50s. I reckon it’s from having watched sitcoms like I Love Lucy and plenty of noir classics so the pacing and style is more familiar. As for the movie, it’s clear why it terrified audiences then and the concept continues to persist. Communism, corporations, conservatives, all a way to address the fear of an insidious enemy.