Cover Story - Top 15 House of Mystery Covers

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

This year has marked the second season for Syfy’s shockingly excellent new horror anthology series Channel Zero, a show that takes Internet Creepypastas and transforms them into riveting, experimental, and challenging horror stories.  It’s really an excellent show and this season’s story, The No-End House, has managed to surpass season 1 in every way.  Given that it’s a show blending together a creepy haunted house and horror anthology I figured the time was right to dig into one of my favorite comics: The House of Mystery. 

The House of Mystery was a horror/weird science anthology comic published by DC Comics starting in 1951 and running to 1983.  During the ‘50s the anthology format ruled the comics medium and House of Mystery was a very popular title.  Eventually, the format shifted from horror stories to superhero tales in the ‘60s when the book started publishing Martian Manhunter comics.  However, when the ‘70s rolled in and comics became a bit freer and more mature the book returned to its horror roots with a vengeance and that is what I come to honor today. 

15.

This cover is a pretty solid indicator of what the ‘70s House of Mystery aesthetic entailed.  I’ve spoken before about how the ‘70s was a time where covers developed to become more mature, focusing on larger scaled scenes and more representative content.  House of Mystery was at the forefront of that, mainly because it wasn’t too far off from what it had been doing in the ‘50s.  

This cover digs nicely into the fear of surgery and doctors that tend to be pretty universal.  Unless you’re a professional it’s hard to feel comfortable around tools specifically designed to cut you open and dig around on your insides so the idea of being operated on by a bunch of ghoulish skeletons is pretty damn creepy.  

House of Mystery absolutely loved using skulls and skeletons in their covers so expect to see more of that.  Something I really appreciate here is the use of green as a primary color without leaning into muddling.  Green is the color the human eye can perceive the most variations of so it’s a good fit for multiple uses like this while adding a sickly pallor to the scene. 

14.

So it’s probably worth remembering that House of Mystery’s heyday as a horror anthology was happening at the height of the Satanic Panic.  Comics didn’t really engage themselves too much with the fear of Satan, in fact, they were usually on team Satan if we’re being honest.  This was the same era that gave us Ghost Rider and Son of Satan so it makes sense that this demonic looking band of Kiss impersonators would end up also looking absolutely awesome.  I think my favorite part is that the drummer is able to shoot weird energy from his sticks but the guitarist is left to just bludgeon people with his instrument.  

I’m also not totally sure what the glowing wall of yellow in the background is supposed to be other than like the light pollution of Satan.  I do like that giant looming Devil emerging out of the yellow coloring, that’s very well executed using just the inking, and it’s a nice touch the way he actually blocks out part of the logo.  Also, you’ve got to love that title “Blood on the Grooves!” really drives home this was made by 30-something men. 

13.

Now, this is a perfect vision of what ‘70s covers were becoming as the decade dwindled on.  Slowly covers started showing even less of the characters and tried more and more to focus on making poster-sized visually arresting scenes.  Back in the days of written science fiction magazines covers were actually a pretty major part of the storytelling process, usually with the cover happening first and then some staff writer penning a tale inspired by it.  You can see a lot of that here, regardless of whether the story or the cover came first.  There are none of the classic cover tricks of strange and suspenseful lingering questions like in the ‘60s if anything I’m not sure you really NEED to read the story here.  

The cover tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this guy and his situation just through incidental details and, let’s be honest, the reason the bugs have revolted against this old miser is probably of limited importance anyway.  I especially love the depth of field used for the detail, with the bugs on the hanging lamp well drawn and demonic before slipping into the massive wall of insects that create the scene's backdrop.  I’d also point out the use of green monochromatic again as the chair, desk, and bookshelf are all depicted using that color. 

12.

This is such a fun and cheesy cover it’s actually strange to think it comes from so late in House of Mystery’s run, though at the same time this cover does show the creeping influence of the 1980s.  It came out in 1980 and you can definitely see the resurgence of classic pulp monster cheese that informed a lot of that decade.  The ‘80s was the time in which kids who grew up with B-Movie monsters were entering their 30s and starting to dominate Hollywood so the sudden love affair with rubber masks and sincerely goofy monsters makes a lot of sense.  That’s basically what this cover is, a sincere tribute to cheesy old B-Movie horror of the ‘40s and ‘50s rendered through the style of the late ‘70s.

Probably the best part of the entire cover is the background, which is incredibly well rendered.  The use of black, slate, purple, and icy blue creates a beautiful color palette that really conveys the spookiness of the scene and I love the detail wrung out of the surrounding landmarks.  The creepy old house perched on the horizon is a superb touch even if it doesn’t fit with the gargoyle, lightning man, and ogre chasing down the two heroes.  A big part of nerdy ‘80s culture was refitting old ideas to show they could be as amazing as our imagination always said they could and this cover is that endeavor writ large. 

11.

For the record, this cover came out at least 2 years prior to Poltergeist, 3 years before Videodrome, and 20 years before The Ringu.  I guess there was just something in the air of the early ‘80s that made everyone distrust their televisions, or at least made competing mediums distrust the TV.  In any event, the image of something coming out of the TV is a really damn creepy one and I really dig the look of it here, especially that otherworldly amber glow to the screen and the creature.  

Monster design is the bread and butter of a series like House of Mystery and even though its mostly hidden the TV monster is actually really well designed.  It has a kind of sunken, drooping face that, combined with a hood, looks really creepy and unnatural.  It reminds me of the deformed creatures from The Twilight Zone episode ‘Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.’  I also like the visual conceit of nothing else in the scene being drawn or colored strangely, adding to the sense that the thing in the TV is some kind of invading creature from outside of normal space and reality. 

10.

This cover is one from the 1950s, which I wanted to bring in for variety and because I absolutely love the design of its death clock.  I’m not even sure how the death clock is supposed to work like I guess the clock will chime when it reaches the method of your death?  Probably why this story is called ‘The Clock Strikes Death,’ still doesn’t seem like a great set-up for a death clock.  But, none of that matters because the design is incredible and I also love that smug bastard mocking the clock as a phantom hand prepares to blow his brains out.  I think my favorite part about the death clock is the weird blend of clip art visuals and ornate design.  

If you look around the edges of it, the clock is made out of this very detailed screaming faces wrought out of gold and ebony creating this whole baroque design.  It’s really quite beautiful and then, in the center, there’s just a bunch of goofy cartoon weapons for each time.  My favorite one would have to be the perfectly circular bomb that looks like something from Legend of Zelda.  Also, I like that Tommy Gun and Sword are possible deaths, though I’m not sure what’s in the 12 O’clock and 9 O’clock spots here, which seems the worst fate of all: death by “could not be determined.” 

9.

Well, I promised you skulls so let’s try and deliver on that.  I actually really dig this weird skeleton gangster concept, the ‘20s as a time period strike me as being ripe with horror potentials that have never really been explored in earnest.  Like the TV cover, a big part of why I like this cover is the way everything else is made to look very normal in coloring and style.  It gives the sense of the real world being invaded by this phantom gunman rather than anyone stumbling into a whole world of boney mobsters.  I do note that there’s a picture behind the frightened girl that looks like the ghostly killer back when he was alive, which is a nice touch.  

My favorite part has to be how heft the shooter looks despite being just a skeleton.  Seriously look at him, he’s downright hulking with the shape of his overcoat and way he’s slouching to one side.  You’d never guess he was a skeleton under there if not for his exposed skull.  I also really love the crackling yellow energy around him to add to that whole “invader from another world” kind of vibe.  Also, I don’t really know anything about guns but I’m reasonably certain that’s no human gun he’s wielding because it looks like someone just compressed Rambo’s gun, but I guess the spirit world has its own take on firepower. 

8.

I admit, this is a sillier conceptual cover than anything else we’ve seen but I love how incredibly straight-laced it’s executed.  The idea of death deciding he’s had it and nobody else is dying today because he needs a break is pretty comical but there’s absolutely no mirth or even idiosyncrasy in this cover.  It reminds me more of Fritz Lang’s The Tired Death, only with more Goosebumps –esc visual flair.  I really dig the design of Death with his shoulder bones hunched up way above his head, skull slumped down as far as it could possibly go.  

He looks legitimately old, tired, and disgruntled, like a creature that’s been around forever and is incredibly annoyed that he’s only now getting a rest.  There’s not even anything innately sinister about Death closing the cemetery as HE’S death, he’d know if anyone else was going to die today.  It just seems that, by the sinister look in his eye sockets, that this probably isn’t a good development for anyone. 

7.

I like this cover because it feels a lot more like a gothic romance rather than a horror story.  The visualization of the ocean and the sky are great elements of that, especially the use of gradient coloring to blend together that slate gray sky with the deep, dark cobalt blue of the waves.  It’s a very moody and evocative vision of the ocean, which is already pretty evocative and moody all on its own.  Then the main scene itself is this Frankenstein looking creature carrying a mermaid.  The monster carrying the girl is a scene as old as time and one that’s steadily progressed to be less horrifying and more romantic as people slowly got more open about wanting to be romantic with the monsters.  

It really fits Frankenstein as he’s definitely one of the more innately tragic monsters out there, which makes him a more romantic figure.  Combine that with the Mermaid, who’ve undergone their own revival in popularity in recent years, and this honestly seems like something Guillermo Del Toro might adapt.  I also absolutely love the creepy demon faces made of ocean foam that form the borders.  I don’t know what they mean but I love them. 

6.

Well, that is absolutely terrifying.  Seriously, as far as Satanic Panic horror visuals go this is probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.  This came out in 1972 the wake of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist and you can really see the influence even as this cover takes things to a serious next level.  The design of this black mass being held is very creepy and that goat headdressed high priest is a whole level of creepy to himself.  He just looks so unhinged and fanatical and the way his Satanist get-up is drawn from exactly how you’d imagine it to look is strangely unnerving.  

It’s like seeing something from a nightmare somehow come to life, though the really creepy part is that Satan baby.  I suppose some folks might find this thing cute but I am definitely not one of them.  I don’t even know what this little demon child is going to do just that it’s going to be terrifying and brutal.  The entire scene is constructed around affording to it serious importance, right down to the way everything else is colored with a sickly yellow and he’s the bright pop of red in their midst. 

5.

My favorite part of this visual has to be the lighting because it had to be set-up like this prior to the deadly doll massacre that killed that guy.  Like actually think about that, he had to have a room set-up in his house specifically with a big ceiling spotlight for some unknown dramatic purpose and he just had the bad luck to get murdered by a toy clown, teddy bear, rag doll, and steel ventriloquist dummy under his spotlight room.  Actually, I think this is meant to be the attic, based on the cobwebs surrounding the peeping children, so maybe it makes more sense.  

This is probably one of the harshest covers I’ve spotlighted (pun intended) as it features a bunch of kids watching their adult guardian get brutally butchered by a bunch of hideous living dolls that seem to be about their height.  That ventriloquist doll is definitely the most menacing, mainly because he’s got that knife but also because the coloring makes him look like he’s made of solid steel.  I really don’t know what the idea there was but I dig it, like if the Terminator and Child’s Play had a really weird crossover. 

4.

I think one of House of Mystery’s greatest strengths is when they don’t show you the full design of the scary thing because those Snow Beasts are god damn terrifying.  Seriously, for years this is exactly what I thought a Wendigo was supposed to look like (and still do if we’re being honest because they’re terrifying.)  I love how you can’t fully see its face just the sunken outline of its bestial skull combined with its skeletal limbs and long, talon-like fingers.  This looks like the thing that killed the Dyatlov Pass party and the idea that there’s a whole pack of them is terrifying in an even more all-consuming way.  

There’s also a great use of color to create depth of the background here.  The muddled white of the snow drifts gives way to the muted, washed out blue of the night sky and the silhouettes of the snow beasts themselves, before finally ending in the dull orange of the moonlight.  It’s a really great layering of colors that gives the cover a lot more volume in its creepiness. 

3.

Hey, you afraid of clowns?  I’ve actually long maintained that people aren’t really afraid of clowns so much as they’re afraid of creepy clowns, that is to say, it’s that they’re creepy, not that they’re clowns.  This guy is probably the epitome of that- a creepy looking clown coming in from a god damn lightning storm with the biggest knife I’ve ever seen.  Seriously look at that blade- it’s as long as the little girl, which is also just horrible all around.  This is another example of the cover using “less is more” tactics with its monster, shrouding most of the clown in shadow so all you can see is his menacing eyes, though his weird, orange, exposed scalp is pretty unsettling all on its own.  

Also, I have to give credit that this cover was willing to cut right to the chase on why clowns might be creepy- their overly friendly attitude towards children implies insidiousness lurking below the surface.  For the record, this is exactly the kind of cover no comic could get away with back when the Comics Code Authority was being rigidly enforced in the ‘60s.  It wasn’t until the ‘70s and both Marvel and DC were contesting the code that nastier content like this was allowed to see print from the big two. 

2.

Hope you aren’t afraid of spiders either because this is probably the most terrifying spider related thing I’ve ever seen.  I think a lot of that is that this spider’s anatomy looks weird and disturbing even for a spider.  Spiders are always going to look damn creepy, that’s just the nature of a thing moving with 8 damn legs, but here all the worst parts of that are exaggerated.  The legs look way less jointed and like horribly, spindly claws almost and the distance between the head and that giant sac body has been reduced to nothing.  

It’s just so completely wrong and, when combined with those fangs and giant eyes, it’s even more gross and unsettling.  It doesn’t even matter that this is taking place in an orange void if anything that makes it way worse.  There’s nothing else to focus on but the horrifying insect monster about to tear into this guy- you can’t look away no matter how bad you want to. 

1.

It really wouldn't have been right to end on a cover that DIDN’T feature skulls.  Seriously this is such a strange and evocative cover I’m surprised it made its way into the House of Mystery.  It feels more like a foreign horror concept, specifically something Italian.  When I first saw it I was reminded of the Italian horror classic The Beyond, as well as its American descendant The Void.  There’s something about the line work on this face, the hollowed out, shattered visual of humanity gone bad that’s incredibly disturbing.  The uplighting adds a lot to that, casting shadows across the more evocative parts of his face and highlighting the craggily and rigged visage.  His mouth is the worst part, the yellowed teeth all blocky and misaligned as he croaks out his message.  

Incidentally, the presence of a speech bubble on this cover immediately knocked it up several positions on this list, especially with the big, angry red lettering on the second “I CAN SEE DEATH!”  Probably what’s most unnerving and evocative, though, is the idea that what he’s seeing isn’t just the Grim Reaper.  The idea he’s being held up by the Reaper means he’s probably not also looking at him, implying there’s something else that is Death’s true form, something we can’t even see without it doing THIS to us- now that’s real terror. 

If you liked this article, please like us on 

Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going