Weird, ridiculous, sometimes creepy and surreal, but very enjoyable.
What They Say:
What do a fifty-foot-tall telepathic merman, a typewriter possessed by Satan, and a demented ringmaster who attaches human heads to circus animals have in common? Nothing, perhaps? Well, except that they all appeared in Forbidden Worlds, the weird and wonderful anthology of science fiction and supernatural fantasy that ran from the early 1950s into the late 1960s. Collects issues #5-#8 of the series.
Creators:
Writers & Artists: Lou Cameron, Lin Streeter, Al Camy, George Wilhelms, Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel, Pete Riss, Sam Cooper, Larry Woromay, King Ward, Paul Gattuso, Sam Cooper, Paul Gustavson, Charles Quinlan, Harry Lazarus, Art Gates.
The Review:
Ghosts, vampires, devils, were-creatures, zombies, forbidden magic, and possessed typewriters—all of these could be found within the pages of Forbidden Worlds: an anthology series in the vein of Tales from the Crypt or the Vault of Horror. The stories were often overtold and the artwork crowded with too many dialogue balloons and text boxes, but there is a sense of fun and imagination that ring through to this day, provided one can look past the stylistic issues. Many of the stories were laughable, such as the Merman Menace, about a fifty-foot-tall telepathic merman wreaking destruction on submarines as revenge for the detonation of a nuclear device that destroyed his underwater city. Not only was the sight of the merman ridiculous, but the conclusion—the merman finds out it was the Russians, not the good ‘ol USA that detonated the device—was even more so. The story ends with the American submarine captain offering the merman a job with the US navy, which had he accepted would have been pretty hilarious. Another story, The Flapping Head, featured a vampire’s head with two little bat wings emerging from his temples, making the image more comic than spooky.
Other stories, however, did possess a genuine sense of creepiness and dread. The Devil’s Typewriter features the standard writer’s wish-fulfillment fantasy of having a magical typewriter that grants wishes. The writer in question worked for Forbidden Worlds and was horrified to discover that the horrific tales he wrote for the upcoming issue were coming to life. Perhaps the best story in the lot was The Strange Circus of Dr. Namirha, about a devilish circus owner that transplanted people’s souls into the bodies of animals, creating chimera with the bodies of pumas, apes, and zebras. It is a decidedly surrealistic story where Dr. Namirha visits local cardiac wards, transforms into his true, Satanic self, and literally scares patients to death. In one particular scene Dr. Namirha ponders what to do with a potential victim, saying: “That neck—surely your soul should be within a GIRAFFE!” Another great moment is when the protagonist, Dr. Hopewell, realizes that Dr. Namirha’s name is “Ahriman” spelled backwards. Being a good cardiologist, Hopewell also realizes that Ahriman is one of “Satan’s dread offspring!” and springs into action. The story’s overall effect was that of a fever dream, and it was great fun to read.
In Summary:
While most of the stories in this volume were goofy and poorly written, the playfulness and imagination on display here generates a charm that makes them difficult to resist. Some of the tales, such as the The Merman Menace or The Flapping Head, are laughable, but others, such as The Devil’s Typerwriter and the surrealistic The Strange Circus of Dr. Namirha are genuinely good despite the stylistic issues. It bears reminding that these stories were created in the 1950s and that the problems I outline are indicative of the time and not an outright criticism of their quality. It will be difficult for modern comic readers unfamiliar with older work to get through, though, but what is here is fun, imaginative, and at times genuinely creepy. Recommended.
Grade: B+
