We are back for our second dose of pre-code horror and hopefully it will do better than Chamber of Chills our first one, which was awarded a big thumbs down.
P.S. Unlike Captain Audio, I had never before heard of the concept of "when you're driving a stake into a vampire's heart, trying too hard becomes counterproductive."
(It seems to me that if the first blow, with wood penetrating the heart, actually kills it instantly -- which has long been my understanding of the subject -- then the number of follow-up blows, if any, ought to be meaningless. I wonder what would happen if I drove the stake into its heart with the first blow, waited a few months, and then tapped the stake with a hammer a second time?)
Originally all suicides were staked to pin the body in the coffin and usually beheaded, before burial at a cross roads. Staking was intended to prevent either body or spirit from rising from the grave. It was a preventative measure rather than a final solution.
PS
The rest of the stories had much better twists at the ending.
"That Uncle Paul Lustveg whom you haven't seen since you were a kid? What's the letter say?"
Bummer. I wrote a long comment yesterday. When I posted it I got a message that others had posted while I was composing. When I checked the forum their comments showed up but mine never did. Lost in the chronosynclastic infundibulum. I'll try to replicate it.
So many unclear details in this story. Lorendiac, I don't think that woman in the foreground is supposed to be Anna. She's some guest at the inn witnessing the rampage. The writer has already forgotten Anna. And her mom and dad, too, for that matter. All very messy.
"Black Means Death" has the germ of a good idea torpedoed by a huge lapse in logic. Karen assumes a double identity to trick Harry into murdering her???? Where'd she get this death wish? Especially considering that, as Mara, Karen receives the attention and the expensive presents she demands from Harry. I could buy some elaborate scheme to frame Harry for the faked "murder" of Mara. I could buy some convoluted plan to drive Harry to kill himself. But to use Harry for assisted suicide? At least the writer could have given Karen a dual personality so Mara wouldn't realize that killing Karen would mean her own finish.
Ever see a story where the surprise ending is blown on the first page? "The Ghoul Walks" is one of them. The moment you read the caption on panel 3, you know where the story's headed. The obviousness of the outcome makes a three-page story seem much longer.