31 days of horror Day 18

Jack Ketchum's The Girl next door

Source-Anchor Bay DVD

Inspired by true events,this film is based on the Jack Ketchum novel of the same name. Set in 1958,this is the story of David Moran and the girl next door Meg Loughlin. Meg has moved in next door along with her little sister. They now live with their Aunt Ruth and her 3 sons. Ruth is the mom that all the kids in the neighborhood love. She talks about all kinds of stuff that most adults won't mention in front of kids,plus she lets her boys,plus the other boys from the neighborhood drink beer with her. She is jealous of Meg for some reason. And starts taking this out on her. At first she does stuff like not allowing Meg to eat for 2 or 3 days in a row,but soon it progresses to harsher punishment. After not too long Ruth has her boys tying Meg up in the basement. This slowly starts to involve more of the neighborhood kids,and it starts to get more and more cruel. David is a witness to all of this but does nothing to stop or prevent it,finally he has seen enough and tries to save Meg and her little sister. The last 15 minutes of the movie are some of the most heartbreaking,gruesome scenes I had seen in any film in many years. The acting is very good,when you consider that most of the cast is preteen and early teens. This is one of those films that well most people couldn't make it through. But if you want to see what I thought was the best horror film of 2007,at least give it a rent. Jack Ketchum's The Girl next door gets an A.

Golden age reprints 04

Issue 4 of the Mr Monster Super Duper Special series,this one also is focused on crime stories by Jack Cole."Meet the Split Benny Dickson" is a story written and drawn by Jack Cole. The art makes up for the average story. "Vengeance of the Mounted" is a Mountie crime story. Nice mood and setting,and a bit unusual since most crime stories of this era were set in big cities in the USA. "James Kent" is the final story and again it is written and drawn by the legend Jack Cole. This one has a better story than the first one,and the art is the best I have seen from Cole that isn't a Plastic Man story. Again I paid around $2 for this comic,and it was more than worth it.8 outta 10,would have been higher but the first story wasn't so hot.

Golden age reprints 03

Issue 3 of the Mr Monster Super Duper Special series. This issue is focused on the crime comics of the golden age. Added bonus is every story has wonderfull Jack Cole artwork. Cole is now mainly known as the creator of Plastic Man. "Murder Morphine and me" has the infamous needle to the eye panel,that gained fame thanks to "Seduction of the Innocent". Nice quick little story that is helped along by the amazing artwork. Up next is "Demons Dance on Galloway Moor" decent story,but the story is outshined by the art. Finally is "A Match For Satan" a story about a criminal who has the gimmick of always having a matchstick in his mouth. This smooth talking guy manages to talk his way outta jail time many times. But finally he gets sentanced to the electric chair. Neat panel at the end that has him being fried by the chair and his ever present matchstick also lights up. Ended up paying $2 for this,but it was so worth it. I wish more fans knew who Jack Cole is. 9.5 outta 10.

I love me some Secret Origins 02

Secret Origins was a mid 80's DC series that I have loved since it started. Each issue would have 1 or more origins of various heroes/heroines. The issue I am talking about this time is issue 5. It has the origin of the Crimson Avenger,who at the time this issue was published was considered the first true super hero in the DC universe. Written by Roy and Dann Thomas and with beautiful art by Gene Colon,this issue was such a hit that soon after its publication DC released a Crimson Avenger mini series. CA is a very pulpish hero in the shadow/spider/grey ghost/etc tradition. Fighting crime with a gun and a mean right hook,he is a hero for a simpler time. Since this story has great writing and AMAZING art I will give it my first 10 outta 10.