DC Comics’ attempt at a TALES FROM THE CRYPT-like horror anthology was the long-running THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY, hosted by a wisecracking (but less punny) caretaker named Cain, whose hair spiked up like devil horns. Now nearly four years of Cain’s comics are collected for the first time in the trade paperback SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY: VOLUME 1.

Following the establishment of the Comics Code that forced E.C. and its CRYPT out of business, THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY couldn’t afford to be gory, so it has to settle for being more suggestive than sickening. Luckily, that forced that creative teams to be more imaginative, and the result has a cozy, campfire-tale aspect to it that made this read completely effortless, totally fun and all too quick.

Each of the 21 issues here (from 1969-1971) features anywhere from a couple to a few individual stories, involving ghosts, hauntings, voodoo, mummies, curses and creatures of all kinds, from a dinosaur to a human wave. (Yes, a human wave.) Though simpler than a CRYPT tale, they’re not as predictable, as they’re not all dependent on a gruesome, 180˚ twist. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but – like my children – I loved them all just the same.

What makes this HOUSE all the more charming are the one- or two-page filler features that bridge the main stories. These include “Cain’s Game Room,” which has Sergio Aragonés cooking up MAD-style macabre single panel gags; “Cain’s True Case Files,” in which a supposedly real-life supernatural event is shared; “Odds and Ends from Cain’s Cellar,” a fact feature a la “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”; and “Room 13,” an anything-goes 13th page, which isn’t afraid to interrupt an in-progress story to make itself known.

Though HOUSE OF MYSTERY will never be as revered as DC’s flagship titles, its lineup of rotating artists boasted such greats as Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, Jack Kirby, Bernie Wrightson, Gil Kane, Jim Aparo and Neal Adams, who did all the covers. The writers were equally as talented – witness Joe Orlando, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein and Gerry Conway. For fans of this DC era or horror comics in general, the purchase of this 550-page SHOWCASE is an absolute no-brainer.

I commend DC for another outstanding SHOWCASE collection, following the recent JONAH HEX. I just hope they follow suit with another volume of MYSTERY, as well as those for its companion series, THE HOUSE OF SECRETS. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.