''Chamber of Darkness'' is a horror/

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

published by the American company

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, writers

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis ConwayThomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, te ...

, Archie Goodwin, and

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

, and artists

John Buscema John Buscema (; ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

Johnny Craig John Thomas Alexis Craig (April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),John T. Craig
at the ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

Tom Sutton Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002) He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort D.A. Russell (Wyoming), Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyom ...

Barry Windsor-Smith Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith, 25 May 1949) is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' ''Conan the Barbarian (comics), Conan th ...

(as Barry Smith), and

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

. Stories were generally hosted by either of the characters Digger, a

gravedigger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), g ...

, or Headstone P. Gravely, in

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

garb, or by one of the artists or writers. After the eighth issue, the title changed to ''Monsters on the Prowl'', and the comic became almost exclusively a reprint book.

Original series

Designed to compete with

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' successful launches ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

'' and '' House of Secrets'', ''Chamber of Darkness'', like its companion comic ''

Tower of Shadows ''Tower of Shadows'' is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics under this and a subsequent name from 1969 to 1975. It featured work by writer-artists Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, and Wa ...

'', sold poorly despite its selected roster of creators. After its first few issues, the title, published bimonthly, began including reprints of "pre-superhero Marvel" monster stories and other SF/fantasy tales from Marvel's 1950s and early 1960s predecessor, Atlas Comics. The anthology, in addition to running original stories, also included writer

' and penciler

Don Heck Donald L. HeckDonald L. Heck
at the Social Security Death Index. Retrieved on Septembe ...

's loose adaptation of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's "

The Masque of the Red Death "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague ...

", as "The Day of the Red Death", in issue #2 (Dec. 1969). Writer

Denny O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and Tom Palmer adapted the Poe story "

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

" as "The Tell Tale Heart" in issue #3 (Feb. 1970). Thomas and

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

veteran Johnny Craig adapted H. P. Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann" as "The Music From Beyond" in #5 (June 1970). Industry notable

, in a rare instance of scripting for Marvel before leaving for rival

for a time in 1970, wrote and penciled "The Monster" in #4 (April 1970), and "And Fear Shall Follow" in #5 (June 1970), both inked by

John Verpoorten John Verpoorten (May 15, 1940 – December 15, 1977) was an American comic book artist and editorial worker best known as Marvel Comics' production manager during the latter part of the Silver Age of Comic Books and afterward, during a seminal peri ...

. Kirby, inked by fellow

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

great

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie and Daredevil with writer Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. He was alle ...

, also drew the latter issue's cover. Everett himself wrote and inked (with penciler

Dan Adkins Danny L. AdkinsDanny L. Adkins
at the Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved December ...

) the story "Believe It...Or Not" in #8 (Dec. 1970). Marvel published the all-reprint ''Chamber of Darkness King-Size Special'' #1 (Jan. 1972).

''Monsters on the Prowl''

Retitled ''Monsters on the Prowl'' with issue #9 (Feb. 1971), this version ran one new story each issue through #13 (Oct. 1971) with the remaining content consisting of reprints from Atlas Comics, Marvel's 1950s predecessor, and "pre-superhero Marvel", primarily drawn by

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

. It expanded into a double-sized, 25-cent comic for two issues (#13-14, Oct.-Dec. 1971). Some issues of the reprint books featured new covers by

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, esp ...

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

, and

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on ''The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolver ...

. A 10-page

sword-and-sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tal ...

story starring

King Kull Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a rejec ...

, "The Forbidden Swamp", by writer Thomas and art by the Severin siblings, appeared in issue #16 (April 1972); it continued the story from ''Kull the Conqueror'' #2 (Sept. 1971), during a 10-month hiatus before that series resumed with #3. A flashback adventure pitting

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es against Marvel monsters appeared in a 2005

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

comic with the cover

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

''Monsters on the Prowl'', and the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed title ''Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl'', as given in its postal indicia.''Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl'' #1
at the Grand Comics Database

Reprints

''Chamber of Darkness'' stories reprinted in other Marvel comic books or black-and-white horror-comics magazines: * "Forewarned Is Four-Armed" (#2, Dec. 1969) :Writers

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Supe ...

, penciler

, inker

Dan Adkins Danny L. AdkinsDanny L. Adkins
at the Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved December ...

:''Creatures on the Loose'' #14 (Nov. 1971) * "The Warlock Tree" (#3, Feb. 1970) :Writer

, penciler Barry Smith, inker

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Bi ...

:''Giant-Size Chillers'' #3 (Aug. 1975) * "The Monster" (#4, April 1970) :Writer-penciler

, inker John Verpoorten :''Giant-Size Chillers'' #3 (Aug. 1975) * "The Sword and the Sorcerers" (#4, April 1970; one-shot character Starr the Slayer) :Writer Roy Thomas, penciler-inker Barry Smith :''Conan the Barbarian'' #16 (July 1972); ''The Conan Saga'' #6 (Oct. 1987); ''The Essential Conan'' Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2000, )
; "Conan Omnibus: The Marvel Years", volume 1, (Marvel, 2019) *"The Music From Beyond" (#5, June 1970) :Writer Roy Thomas, penciler-inker

Johnny Craig John Thomas Alexis Craig (April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),John T. Craig
at the ...

:''Masters of Terror'' #2 (Sept. 1975) *"Gargoyle Every Night" #7 (Oct. 1970) :Writers

, Roy Thomas, penciler-inker Bernie Wrightson :''Giant-Size Chillers'' #3 (Aug. 1975); ''Book of the Dead'' #1 (Dec. 1993)

References

External links

''Chamber of Darkness''
at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators *{{comicbookdb, type=title, id=10518, title=Chamber of Darkness

at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

1969 comics debuts Comics anthologies Comics by Gerry Conway Comics by Roy Thomas Defunct American comics Horror comics Fantasy comics