''Ghostly Tales'' was a horror-suspense

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 categ ...

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 ...

series published by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

from 1966 to 1984 (though it was primarily a

reprint A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields. Academic publishing In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known a ...

title from 1978 onward). The book was "hosted" by Mr. L. Dedd (later changed to I. M. Dedd), a middle-aged gentleman with purplish skin and horns who dressed like a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

. Mr. Dedd spun his "ghostly tales" from the parlor of his "haunted house". ''Ghostly Tales'' was part of a wave of new horror and suspense comics published by Charlton during this period. Its sister titles, with many of the same creators, were the Charlton anthologies ''

The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves ''The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves'' was an American supernatural- anthology comic book published by Charlton Comics, often featuring stories by writer-artist Steve Ditko. The eponymous Dr. M. T. Graves was a fictional character who hosted the sto ...

'' (with host Dr. M. T. Graves), ''

Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

'' (with hosts Impy and then Baron Weirwulf), ''

Ghost Manor ''Ghost Manor'' is a horror video game that was released by Xonox in 1983 for the Atari 2600 and VIC-20. It was generally packaged in a double ended cartridge and a cassette tape along with one of three other games in an effort to appeal to ...

'' (with host Mr. Bones), and ''

Ghostly Haunts ''Ghostly Haunts'' was an American horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by Charlton Comics from 1971 to 1978. The book was "hosted" by Winnie the Witch, a " moddish" blue-skinned witch. ''Ghostly Haunts'' was part of a wave of ne ...

'' (with host Winnie the Witch).

Publication history

''Ghostly Tales'' debuted with issue #55, taking over the numbering of ''

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...

'' vol. 3 (which itself had continued the numbering of '' Unusual Tales''). ''Ghostly Tales'' was predominantly bimonthly during its run; it went on a publishing hiatus between issues #124 and #125 from January to August 1977. It became primarily a reprint title with issue #127 (Jan. 1978), republishing material from its own archives as well as those of its sister titles (and some

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 ...

material from titles like '' Unusual Tales'' and Fawcett's '' This Magazine is Haunted'' — whose rights Charlton owned). Altogether, ''Ghostly Tales'' published 115 issues. Regular contributors to the book included

Pat Boyette Aaron P. "Pat" Boyette (July 27, 1923 – January 14, 2000) was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character the Pe ...

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 ...

Wayne Howard Wayne Wright Howard (March 29, 1949 – December 9, 2007) was an African-American comic book artist. He is best known for his 1970s work at Charlton Comics, where he became American comic books' first series creator known to be credited on cov ...

Russ Jones Russ Jones (born July 16, 1942 in Ontario) is a Canadian novelist, illustrator, and magazine editor, active in the publishing and entertainment industries over a half-century, best known as the creator of the magazine ''Creepy'' for Warren Publis ...

Bhob Stewart Robert Marion Stewart, known as Bhob Stewart (November 12, 1937 – February 24, 2014) was an American writer, editor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and active fan who contributed to a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles a ...

, and

Rocke Mastroserio Rocco A. "Rocke" Mastroserio (June 8, 1927 — early March 1968Dates per AdditionaWebCitation archivemade June 15, 2010. Note: The Social Security Death Index lists Rocco Mastroserioof New York City, born September 15, 1901, died December 1966.) w ...

. Over the course of its 18-year run, ''Ghostly Tales'' was edited by Pat Masulli, Sal Gentile, and

George Wildman George Wildman (July 31, 1927 – May 22, 2016) was an American cartoonist most noted for his work in the comic books industry. From 1971 until 1985 he was a top editor at Charlton Comics, where he also became the long-time regular artist on ...

. Wildman edited the title for more than twelve years, from issue #97 (August 1972) until its cancellation with issue #169 (Oct. 1984). Horror comics in general were in decline in the early 1980s, and Charlton in particular was suffering financially. In October 1984, Charlton suspended publication, and ''Ghostly Tales'' ended its run along with the rest of the company's remaining titles."Charlton Comics Suspends Publication," ''The Comics Journal'' #94 (Oct. 1984), p. 18.

Notes

References

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External links

''Ghostly Tales'' cover gallery at ComicVine
{{Steve Ditko Mystery comics Horror comics Fantasy comics 1966 comics debuts Comics by Steve Ditko