NEW BOOK: The Horror! The Horror!

Spoiled by repeat rentals of Tales From the Crypt, Creepshow and my brother's entire hand-me-down Goosebumps collection, I can't imagine the deprivation children of the '50s felt when the Comics Code Authority effectively banned horror comics in 1954. Dr. Fredric Wertham, the man behind the ban, not only charged comics with the ability to turn children into homosexuals (what with Batman being so irresistible) but even claimed that "comic books are the death of reading." What followed were dull, uninteresting comics void of social commentary.

Jim Trombetta has culled the most best, the most gruesome, and the most sensational comics of the pre-Code era. And for us kids who most definitely weren't around in the '50s, each chapter begins with a a little bit of history. The lush, full color illustrations will blow your brain apart. And yes, it even smells like a comic book.

The Horror! The Horror!