Originally Published In Issue 42
Reprinted In Issue 101
First published back in June of 1974, Issue 42 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘The Dark Fiend’. The comic was later reprinted under the alternative title ‘Brink Of The Grave’ within Issue 101.
During the 1970s the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ was a pocket-sized mainstream horror comic which ran for 137 issues between 1971 and 1977. From issue 86 onwards the publishers simply started reprinting the earlier stories, the first 28 of these reprints retitling the story. As such, there were only a total of 86 different stories within the series.
Unfortunately, each issue was undated, making it difficult to be sure of the date for first publication of each issue. However, it is widely understood the comics were monthly publications, with the original stories running between 1971 and 1977, therefore the above date of publication is a reasonable assumption. Additionally, each issue was uncredited to either the writer or the comic artist(s).
Harry Logan was a dealer in rare and exotic art. For years he’d dreamed of coming into possession with one of the ancient temple carvings from the Quitocachi people of Southern Ecuador. Finally, thanks to his friend, the explorer John Watts, he now had the opportunity to own one. At least, until he sold the carving on to one of his eager buyers.
Obtaining the carved statue hadn’t been easy. Watts had to steal it from within the tribe’s sacred temple. The Quitocachi tribe were known to worship the large bird-eating spiders which were native in those parts. The temple of Guyamaguchi, where the carving was taken from, roughly translated as the Temple of the Spider God.
However, Watts’ theft hadn’t gone unnoticed. One of the tribe’s people had seen him and followed the explorer to the airport. The beautiful Quitocachi woman pleaded with Watts to return the statute. However, when Watts refused, she asked if she could instead come with him to England, because returning to the temple without the statute would result in her death. Watts accepted, and now the woman, Anuncia, lived with Watts as his housekeeper.
There was definitely something about Anuncia which didn’t feel right. Was it her hypnotic gaze? Her commanding presence in any room? Or was it the fact that she was here in England, as was her sacred tribe’s beloved carving?
On the night Logan acquired the carving, he’d woken to find a thick web across his face and a huge spider on the wall beside him. From that moment on, Logan realised there was something far darker at play here. Something to do with the ancient carving. Something to do with Anuncia…
DLS Review:
This is a weird one! The plot is both relatively predictable and at the same time, weirdly random. Sounds like a contradiction, I know! You see, despite the story toying with potential explanations for the nightmares and strange sightings, it’s pretty darn obvious from the outset that the luscious Anuncia is responsible and that she’s determined to get the carving back to her people. Yeah, doesn’t exactly take Hercule Poirot to work that one out, eh?! But it’s the way she goes about all of this, the strangely devious way she haunts them as an apparition, or is she actually there? The she appears in their dreams, but again is she actually there? It’s all rather vague, and never really thoroughly resolved!
this strange arms-length approach to try to regain the statue is briefly explained as “no woman, not even the Quitocachi High Priestess, may touch the carving”. Oh yes, it’s that ancient old prejudice once again. Therefore, we have Anuncia going to extraordinary lengths to try to convince Logan to part with the carving.
However, for the majority of the story, we just see Harry Logan prancing around the place, getting increasingly distraught about Anuncia cropping up everywhere he looks. For a Pocket Chiller Library, the storyline as a whole is quite dialogue heavy, with little in the way of ‘horror action’ per se.
A couple of times poor old Logan wakes in his bed to find a thick web across his face. There’s also a couple of glimpses of the giant spider, and then his manservant, Carson, dies from fright when the spider sits on his head like some kind of a furry toupee. But, for the main part, there’s very little giant spider action. This does, however, change in the last few pages of the comic, where we get to see Anuncia in all her eight-legged glory!
To be honest, I was hoping for a bit more of the usual off-the-wall horror madness you generally get with these comics. The cover artwork absolutely sold the story to me. A giant spider with a vampirish looking woman’s head! The story did deliver in some parts, but it also felt somewhat reserved in delivering the crazy horror shenanigans we all want to see. Too much pacing back and forth contemplating how on earth this Anuncia lass can be doing all of this, and not enough weird human-headed spider action.
Nevertheless, it’s still a pretty darn entertaining read.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
