This Magazine Is Haunted #12

History

The 1957 volume of This Magazine Is Haunted was not a simple continuation: it picked up its numbering from the just-cancelled Zaza the Mystic (#11), a Charlton cost-saving practice of reusing postal permits by renaming rather than restarting titles. The Comics Code Authority's 1954 clampdown had shuttered the title's first Charlton run after issue #21; the three-year gap and the introduction of Dr. Haunt in place of Doctor Death signaled an intentional creative reset, with the new host — described by one source as 'a more charismatic figure in a voluminous green cape and broad-brimmed hat' — likely designed by Ditko, who by that point was the title's dominant artist. Scripts are attributed (with some uncertainty) to prolific Charlton workhorse Joe Gill, while editor Burton Levey is listed in the issue's statement of ownership.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Dr. Haunt (also rendered as 'Doctor Haunt'), the supernatural host-narrator of the title's entire 1957–1958 second volume, covering issues #12–16.
• Published July 1957 by Charlton Comics; the series' numbering was inherited directly from Zaza the Mystic #11, not from the earlier This Magazine Is Haunted run (which had ended at #21 in 1954).
• Cover and all interior stories are drawn by Steve Ditko — one of only a handful of issues in the second volume where Ditko provided art across the entire book.
• Stories in this issue include 'The Thing on the Beach,' 'The Faceless Ones,' 'The Messages,' 'His Fate,' and 'The Last One,' all framed by Dr. Haunt as host.
• Dr. Haunt's defining concept: he is compelled to witness and narrate evil and horror but is forbidden to intervene — a supernatural observer figure distinct from both EC's cackling GhouLunatics and the earlier Doctor Death, who could actively manipulate characters.
• Issue was reprinted in The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 3: Mysterious Traveler (Fantagraphics, April 2012), edited by Blake Bell, the first time much of this material had seen proper collected reprinting.
• Interior art credits (per GCD) are attributed to Steve Ditko throughout, with Joe Gill listed as the probable scripter; the issue's statement of ownership names Burton Levey as editor.
• The Charlton cover of this issue was later reused as the cover image for Ghost Manor (Charlton) #54 (January 1981), giving the Ditko artwork a second life two decades on.

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