House of Mystery #250

This issue features a pair of frights. 

In Voyage to Hell, a lighthouse keeper is haunted by the ghost of his wife whom he left stranded on a sinking vessel. Then in Coffin For a Killer, an immigrant wishes for the largest funeral in all of Pittsburgh. To obtain that dream, the man turns to witchcraft. However, when he scorns the witch who is crafting the spells that help him become a big shot in the community, the man learns that you get what you wish for, but your wishes don't always turn out the way you expected.

Let's start with the latter story. It's written and illustrated by the great Alex Toth (Super Friends.) It's a great gothic style love story that I knew from the get-go what was going to happen- and then BAM! Toth throws in a twist I just didn't see coming. Marvelous stuff by a master of horror and suspense. 

The title story was the one I had issue with. At the beginning of the story, a fishing boat captain is the only man to survive the destruction of his vessel when it hits a reef. Okay- I buy that. But where's the wreckage? Where's the bodies? When the haunted lighthouse keeper talks of his ship sinking in the very same spot years prior, the shore is shown in flashback littered with debris. So why did artist Leo Duranona forget to add wreckage in the present day? For many this might seem like a petty grievance but that omission detracted from the enjoyment of the story for me.

For some reason, I thought this was the final issue of House of Mystery. However, I have since learned that the series went on for another 71 issues before finally closing it's doors in 1983. Why did I think this was the last issue? Have I confused it with House of Secrets, HOM's sister series? Did it end at issue #250? If any of you dear readers of this review have any inkling as to why I thought this was the finale, please leave me a line in the comment section.

Along with a few one-shot humor segments and some wicked old school comic book ads, I enjoyed this comic very much. I just had fault with a part of the main story.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out 10 stars.