Scream! #15, 30 June 1984 – last issue published

• Monster (artist Jesus Redondo, writer Rick Clark)
• The Dracula File – (artist Eric Bradbury, writer Ken Noble)
• The Thirteenth Floor (artist José Ortiz, writer Ian Holland)
• Tales from the Grave: The Man They Called Dr Death (artist Jim Watson, writer Ian Rimmer (but credited as Rick Hunter))
• Library of Death: Out of the Fog! (artist Rafael Boluda, credited as Bollida, writer Angus Allan)
• A Ghastly Tale – Blood Track! (artist Tony Coleman)
• Fiends and Neighbours – cartoon (artist Graham Allen)
• The Nightcomers – final episode (artist John Richardson, writer Tom Tully)

This was the last issue of Scream ever published. Like Tammy, it abruptly disappeared in the 1984 IPC strike, never to be resumed. Exactly why it was not resumed is not clear. One factor could have been the Ghastly Tale “Blood Track!”, which prompted a threat of legal action, though it was eventually dropped. That story will be omitted from discussion here.

Later, Eagle picked up the tab with Scream to some extent. The Thirteenth Floor and Monster continued in Eagle to reach ultimate, respectable conclusions, and are now enjoying their own reprint volumes. The Ghastly Face competition continued in Eagle and the top prize was eventually split between two contestants. I have no information about whether or not the new Creepy Caption Cartoon Competition in this issue was concluded there as well.

When The Thirteenth Floor and Monster stopped in Scream, the former was about to deal with an extortionist who charges heavy fees in return for not breaking bones. In the latter, Uncle Terry and Ken have just fought their way through yet more bounty hunters and the police, and now they are taking a boat.

At least “The Nightcomers” managed to complete their story in this issue, so that was not left dangling. The Nightcomers, with eager help from Edna the ghost and unwitting help from Baphomet the demon when it kills Cutler, destroy the evil that haunts Raven’s Meet. We are told the Nightcomers will start a new adventure in the next issue, so they must have been planned for an ongoing series. Sadly, they did not get it in Eagle. Fortunately the second Nightcomers story was reconstituted and finally published in “It’s Ghastly! The Untimely Demise of Scream!” in 2016. Better late than never.

However, The Dracula File was left open by the cutoff, which is annoying. Dracula does at least manage to complete the flashback of his clash with vampire hunter Alexander Quinn, but we don’t find out where things end up with his new adversary, Colonel Stakis. And just when it sounded like it was about to get really exciting, because Drac says he’s getting really pissed off at living on the run because of Stakis and he’s jolly well going to turn things around!

The Tales from the Grave story was also left on a loose end. The last episode of “Dr Death” got cut off entirely and the story was never finished. It was left forever dangling on the penultimate episode (below), just like “Cora Can’t Lose” in Tammy.

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Fortunately, in “It’s Ghastly!”, writer Ian Rimmer (writing as Rick Hunter) was able to say he thinks the ending went something like:

“Fox turns up at Phillary’s lab, only to be startled and attacked by the re-animated hand. Phillary hears the rumps and enters too. He desperately tries to intervene, but Fox is killed and equipment is knocked over. Suddenly the lab bursts into flames…I think in a panic Phillary looks to escape, yet is prevented from doing so by the hand. The conflagration consumes the hand, all of Phillary’s notes, and Phillary himself. We then have the Leper tending to his fire at the cemetery at the end, saying something suitably caustic.”

In the Library of Death (fortunately not another two-parter like the previous story), Barry Holls is on the run from an orphanage where everyone picks on him because his father is in prison for murder. Barry knows his dad’s innocent – and so does the murder victim. He returns from the grave to guide Barry to the crucial evidence that will clear his father. Awww…

Later, Scream produced two holiday specials, which actually produced some unpublished material from the parent comic. This included Black Beth, who returns in the Scream & Misty Halloween Special II, the actual face of Ghastly McNasty from the Ghastly Face competition, and what looks like part 16 of The Dracula File. Here, Stakis finally gets a shot at Dracula with a stake and Dracula gets pinned. Unfortunately Stakis fails to get one in the heart, and Dracula escapes on a train.

Scream did not produce an annual.

 

Scream! #11, 2 June 1984

• The Dracula File (artist Eric Bradbury, writer Ken Noble)
• Monster (artist Jesus Redondo, writer Rick Clark)
• The Thirteenth Floor (artist José Ortiz, writer Ian Holland)
• Tales from the Grave: A Fatal Extraction – final episode (artist Jim Watson, writer R. Hunter)
• Library of Death: Ghost Dance (artist Mario Capaldi, writer Angus Allan)
• Fiends and Neighbours – cartoon (artist Graham Allen)
• A Ghastly Tale – Behind the Door! (artist Eric Bradbury?)
• The Nightcomers (artist John Richardson, writer Tom Tully)

More attempts at Ghastly’s face this week. None succeed, but one extracts another clue and a second has the honour of being on the back cover (above) because it is so well drawn.

Stakis manages to escape Dracula’s trap and put the stake into one of his servants. That’s one down, but there are two more and Drac himself to go. Meanwhile, Drac has to resort to a condemned house for his new hideout, and shows that even he turns up his nose at drunks because booze makes their blood unfit to drink. He throws a good scare into them instead.

Groan. Uncle Terry kills again. This time it’s self-defence against two men who tried to kill him because of his appearance.

Max shows mercy to the latest visitor to his Thirteenth Floor, who is being punished for shoddy repair jobs, because he begged for it. This shows Max is learning where to stop with the Thirteenth Floor and trying not to let it go too far, as happened in some of the earlier episodes.

The (yeouch!) cover gives you an idea of how things end up for Sweeney Todd dentist Thorpe in the final episode of the Leper’s tale, doesn’t it? Yes, it turns out Makepiece the ghost had more than just revenge on his mind in killing Thorpe’s assistant Grimes. He uses his dark magic powers to turn Grimes into an animated corpse to wreak his revenge on Thorpe. Makepiece sends Grimes and Thorpe straight to Hell through their own Sweeney Todd chair – after having Grimes give Thorpe a taste of his own dental treatment, of course.

This week’s Library of Death tale is an intriguing one. It raises a few eyebrows and is full of surprising ironies, some of which you may find amusing as well as scary. The lead of a pop group mocks his fellow members for believing in ghosts although they use a ghost gimmick. So what happens when they shoot their latest video in a place with a reputation for genuine ghosts? Read it and find out.

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In a Ghastly Tale, a boy dreads what is behind the door. And what is behind the door? It is a common thing that boys don’t like. Clue – there is a lot of steam coming out from the door.

In “The Nightcomers” Beth rescues her brother Rick just as Cutler and his flunky are about to burn him alive, along with the house and the demon haunting it. However, it’s the flunky who gets burned alive and he throws himself down the well. Then another entity appears, and appears to be an unhappy female. Cutler clearly knows who it is and is terrified of it…but why do we sense it is more friendly than the demon?

Scream! #8, 12 May 1984

• The Dracula File (artist Eric Bradbury, writer Ken Noble)
• The Nightcomers (artist John Richardson, writer Tom Tully)
• A Ghastly Tale – The Pharaoh’s Curse (artist Tony Coleman)
• The Thirteenth Floor (artist José Ortiz, writer Ian Holland)
• Library of Death: Beware the Werewolf! (artist Steve Dillon, writer Simon Furman)
• Tales from the Grave: The Cabbie and the Hanging Judge – final episode (artist Jim Watson, writer Ian Rimmer)
• Fiends and Neighbours – cartoon (artist Graham Allen)
• Monster (artist Jesus Redondo, writer Rick Clark)

Dogs, wolves and werewolves are cropping up a lot in this issue, starting with the cover. Even our vampire in “The Dracula File” takes his wolf form. He rescues his servants, claims a couple more victims, and sets up shop in London. Meanwhile, Stakis is on his way to stop the vampire, but at the cost of defecting from the KGB, becoming a fugitive, and getting out of the Eastern bloc without paying the price of a Soviet gulag or something.

The Nightcomers arrive at Raven’s Meet. They are quick to realise that whatever is in there wants them dead. Simon Cutler, who definitely knows something about it, escaped by the skin of his teeth after the evil of Raven’s Meet possessed his dog and nearly killed him. At least the blurb for next week will tell us what the horror actually is.

A dog also attacks and frightens a man to death during a visit to King Tut’s tomb. The twist is the hieroglyphics on the door aren’t about a pharaoh’s curse – they say “Beware of the dog”.

In “The Thirteenth Floor” Max manages to squirm his way out of the cloud of suspicion. How very prudent of the policeman to tip him off about the error that aroused his suspicions, which enabled Max to cover it up quickly. Back to business, which Max resolves must be conducted with more care in future. The next victim at the Thirteenth Floor arrives in response to Max’s call about knocking down a girl’s dog and not stopping. He finds himself in the middle of a road filled with cars threatening to knock him down.

In “Tales from the Grave” we learn how the wheels of justice turned for “The Cabbie and the Hanging Judge”. There is a final twist that has the Leper laughing, but might have someone turning in his grave…

The Library of Death story is of the werewolf that appears on the cover. The hunter on his tail looks a bit like a fascist in the way he is dressed and is the werewolf’s own father.

In “Monster” the police hunt for Ken and Uncle Terry intensifies now they have a very good lead – a man who almost got killed by Uncle Terry and got a very terry-fying look at what looks like a monster. And they’re bringing in tracker dogs. Dogs again…