Ghostly Tales


Ghostly Tales was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by Charlton Comics from 1966 to 1984. The book was "hosted" by Mr. L. Dedd, a middle-aged gentleman with purplish skin and horns who dressed like a vampire. Mr. Dedd spun his "ghostly tales" from the parlor of his "haunted house".
Ghostly Tales was part of a wave of new horror and suspense comics published by Charlton during this period. Its sister titles, with many of the same creators, were the Charlton anthologies The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, Haunted, Ghost Manor, and Ghostly Haunts.

Publication history

Ghostly Tales debuted with issue #55, taking over the numbering of Blue Beetle vol. 3. Ghostly Tales was predominantly bimonthly during its run; it went on a publishing hiatus between issues #124 and #125 from January to August 1977. It became primarily a reprint title with issue #127, republishing material from its own archives as well as those of its sister titles. Altogether, Ghostly Tales published 115 issues.
Regular contributors to the book included Pat Boyette, Steve Ditko, Wayne Howard, Russ Jones & Bhob Stewart, and Rocke Mastroserio. Over the course of its 18-year run, Ghostly Tales was edited by Pat Masulli, Sal Gentile, and George Wildman. Wildman edited the title for more than twelve years, from issue #97 until its cancellation with issue #169.
Horror comics in general were in decline in the early 1980s, and Charlton in particular was suffering financially. In October 1984, Charlton suspended publication, and Ghostly Tales ended its run along with the rest of the company's remaining titles.