The Witching Hour #20 – Key Highlights
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Publisher: DC Comics
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Publication Date: April–May 1972
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Frequency: Bi-monthly
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Editor: Murray Boltinoff
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Cover Artist: Nick Cardy (pencils and inks)
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Genre: Horror, Occult
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Pages: 52
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Format: Full Color
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Original Cover Price: $0.25
🔥 Key Significance
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A 52-page giant issue featuring three new horror stories alongside two reprints from earlier DC horror anthologies.
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Features a Nick Cardy cover titled “Once Upon a Midnight Dreary,” with credits documented in The Art of Nick Cardy by John Coates (Vanguard Productions, 2001).
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The issue brings together artwork by Nestor Redondo, Don Heck, John Calnan, George Tuska, and Bill Ely.
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The Witching Hour hosts Cynthia, Mildred, and Mordred appear throughout the issue, including in the introductory feature and inserted reprint material.
📖 Story Highlights
- “Death Is a Demon in Disguise” – 9 pages
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Script: George Kashdan
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Pencils and Inks: Nestor Redondo
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Host: Mordred
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Script and art credits were published in the letter column of The Witching Hour #22 (August 1972).
- “Beware the 13th Guest” – 7 pages
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Script and Art: Howard Purcell
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Host: Mordred (inserted)
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Originally published in: House of Secrets #59 (March–April 1963).
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Reprint.
- “The Diamond Hands of the Sun God!” – 6 pages
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Pencils and Inks: Bill Ely
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Host: Mildred (inserted)
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Originally published in: House of Secrets #8 (January–February 1958).
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Reprint.
- “Never Ride With a Stranger!” – 6 pages
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Script: Carl Wessler
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Pencils and Inks: Don Heck
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Host: Cynthia
- “Once Upon a Midnight Dreary” – 8 pages
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Script: Murray Boltinoff (under the pseudonym Bill Dennehy)
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Pencils and Inks: John Calnan
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Host: Mildred
📌 Additional Details
- “Where's Sister Mordred?” – 1-page introductory feature
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Pencils and Inks: George Tuska
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Characters: Cynthia, Mildred, Mordred, and Henry the Vulture
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Genre: Humor
- “Witch-Ful Thinking” – 1-page letters page
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Typeset letters submitted by Les Fallon, Frank Stockwell, and Jerome Berliner.
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The two reprinted stories originally appeared in House of Secrets #59 and #8, respectively.
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The five listed stories account for 36 pages, with the introductory feature and letters page bringing the documented total to 38 pages. The remaining pages are not itemized in the supplied details.
Collector’s Note: The Witching Hour #20 is a substantial 52-page DC horror anthology, pairing a Nick Cardy cover with new material by Nestor Redondo, Don Heck, and John Calnan, while revisiting two earlier House of Secrets stories.
