Thursday, July 31, 2025

Beach Read CURSE OF THE MacINTYRES "Chapter III: The Madman"

When Last We Left Our Innocent Ingenue...

...Rachel has discovered a secret laboratory/operating room where Blair and a pair of previously-unseen assistants are about to perform an operation on his sister, Adrienne!
She flees in terror...




We hope you've enjoyed this year's "Beach Read", and youll be back next year..if not sooner!

Next Week: a New Story Theme for August!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And now a Word from our Sponsor
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
...which reprints the four issues of Sinister House of Secret Love (including this one), but in black and white!
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Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Beach Read CURSE OF THE MacINTYRES "Chapter II 1/2: The Monster Within"

We Have Already Seen...
...moving to the MacIntyres' ancestral castle in Scotland after her father's death, young innocent Rachel has experienced one frightening even after another!
Her handsome and charming cousin, Blair, whom she's falling for, displays alarming mood swings, gentle and loving one minute...angry and almost savage the next!
Is she safe?
What is Blair doing to Adrienne, his sister?
Have we stepped over the line from Gothic romance into Gothic horror?
To Be Concluded...Tomorrow!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And now a Word from our Sponsor
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
...which reprints the four issues of Sinister House of Secret Love (including this one), but in black and white!
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Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Beach Read CURSE OF THE MacINTYRES "Chapter II: Twisted Love"

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

...after her elderly father passed away with his last words being a cryptic "hide the journal" and "MacIntyre Curse", Rachel MacIntyre is offered a new home at the family's ancestral castle in Scotland by her handsome, rich, widower cousin Blair.

When she arrives in Scotland from London, Rachel is warned by local townspeople that MacIntyre Castle is dangerous and only by paying double the usual fee can she find someone willing to take her and her luggage there.
She meets Blair's extremely-bright son Jamie and another cousin, Alfie, an eccentric dwarf as well as a surly, elderly couple who serve as housekeeper and handyman.
That night, she falls into an uneasy sleep, where she dreams of Blair kissing her!
But the kiss is intense, cutting off her breathing and she jolts awake to find someone trying to smother her with a pillow...

Cousin Blair is extremely...mercurial!
Is it possible he was the one who assulted Rachel...but doesn't remember doing so?
Is that the "MacIntyre Curse"?
To Be Continued...Tomorrow!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And now a Word from our Sponsor
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
...which reprints the four issues of Sinister House of Secret Love (including this one), but in black and white!
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Monday, July 28, 2025

Beach Read CURSE OF THE MacINTYRES "Chapter I: The Secret of the Castle"

Stretch out on your beach blanket under the umbrella, get a cool drink, and dive into...

...the premiere issue of DC's second gothic romance comic, The Sinister House of Secret Love #1 (1971)





To Be Continued...Tomorrow!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
This terrifying tale was written by Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Don Heck.

As we mentioned earlier, it was preceded the month before by another gothic romance comic, Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love.
The two books were published on alternate months, providing eight monthly doses in a row of Gothic romance.
Sadly, sales on both were poor, and the books became standard horror titles with their fifth issues, though both included Gothic romances in those #5 issues since they had already been created and paid for before the decision to change format was made!
Bonus: The original art for the first page of the story.

Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Order...
...which reprints the four issues of Sinister House of Secret Love (including this one), but in black and white!
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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Advice d'Amour LOVE DIARY & LOVE JOURNAL "Prescription for Happiness" & "SOS for Love"

You'll Note We're Combining Two Romance Counseling Features into One Post!

It's because of legendary artist John Buscema!
Though most of his romance comics stories were one-shots...
...along with one two-parter (as shown HERE and HERE), he did do two series of 2-3 page shorts!

Entitled "Prescription for Happiness" and "S.O.S. for Love", the shorts featured distressed lovers asking a counselor for advice, much like the licensed (and unlicensed) advisors we've been presenting in our Advice d'Amour tales!
Appearing in Orbit's Love Diary and Love Journal comics, the strips initially-featured rotating artists, but once Buscema took over, he stayed on both of them for the remainder of their runs, doing almost a dozen tales of woe!

Yes, the title on this one is "S.O.S. Love in Distress".
To be fair, this was the final strip in the final issue of Love Journal, so the editor can be forgiven for letting the incorrect header slip by!
After all, what were they going to do...fire him?
In a couple of cases, as Orbit was winding down operations just before cancellation, they took an "S.O.S. for Love" strip from the previous year like this one...
...and re-ran it as "Prescription for Happiness", just changing the logo and re-naming the counselor...without even redrawing him to match the other strip's host!
I guess they thought "PfH's" Ray Mann and "S.O.S.'s" Mark Ford were interchangeable!
Next Week
It's Time for the Annual Gothic Romance Beach Read, Running Monday Thru Friday!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!
And now a Word from Our Sponsor...
Support True Love Comics Tales
Visit Amazon and Buy...

A combination of complete checklist of Buscema's comic and magazine work and a heavily-illustrated catalog of a 2009 Italian museum exhibition of his work!
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