House of Hammer

Origins Before coming to Williams Publishing, Skinn had been an editor at IPC Magazines, where in 1975 he created and edited a horror/science fiction-themed magazine called The Buster Book of Spooky Stories (which Skinn had originally wanted to call "Chiller" and which only lasted two issues). Warner/Williams When Skinn moved to Williams in 1976, one of the other publications Skinn oversaw was the fold-out poster magazine Monster Mag. Frustrated by the lack of editorial pages in that publication, Skinn revived his Chiller idea with the new company. The House of Hammer debuted as a monthly in October 1976, published by Top Sellers Ltd, a Thorpe & Porter imprint. The magazine was distributed nationally in the United Kingdom through newsagent's shops. The House of Hammer was given the 1977 Eagle Award for "Favourite Professional British Comic Publication." The House of Hammer was again nominated for "Favourite Professional British Comic Publication" at the 1978 Eagle Awards, losing out to Starburst (another Dez Skinn creation). Attempt to reach North American market Following its success in the United Kingdom, editor Dez Skinn sought to expand The House of Hammer into the North American market. In early 1978, the magazine secured U.S. distribution through publisher/distributor Curtis Circulation, which – because Hammer Films were not as culturally recognised in the US as they were in the UK – asked that the magazine be retitled House of Horror for American readers. Around 200,000 copies of the debut U.S. issue were printed, with a second already at press, when American James Warren's Warren Publishing — publisher of Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella — objected that the title infringed one of its trademarks. According to editor Skinn, Warren subsequently claimed prior ownership of the House of Horror name and produced a 500-copy "ashcan" edition to secure the trademark. (The cover for the unpublished issue #24, originally scheduled for Sept. 1978, was revealed in a later issue of the revived magazine.) Skinn bought the rights to HoH magazine from his former employer, along with around 10,000 unsold copies of various editions. However, this required him to spend the entire production and editorial budget allocated to the fourth edition of Starburst. Consequently, Skinn found himself the owner of the UK’s only two professionally published genre magazines, but without the financial resources to publish either. Quality Communications The title returned in late 1982/early 1983 on a bimonthly schedule. Simply titled Halls of Horror, it was published by Skinn's own Quality Communications and edited by Dave Reeder. The first issue was a new #24, an all-comics special mostly filled with reprints from earlier issues. As Hammer Films had gone out of business in 1979, this second iteration of the magazine moved away from Hammer specifically, covering horror (and science fiction) films more generally. Quality's Halls of Horror lasted seven issues through issue #30 (1984), plus a Dracula comics special. Publication details The magazine's volume numbers changed every 12 issues; volume 2 started with issue #13 (Oct. 1977), and volume 3 started with issue #25 (Jan. 1984). • The House of Hammer (issues #1–18, Oct. 1976–Mar. 1978), Top Sellers Ltd. (General Books) • ''Hammer's House of Horror'' (issue #19, Apr. 1978), Top Sellers Ltd. (General Books) • ''Hammer's Halls of Horror'' (issues #20–23, May 1978–Aug. 1978), Top Sellers Ltd. (Thorpe & Porter) • Halls of Horror (issues #24-30 [e.g., vol.2, #12, and vol. 3, #1-6], 1982–1984), Quality Communications == Columns ==

• Golden Age of Horror by Denis Gifford • History of Hammer by Denis Gifford and then Bob Sheridan • ''Campbell's Comments'' by Ramsey Campbell — in the Quality Communications era • Effectively Speaking by John Brosnan • Horror Around the World by Barry Pattison • Post Mortem • Answer Desk — answers to readers' questions • Media Macabre — news section == Features ==

Comics adaptations of Hammer Productions films were featured in almost every issue. Editor Skinn made a point of basing the adaptations on the original film scripts rather than the finished movie (thus some adaptations contained scenes that did not make it to the final film as it was released). Steve Moore handled many of the script adaptations. Skinn had a very specific idea for the kind of comics art he was looking for in the magazine, at first leaning toward Spanish artists like Carlos Ezquerra, Esteban Maroto, Luis Bermejo, Blas Gallego, Pepe González, and Alberto Cuyas. Soon, Bolland was asked to draw Vampire Circus, and he "pile[d] on the gore" for his first Hammer horror adaptation – although he found much of the "blood painted out" in the printed version. and was later expanded (to 42 pages), translated, and published in the French magazine ''L'Écho des Savanes Spécial U.S.A. #5 (Editions du Fromage, 1978). Adams reprinted the expanded story in his own series, Echo of Futurepast''; the collected 42-page story was reprinted in Vanguard Publishing's Monsters in 2003. David Lloyd's adaptation of Quatermass 2, titled "Enemy from Space (Quatermass II)", in issue #23 (July 1978), was Lloyd's first major work in comics. In late 1978, Skinn moved to Marvel UK. Many of the British creators he brought to Marvel UK to create original material were people he had already worked with on The House of Hammer. (Meanwhile, Hammer Film Productions went bankrupt and shut down in 1979.) When the magazine returned in 1982, issue #24 was a 48-page all-comics issue, featuring reprints from issues #2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 13. A number of ''Van Helsing's Terror Tales were reprinted, as were the adaptations of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and The Quatermass Xperiment''. Issues #25 and 26 featured the magazine's first adaptation of a non-Hammer Productions Film: Roy Ward Baker's The Monster Club (1981). Adapted by Skinn, the 25-page story (divided into two parts) was mostly illustrated by John Bolton, with four pages by David Lloyd. The strip was originally produced in 1980 as a promotional tool for the film, and had been published in a publication called The Monster Club magazine. Quality's final publication related to Halls of Horror was a 48-page Dracula Comics Special, published in April 1984. It reprinted the 21-page adaptation of Hammer's 1958 Dracula film, by Dez Skinn and Paul Neary; and the 15-page adaptation of Dracula: Prince of Darkness, by Donne Avenell and John Bolton; it also included a 6-page John Bolton "Dracula Sketchbook." == Hammer films comics adaptations ==

In 1985, Eclipse Comics published two issues of ''John Bolton's Halls of Horror'', composed of Bolton material originally published in the magazine. == Legacy ==

In 2016, the British publisher Titan Comics announced a new line of comic book adaptations of Hammer horror films. The company's adaptation of Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974) was a four-issue limited series published from October 2017 to January 2018. It was written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Tom Mandrake. == See also ==