Chamber of Chills #23
Chamber of Chills #23 is the second known reprint of the Ken Hale / Gorilla-Man origin story, bringing the cursed Atlas-era adventurer back in front of Bronze Age readers more than two decades after his debut — a quiet act of preservation that helped keep the character alive in the collective memory long enough for Jeff Parker to rediscover him for Agents of Atlas in 2006. The issue sits near the close of Marvel's Bronze Age horror-anthology revival, demonstrating how the post-1971 Comics Code loosening allowed the company to recirculate its pre-Code monster catalogue for a new generation. Because Gorilla-Man went on to become one of the more distinctive figures in 21st-century Marvel storytelling — an immortal soldier of fortune anchoring multiple Agents of Atlas runs — this reprint functions as an early waypoint in the character's long, winding journey from a six-page throwaway to a franchise mainstay.
In "Where Lurks the Ghost!", Stan Lee and artist Russ Heath deliver a chilling tale from the depths of Marvel’s Chamber of Chills #23. When a mysterious vampire captures a silent, portly stranger and brings him before his kin, the tension mounts—until the man’s true nature is revealed in a shocking transformation. Ron Wilson’s cover and Al Milgrom’s inks set the perfect eerie tone for this 1976 25-cent classic.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Chamber of Chills launched in November 1972 as part of a coordinated four-title horror-anthology line conceived by editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, intended to package pre-Code Atlas material alongside adaptations of genre fiction; by issue #7 the book had become entirely reprint-driven. By the time issue #23 shipped in April 1976 with a July cover date, Marv Wolfman had taken over as editor-in-chief, and the title was winding down toward its final issue (#25, November 1976). The cover — a gorilla-themed image penciled by Ron Wilson and inked by Al Milgrom — was new art commissioned for this issue, while all interior content was sourced from earlier Atlas/Marvel anthology books spanning 1954 to 1961.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: July 1976; released on stands April 13, 1976; published by Marvel Comics Group; edited by Marv Wolfman.
- The lead key story reprints the Ken Hale / Gorilla-Man origin from Men's Adventures #26 (March 1954, Atlas Comics) — the tale of a soldier of fortune plagued by nightmares who travels to Africa, battles a half-man/half-gorilla, kills it, and is transformed into the new Gorilla-Man himself, gaining immortality but losing his human form.
- The original Men's Adventures #26 Gorilla-Man story was drawn by Robert Q. Sale; Stan Lee is credited as editor on that issue, with the writer listed as uncredited in the Grand Comics Database (some sources retroactively attribute the script to Lee).
- Ken Hale / Gorilla-Man's debut in Men's Adventures #26 (March 1954) predates the founding of the Avengers by nearly a decade; he would later be retroactively folded into the '1950s Avengers' concept via What If? #9 (1978) and fully revived as a central member of the Agents of Atlas starting in 2006.
- The issue contains four stories total, all reprints: from Tales to Astonish #25 (a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko haunted-house tale), from Marvel Tales #113 / Adventures into Terror #28 (Gene Colan art, a morgue story), a vampire/Beast-Man tale also drawn by Robert Q. Sale, and the Gorilla-Man story from Men's Adventures #26.
- The new cover art is by Ron Wilson (pencils) and Al Milgrom (inks), with Irving Watanabe as letterer — the only original material produced for this issue.
- Chamber of Chills ran 25 issues (November 1972 – November 1976), transitioning from occasional original content in its early numbers to an all-reprint format after issue #7, drawing primarily from 1950s pre-Code Atlas horror stories made available to Code-approved comics after the CCA rules were relaxed in 1971.
- The Gorilla-Man origin story from this issue has since been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish Vol. 3 (2010) and the Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus (2019), cementing its place in Marvel's reprinting canon.
Cast · 2 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
A vampire captures a fat man and takes his victim to display him to his brothers. They all agree that not even the Beast-Man captures such victims and ask the fat man his name. The fat man doesn't speak and instead transforms into the Beast-Man and attacks the vampires.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).