Midnight Tales #9

Charlton's Midnight Tales #9 (October 1974) delivers a wonderfully creepy package courtesy of Wayne Howard, who handles the cover pencils and inks with confident, unsettling flair. The cover drops us into a cluttered, shadow-drenched room where a massive, glowing-eyed spider looms over two very alarmed figures — a white-haired man and a young woman who coolly requests "the large can," suggesting she has a plan even as the beast towers behind them. Featuring the Midnight Philosopher and Arachne in "The Sorceress," this Charlton gem is a fine slice of mid-'70s horror anthology atmosphere at a quarter a pop.