The Man Who Searched for Fear part 1

We begin a new strip today with  the opening episode of 'The Man Who Searched for Fear', a terrific series that ran in the pages of Look and Learn for ten months between October 1973 and August 1974. All forty-five episodes were the work of the talented Bill Lacey, whose work filled British comics for over forty years.

The premise of the story is an old one. These stories specifically date back to 1931 and a text series called 'The House of Thrills' that appeared in the story paper Bullseye. In the original story, big-game hunter John Pentonville, whose leg has been mauled by a lion, moves into creepy Gaunt House, a mansion full of secret passages and whose windows seem to try and keep out the light. This is perfect for Pentonville's needs, as he can now no longer live a life of adventure himself... instead, he places an advert in the newspapers offering £100 to anyone who will come to his new residence and relate an uncanny story that will give him a vicarious thrill. The series ran successfully through ever issue of Bullseye's 183 issues. The main author was Alfred Edgar (Barre Lyndon), although later stories were written by A. Carney Allan, Fred Cordwell, A. B. Carter and others.

The premise was updated for Look and Learn—the prize for bringing thrills to the life of Hugo Masterman is £1,000, for instance—but it retained the creepy atmosphere of the originals. The stories were brief little chillers and I hope you'll enjoy them.

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)