House of Mystery was a horror anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1951 to 1983. It featured two or three stories of horror and suspense in each issue. Its most famous recurring feature was I...Vampire, which dealt with a heroic vampire, Andrew Bennett, who sought to defeat his nemesis and former lover Mary, the Queen of Blood. All the tales were introduced by a character name Cain, "able care taker" of the House of Mystery, who was also one of the hosts of Plop! and who later became a recurring character in The Sandman. It had a companion title called House of Secrets. Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... An anthology, literally a garland or collection of flowers, is a collection of literary works, originally of poems, but in recent years its usage has broadened to be applied to collections of short stories and comic strips. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... I...Vampire was a 24 issue series that appeared in House of Mystery between 1981 and 1983. ... This article deals with vampires in folklore and legends. ... Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters who appear in DC Comics. ... Plop! - The New Magazine of Weird Humor! was a comic book published by DC Comics in the mid 1970s. ... The Sandman was a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. ... House of Secrets was a horror anthology comic book series published by DC Comics. ...

The series won a good deal of recogntion in the comics industry, including the Shazam Award for Best Individual Short Story (Dramatic) in 1972 for "The Demon Within" in #201 by John Albano and Jim Aparo, and the Shazam Award for Best Humor Story in 1972 for "The Poster Plague" by Steve Skeates and Sergio Aragones. John Albano was a writer who worked in the comics industry. ... Jim Aparo James N. Jim Aparo (1932-July 19, 2005) was a comic book artist best known for his work on various Batman stories for DC Comics. ... Steve Skeates is a writer who has worked in the comics industry. ... Sergio Aragonés (born 1937) is a cartoonist and writer. ...

The House of Mystery also exists as a location in the DC Universe and the Dreaming. The origins of the House of Mystery are unknown. In fact, very little is known about the House of Mystery in general, lending credence to its name. The architecture is indeterminate and actually changes periodically. The same holds true for the inside of the house: the rooms constantly shift about, and one never enters the same room twice. The House of Mystery lies in the same graveyard as the House of Secrets, its companion. Whereas Abel resides in the House of Secrets, Cain makes the House of Mystery his abode. The Dreaming is a fictional place, the domain of Dream of the Endless in Neil Gaimans The Sandman comic book series. ...

Cain is not the only person to have resided within the House; Elvira also took shelter within the House. Her brief stay in the House of Mystery is notable for two reasons: first, the House of Mystery is established as being the same House throughout its publication history. Three distinct personalities of the House are shown: the original horror House of Mystery, a dark humour "House of Weirdness"-style which harkened back to Cain's stint in Plop!, and the current version of the House of Mystery in Kentucky. The second reason is the timing of Elvira's stay. She took up residence during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which resulted in an identity crisis for the House itself. Elvira, tasked by the House of Mystery to find Cain, took over his role of host for a brief period, while Cain was relegated to being the butt of jokes during occasional cameos. Elvira poses with mechandising Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1949) is better known for her on-screen persona Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame wearing dark, gothic, cleavage-enhancing clothing as host of Elviras Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation. ... Plop! - The New Magazine of Weird Humor! was a comic book published by DC Comics in the mid 1970s. ... Crisis on Infinite Earths was a twelve-issue comic book limited series (identified as a 12 part maxi-series) and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 in order to simplify their fifty-year-old continuity. ...

The House of Mystery possesses sentience, along with mystic powers. It has possessed someone before, and merged with the House of Secrets briefly. This also ties into the constantly shifting appearance of the House of Mystery.

The House of Mystery appears mainly in various Vertigo titles, especially those tied into Neil Gaiman's Sandman; it has also appeared briefly in Resurrection Man. Neil Gaiman (November 2004) Neil Richard Gaiman () (November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is an English Jewish author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many comic books. ... Resurrection Man is the title of a DC Comics comic book series about Mitchell Shelly which ran for 27 issues from 1997 to 1999. ...

Superman made an appearance in issue #53 of DC Comics Presents . Superman, aka the Man of Steel, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938. ... DC Comics Presents. ...

External links

• House of Mystery #212 1973 Alex Nino artwork from the series
• [1] Comic Book Awards Almanac