Anticipating this new midnight aesthetic was Morbius the Living Vampire, introduced in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1971. There had always been a macabre edge to the web-slinger’s foes: the Green Goblin dripped pure Halloween, right down to his trademark pumpkin bombs, while a pinch of the uncanny accompanied Mysterio, a faceless master of nightmarish illusions whose entire schtick felt like a one-man Haunted Mansion.
But the ghoulish Morbius was next level. With his “ghost white skin” and “eyes like blazing candles” he was every inch the revenant, hungering for human blood in true Hammer fashion. But there was a twist. Science, not the occult, had spawned this creature, and he was cursed as much by a conscience as his unholy appetites.
The time was right for Morbius. Stan Lee had recently tested the power of the Comics Code Authority, the watchdog set up to regulate the ethical tone of the industry. A three-part Spider-Man story had defied the Code’s long-held disapproval of drug-related storylines, arriving on newsstands without the customary CCA cover stamp. Now, more than ever, the Code seemed a fossilised killjoy, a relic of 1950s morality at odds with the post-’60s world.
This story is from the January 2022 edition of SFX.
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This story is from the January 2022 edition of SFX.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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ANCER MAHAGEMENT
WITH A NEW TRILOGY IN SIGHT, WE SPEAK TO THE DIRECTOR OF 28 WEEKS LATER THE ORIGINAL CHILLING SEQUEL TO DANNY BOYLE'S SEMINAL SURVIVAL HORROR
WHO YA CONNA CALL?
BEHIND THE SCENES AT HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS FOR GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
THE DEVIL'S HOUR STRIKES TWICE AS THE GENREDEFYING DRAMA RETURNS
SCARRY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
FROM THE RETURN OF EC COMICS TO SCREAM!, THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN OFFERS UP HORROR COMICS FOR ALL THE AGES
UNDEADS REFLECTIONS
NEIL JORDAN ON BRINGING ANNE RICE'S MODERN VAMPIRE CLASSIC TO SCREEN, 30 YEARS ON
MUNSTER MASH!
PRODUCTION HELL, SHOCK RECASTING AND HOTLY CONTESTED AUTHORSHIP. AS THE MUNSTERS CELEBRATE THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY, WE UNCOVER HOW THE SPOOKY SITCOM WAS ALMOST DEAD ON ARRIVAL
COMING TO AMERICA
THE MOGWAI LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THEIR SECOND CHAPTER, GREMLINS: THE WILD BATCH
BEING HUMAN EVOLUTION
IT MAY HAVE BEEN AN INSTANT HIT, BUT BBC THREE'S DARKLY COMIC DRAMA ABOUT A HOUSE-SHARING VAMPIRE/WEREWOLF/GHOST TRIO HAD A STRANGE JOURNEY TO THE SCREEN, SERIES CREATOR TOBY WHITHOUSE TELLS SFX
THE MAINE EVENT
THE DARK IS RISING IN SALEM'S LOT AS STEPHEN KING'S DEATHLESS TALE RETURNS TO THE SCREEN
WHY DON'T YOU STAY FOR A BITE?
THE VAMPIRE COMES HOME AS DIRECTOR EUROS LYN WELCOMES SFX TO HIS NEW DARK COMEDY THE RADLEYS