House of Mystery

Genesis

House of Mystery started out as a horror anthology, featuring tales of the supernatural as well as supernatural-themed mystery stories. With the growing backlash against American horror comics in the mid-1950s, as well as the advent of the Comics Code Authority and its restrictions on horror-themed storylines (banning stories dealing with such supernatural fare as werewolves and vampires), the series quietly was revamped into dealing with science-fiction type monsters and other mystery-suspense type tales that were permitted by the comic code.

Super-Heroes

In the mid-1960s, the comic was revamped to include super-hero stories: from House of Mystery #143 (June 1964) through #155 (December 1966), "J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars" headlined the book, as his back-up feature from Detective Comics was moved to House of Mystery. This was followed up with the introduction of "Dial H for Hero" in issue #156 (January 1966), which took over as headliner until #173 (March–April 1968). The Martian Manhunter was again relegated to back-up status during this time.

Return of horror

With issue #174, EC Comics veteran Joe Orlando was hired by DC to take over as editor of House of Mystery. As the Comics Code Authority was now being challenged by both DC and Marvel over content restrictions, the series returned to its overt horror themes. The first issue under Orlando would be a reprint issue of old horror/suspense stories, as the new direction would truly begin with #175 (July–August 1968). The issue would introduce a new figure to the series, Cain, the "able care taker" of the House of Mystery who would introduce nearly all stories that would run in the series before its cancellation. Cain would also host the spin-off humor series Plop! and later become a recurring character in Blue Devil and The Sandman.

Artist Bernie Wrightson's first professional comic work was the story "The Man Who Murdered Himself" which appeared in issue #179 (March–April 1969).

Under Orlando's stewardship, the series won a good deal of recognition 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 Aragonés. Limited Collectors' Edition #C-23 (Winter 1973) featured reprints of House of Mystery stories. House of Mystery #224 (April–May 1974) to #229 (Feb.–March 1975) were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format.

The series was in the Dollar Comics format for issues #251 (March–April 1977) to #259 (July–August 1978). House of Mystery featured stories by writers T. Casey Brennan (#260, 267, 268 and 274) and Scott Edelman (#257, 258, 260, 264, 266, 270, 272, 273). Orlando's tenure as editor ended with #257 (March–April 1978). Karen Berger became editor of the series with #292 (May 1981), her first for DC Comics. Under Berger, the series experimented with long-form storylines in the popular I...Vampire serial created by writer J. M. DeMatteis. "I... Vampire" revolved around the heroic vampire, Andrew Bennett, who sought to defeat his nemesis and former lover Mary, the Queen of Blood. This series began in #290 (March 1981) and would last until #319 (August 1983), two issues before the title ended with #321 (October 1983).

Since 2006, DC Comics has reprinted stories from the original run: three black and white Showcase Presents volumes have been published, reprinting the series from #174–194, #195–211 and #212–226 respectively. A one shot reprint in color, Welcome Back to the House of Mystery, featured ten of the most highly regarded stories as selected by Alisa Kwitney in a Cain wraparound by Neil Gaiman and Sergio Aragonés, under the Vertigo imprint. The first issue from 1951 was reissued, as a Millennium Edition bearing the Vertigo imprint.

Elvira's House of Mystery

In 1986–1987, DC comics published a new series, Elvira's House of Mystery. It lasted 11 issues plus a special. The series was a quasi-follow up towards the original series, with famed horror movie hostess Elvira tasked by the House with finding Cain, though she spent much of her time making fun of him, introducing horror stories similar to the original series. One issue of this series, #3, was released without Comics Code Approval and contained significant implied nudity, but subsequent editorial comments in later issues stated that the experiment in releasing an unapproved issue was not considered successful.

2008 series

DC's Vertigo imprint began a new ongoing series in May 2008, written by Lilah Sturges and Bill Willingham. It features at least one different story each issue, told by people trapped in a "purgatory-like house." The series ended in October 2011 with issue #42.

The House

The House of Mystery exists as a location in the DC Universe simultaneously just north of Louisville, Kentucky, where it was built and almost immediately abandoned by one Col. Braitwaithe before the American Civil War, and in The Dreaming. Very little is known about the House of Mystery in general. The architecture is indeterminate and changes periodically. The same holds true for the inside of the house: the rooms constantly shift, 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.

Cain is not the only person to have resided within the House; in addition to boarders, including Mister Mxyzptlk, Elvira 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 humor "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. 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.

The House of Mystery possesses sentience, along with mystic powers. It has possessed someone before, and merged with the House of Secrets briefly. This ties into the constantly shifting appearance of the House of Mystery. It was torn down in the metafictional The House of Mystery #321, but its existence was restored during the Crisis.

Batman entered the house in The Brave and the Bold #93, tripped on a floorboard, and would have been shot had his pursuer's gun not jammed. He never actually met Cain, who instead narrates a story about him occurring in Scotland, which climaxes in a castle he describes as "a house of mystery" rather than "the House of Mystery." Superman teamed with Cain against Mister Mxyzptlk, who was attempting to take over the House, in DC Comics Presents #53.

The House of Mystery appears mainly in various Vertigo titles, especially those tied into Neil Gaiman's Sandman; it has appeared briefly in Resurrection Man. Something called the House of Mystery appeared in 52 #18, where it seems to have been used for some time as a base for a team of detectives called the Croatoan Society, which counts both Detective Chimp and Ralph Dibny as members. It is unclear if the Croatoan's House of Mystery is meant to be the same as the original House of Mystery, a post-Infinite Crisis version of the original House of Mystery, or simply a different location with the same name. Cain's name appeared on this house's mailbox, implying some sort of connection to the original House.

The House reappeared in The New 52 in the pages of Justice League Dark, being used as a base for the team. The House is shown to currently belong to John Constantine, who claims to have won the key to the house in a poker game against Doctor Occult and Father Time. John Constantine takes his time to adjust to the House of Mystery due to the changing rooms and feels that the house has to play tricks on people and the superheroes that enter it.

Collected editions

Novels

Two novels were written by Jack Oleck and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, both published by Warner books.

In Other Media