This Magazine is Haunted

This Magazine Is Haunted
Haunted no. 5, published by Fawcett Comics (June 1952). Cover by Sheldon Moldoff
Publication information
Publisher	Fawcett Comics Charlton Comics
Schedule	Bimonthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Horror
Publication date	Vol. 1: Oct. 1951 – Dec. 1953 (Fawcett) Feb. 1954 – Nov. 1954 (Charlton) Vol. 2: July 1957 - May 1958
Number of issues	Vol.1 : 14 (Fawcett) 7 (Charlton) Vol 2.: 5
Main character(s)	Doctor Death
Creative team
Artist(s)	Sheldon Moldoff, Steve Ditko
Creator(s)	Sheldon Moldoff
Editor(s)	Will Leiberson, Al Jetter

This Magazine is Haunted was a horror comic originally published by Fawcett between 1951 and 1953. Running 14 issues, it was the first of Fawcett's supernatural line; a string of titles which included Beware! Terror Tales, Worlds of Fear, Strange Suspense Stories, and Unknown Worlds.

After Fawcett ceased publication, This Magazine is Haunted was sold to and published by Charlton Comics from 1954 to 1958.

Debuting with a cover date of October 1951, This Magazine is Haunted was Fawcett's first successful attempt to enter the lucrative horror market with a comic devoted specifically to supernatural fiction. The book represented a break from Fawcett's more familiar product, which ranged from superheroes (Captain Marvel) to movie adaptations and teen humor. Created by Sheldon Moldoff and edited by Will Leiberson and Al Jetter, the book was loosely modeled after EC's New Trend, particularly their highly successful horror titles.

Like its better-known competitors, This Magazine is Haunted was notable for its black humor and frequent O. Henry climaxes. Drawing on the considerable creative resources of the Fawcett stable, Haunted storylines dealt with the standard horror themes of the period: vengeance from beyond the grave, macabre retribution and 'dark' justice, all of which were presented with an appropriate level of irony.

Human folly played a key role in many stories; characters were constantly led into disaster by their own greed, stupidity or outright corruption. Numerous plots revolved around violent criminals meeting grisly but entirely deserving fates, while others featured hapless bystanders trapped in bizarre or terrifying circumstances.

Comics historian Stephen Sennitt describes the Fawcett line as "genuinely eerie" in contrast to EC's more visceral approach.

Aside from the evident cinematic influences, Haunted and its companions followed at least two literary traditions derived from the pulp literature of the previous decades. The first was the Crime-Horror imagery of magazines like Black Mask or Flynn's Detective Fiction, which emphasized murder, violence, and horrific crimes. Many authorities believe that the tradition was passed down to the 50s horror genre via the Crime comics of the later forties;Haunted featured numerous stories combining the two areas.