Ghost Ship

cover art by Neal Adams

An anthology book--especially a horror-themed book that obligates the writer to come up with a twist or shock ending every darn time--can be a mixed bag. But when the creators of a particular story hit their mark, the end result is can be an atmospheric tale and a visual treasure.

Writer Jack Oleck and artist Jack Sparling came up with "Ghost Ship," the lead story for House of Mystery #197 (December 1971) and I think the two Jacks definitely hit their mark here. It's set in 1858, aboard a sailing ship with a brutal and tyranical captain named Jonah Frame. He is cruel, uncaring of the lives of his men and apt to punish them harshly for the slightest infractions. After several deaths, the crew begin to grow mutinous. 

It is when a young cabin boy named Jamie spills coffee on Captain Frame that matters are brought to a head. The crew won't stand for a boy being flogged and soon a deadly brawl breaks out between the crew and the officers.

A fire breaks out during the fight, detonating the gunpowder the ship is carrying. The only survivors are Captain Frame, the story narrator (John Dodson) and young Jamie, adrift together while clutching to a broken spar.

So far, the story is a pretty good one, elevated by Sparling's art. I especially like his panel design in the one of the pages above, using slanted, vertical panels to highlight the the danger of working atop the mast during a storm.

Well, this is a House of Mystery tale, so its not surprising when something supernatural happens. They soon find themselves aboard a literal ghost ship, crewed by the spirits of sailors who can't seem to see or hear them. Frame refuses to acknowledge that this ship is indeed the Flying Dutchman or that there is anything supernatural going on. Dodson and Jamie believe what they see, though, and jump off the ship before it vanishes. Frame is trapped aboard the ship for all eternity.

The twist comes in the final panel. When Dodson and Jamie are picked up by a non-ghost ship, we don't see them directly as they tell their story and are dismissed as having gone mad while drifting on the sea. But are they mad? Was it all an hallucination? If so, why--as we finally see in that last panel--have forty years passed and why are Dodson and Jamie both four decades older?

It's not the world's greatest twist and might have been made stronger by a little foreshadowing about the passage of time while on the Flying Dutchman. But it's a pretty good twist and it is strong enough to sell the story. And Starling's art remains strong throughout. "Ghost Ship" is well-worth reading.

Next week, a look at the comic book adaptation of one of my favorite Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories.