31 Nights of Horror Hosts | Night 4 | Charity


This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  

DC Comics' The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 was cover dated October 1971.  It featured a "full-length [graphic] novel of love and danger complete in this issue."  The story was titled "The Secret of the Missing Bride" (per the cover) or "The Mystery of the Missing Bride" (per the splash page).  The same format continued in issues #2 and #3.  Issue #4 featured a full-length novel of "mystery and suspense," with the new cover logo emphasizing the words "Dark Mansion" over "Forbidden Love."  Another shift came with issue #5, as the cover title was changed to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion.  Issue #6 included two tales, rather than one novel-length tale.  By issue #7, the transformation was complete.  The book had become a horror anthology, complete with a "horror hostess," a witchy woman with long black hair.  The hostess and format continued until the end of the series.  Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion concluded with issue #15.   

While the character was never named on the pages of Dark Mansion, some sources suggest she was formally or informally named "Charity" at the DC Comics offices.  Long after Dark Mansion was canceled, the character was officially named Charity and she appeared as a recurring character in James Robinson's Starman comic book.  Operating a shop in Opal City called "Fortunes and Forbidden Tales," Charity tells Jack Knight "Down South, I had a house, big and damp.  Locals had a name for it... "The Dark Mansion," they called it.  And they'd come to hear my stories... My "Forbidden Tales" (Starman Vol. 1, Issue #2).


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