Back before I abandoned the comic-book business, I wrote many short stories for the horror mags put out by DC Comics, including House of Mystery, House of Secrets, The Unexpected, and Secrets of Haunted House. (And even some for the science fiction and war titles, such as Time Warp and Weird War Tales.) This being Valentine’s Day, I thought I share a horrific romance with you.

The story below, “To Master a Mummy,” was published in House of Secrets #154, the October/November 1978 issue. I had a second spooky story in that issue, “The Knight in the Gilded Cage,” drawn by the magnificent Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, but alas … no romance.

This story was pencilled by Charles Nicholas and inked by Romeo Tanghal. But that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Because three different artists have used the pseudonym of Charles Nicholas over the years. I’m fairly certain, however, that the artist who drew my story was this one, not this one. And most definitely not this one.

But none of that minutiae has to do with Valentine’s Day, so—Happy Valentine’s Day.

And may your romances not end up as horrifically as this one!

And now, if you’ve read the story, here comes a test:

I received a complaint at the time from a well-known fan after the story was published, taking me to task for one aspect of the tale—and (though it probably should have been) it wasn’t the quality my early writing!

Can you guess what it was?