Witching Hour (1969) 28

Witching Hour 28 hits two holidays with Never Kill Santa Claus and the following April Ghoul’s Day.

Witching Hour 28

Christmas is never shy of publicity, but April 1^st often times is overlooked. That in mind, let’s focus on the day of foolishness as associated with Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, more specifically, Nun’s Priest’s Tale.

April Ghoul’s Day finds a practical joker in a hole he can’t dig himself out of by story’s end. A simple O’Henry told in less than three pages.

Never Kill Santa Claus, as related by Witch Cynthia, is the cover story.

Greed is the motivator that causes a very naughty man to murder Santa. The dead man’s doppelganger leaves more than coal in his stocking as his deadly deed comes undone.

Kill Me Lest You Die! and Unlucky Omen are the two non-holiday stories.

The Witching Hour ran 85 issues then merged with The Unexpected in 1978 during DC’s Implosion. The double-sized dollar book featured Mordred, Mildred and Cynthia as caretakers in their respective section of the book.

Not one of DC’s big anthology-horror books, Witching Hour saw publication for over 10 years.

April Fools Day was popularized in the 1700’s, but it’s origins are unknown.