Thorpe & Porter and Top Sellers were both imprints of publisher Williams. Between 1971 and 1977, Top Sellers published Pocket Chiller Library, running to 137 issues, but there are plenty of questions circulating online about the title’s origins and exactly what it featured – reprint European strips or commissioned material from British creators?
• Read our main feature about Pocket Chiller Library here
• Checklists: Issues 1 – 49 | Issues 50 – 100 | Issues 101 – 137
Please note: From Issue 86, onwards, the entire remaining run of issues were reprints, so all issues after that are duplicates, some with different covers, and different titles, but the same internal stories. Some of these are even reprints of comics from the two earlier series, Nightmare Suspense Library and Tales of Terror Picture Library – which leads to the situation of one story (“Waxworks/ Terror in Wax) actually being published three times. Again, the story titles were often changed.
Checklist Issues 101 – 137
Additional information welcome!
Pocket Chiller Library went reprint from Issue 86 onwards (our thanks to reader Adrian Griffiths for this information)
101 – Brink of the Grave
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 42, “The Dark Fiend”
102 – Unholy Fiends
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Dave Gibbons
Reprint of No. 43, “The Dead are Walking”, with interior art by Dave Gibbons
103 – Pit of Hell
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 44, “The Unquiet Grave”
104 – Fear
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 45, “Fury”
105 – Beyond Death
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 46, “The Mummies”
106 – Left to Die
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of 47, “The Cupboard”
107 – Indescribable Terror
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 48, “Dark Heritage”
108 – Never Again
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 49, “The Finger”
109 – Evil Fangs
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
First published in No. 50, “The Snake Woman”
110 – The Fiend
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of 51, “Epitaph to a Madman”
111 – Superhuman
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
A reprint of No. 52, “The Monkey”
112 – Everlasting Night
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 53, “The Devil Worshippers”, the cover a clear homage to Mephisto’s first appearance in Silver Surfer #3 (“Homage” being generous!)
113 – Mangled Mind
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 54, “Shadow on the Mind”
114 – The Strangler
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 55, “The Strangler”
115 – The Rope
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 56, “The Rope”
116 – The Face in the Mirror
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 57, “The Face in the Mirror”
117 – Suffer a Witch to Live
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 58, “Suffer a Witch to Live”
118 – Shadows of the Night
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 59, “Shadows in the Night”
119 – The Bat
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Ian Gibson
Reprint of No. 60, “The Bat”
120 – The Skull
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 61, “The Skull”
121 – Face in the Fog
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 62, “Face in the Fog”
122 – The Hangman
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 63, “The Hangman”
123 – The Night of the Cactus
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 64, “Night of the Cactus”
124 – Unseen Master
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 65, “Unseen Master”
125 – Dark Vengeance
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 66, “Dark Vengeance”
126 – Trip Fantastic
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 67, “Trip Fantastic”
127 – The Spider
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 68, “The Spider”
128 – Born to Be Evil
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 69, “Born to Be Evil”
129 – The Hands of Death
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 70, “The Hands of Death”
130 – Return from the Dead
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 71, “Return from the Dead”
131 – Exterminate!
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 75, “The Kolby Curse”
132 – The Evil Comes…
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 73, “The Evil Comes From Out There”
133 – Fear of the Night
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 74, “Fear of Night”
134 – Exterminate
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 75, “Exterminate”
135 – Tomb of the Vampire
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 76, “Tomb of the Vampire”
136 – To Kill for Kicks
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 11, “To Kill for Kicks”
137 – Doctor Satan
Cover: Information Welcome
Interior Art: Information Welcome
Reprint of No. 14, “Doctor Satan”
Additional Information welcome!
Pocket Chiller Library – The Reprints
Here is a full list of the reprinted titles, compiled by Adrian Griffiths.
The publishers followed the original order of the first set of titles, but they eventually stopped the sequence when they had reprinted issue 76 and grabbed a few of the much older stories, before the whole series ended – which is a shame, as Issues 77 to 85 never got a reprint. They should therefore be more sought after then they currently are, if only anybody realised it!
21 Images of Death – reprinted as No. 83 Terror in Wax
27 The Secret in the Cellar – reprinted as No. 86 Harridan of Doom
28 The Hunchback – reprinted as No. 87 Gibbet of the Damned
29 Obsession – reprinted as No. 88 Blade of Death
30 Werewolf – reprinted as No. 89 Creature of the Night
31 The Vampire of Loban – reprinted as No. 90 Blood of Venom
32 The Monster Maker – reprinted as No. 91 Reign of the Beast Men
33 The Lake – reprinted as No. 92 Evil Waters
34 Brides of Death – reprinted as No. 93 The Brides of Death
35 The Mutant – reprinted as No. 94 Half Human
36 The Dead Don’t Always Sleep – reprinted as No. 95 Decayed Dead
37 The Cry of the Wolfman – reprinted as No. 96 Man Beast
38 The Children of the Damned – reprinted as No. 97 Insane With Terror
39 Daughter of Darkness – reprinted as No. 98 Condemned Woman
40 Fear Has a Thousand Eyes – reprinted as No. 99 The Curse of Zilhaus
41 Nightmare Curse – reprinted as No. 100 Powers of Darkness
42 The Dark Fiend – reprinted as No. 101 Brink of the Grave
43 The Dead are Awake and WALKING – reprinted as No. 102 Unholy Fiends
44 The Unquiet Grave – reprinted as No. 103 Pit of Hell
45 Fury – reprinted as No. 104 Fear…
46 The Mummies – reprinted as No. 105 Beyond Death
47 The Cupboard – reprinted as No. 106 Left to Die
48 Dark Heritage – reprinted as No. 107 Indescribable Terror
49 The Finger – reprinted as No. 108 Never Again
50 The Snake Woman – reprinted as No. 109 Evil Fangs
51 Epitaph to a Madman – reprinted as No. 110 The Fiend
52 The Monkey – reprinted as No. 111 Superhuman
53 The Devil Worshippers – reprinted as No. 112 Everlasting Night
54 Shadow on the Mind – reprinted as No. 113 Mangled Mind
55 The Strangler – reprinted as No. 114 The Strangler
56 The Rope – reprinted as No. 115 The Rope
57 The Face in the Mirror – reprinted as No. 116 The Face in the Mirror
58 Suffer a Witch to Live – reprinted as No. 117 Suffer a Witch to Live
59 Shadows in the Night – reprinted as No. 118 Shadows of the Night
60 The Bat – reprinted as No. 119 The Bat
61 The Skull – reprinted as No. 120 The Skull
62 Face in the Fog – reprinted as No. 121 Face in the Fog
63 The Hangman – reprinted as No. 122 The Hangman
64 Night of the Cactus – reprinted as No. 123 The Night of the Cactus
65 Unseen Master – reprinted as No. 124 Unseen Master
66 Dark Vengeance 125 Dark Vengeance
67 Trip Fantastic – reprinted as No. 126 Trip Fantastic
68 The Spider – reprinted as No. 127 The Spider
69 Born to Be Evil – reprinted as No. 128 Born to Be Evil
70 The Hands of Death – reprinted as No. 129 The Hands of Death
71 Return from the Dead – reprinted as No. 130 Return from the Dead
72 The Kolby Curse – reprinted as No. 131 The Kolby Curse
73 The Evil Comes From Out There – reprinted as No. 132 The Evil Comes From Out There
74 Fear of Night – reprinted as No. 133 Fear of Night
75 Exterminate – reprinted as No. 134 Exterminate
76 Tomb of the Vampire – reprinted as No. 135 Tomb of the Vampire
77 Dead Man’s Eyes – Not Reprinted
78 Immortal Armour – Not Reprinted
79 The Woman in the Glass Coffin – Not Reprinted
80 The Curse of Suicide – Not Reprinted
81 Execution of Sinners – Not Reprinted
82 The Devil’s Servant – Not Reprinted
84 Brutes of Hell – Not Reprinted
85 When Cats Purr – Not Reprinted
11 To Kill for Kicks – reprinted as No. 136 To Kill for Kicks
14 Doctor Satan – reprinted as No. 137 Doctor Satan
• Pocket Chiller Library – Main Feature
• Checklists: Issues 1 – 49 | Issues 50 – 100 | Issues 101 – 137
Note that from Issue 86 onwards, the title went reprint
Additional information welcome! This feature and listing last updated 17th December 2021
For those of you trying to puzzle out the history of the many British pocket library titles and publishers, Steve Holland notes that just to add to the confusion, a lot of pocket libraries were packaged abroad and sold around Europe (France, Germany, Spain, etc.), so there is still a lot of questions about whether some pocket libraries were reprints – or were actually published here in the UK first!
WEB LINKS
• Grand Comics Database – Pocket Chiller Library Listing and Covers
• Nightmare Suspense Picture Library – Listing and Covers
With thanks to Dave Gibbons, Adrian Griffiths, Steve Holland, Rik Hoskin, Chris O’Leary, Douglas Noble, the much-missed Colin Noble, Steve Pini, David Roach, the indispensable Richard Sheaf, Dez Skinn and Jon Smit – and thanks also to the WordPictureWord Group for sending me down this rabbit hole!
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics
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