Lou Russo is a self-taught cartoonist and Tampa, FL native.  He has been a lifelong comic book collector and horror enthusiast.  In 2023, Russo’s love of both genres was the catalyst for him publishing his own Horror-Comic magazine.  The magazine titled “Valentina Von Frankenstein’s Horror Shorts” is a collection of 10 short stories with twist endings that the reader, hopefully, does not see coming!  Each story is short, about 4 pages, and is illustrated by Russo.

However, the stories are authored by many different writers and range in subject matter from the traditional ghost story to sci-fi alien stories.  Each story is introduced by the magazine’s hostess, the voluptuous Valentina Von Frankenstein. The magazine has been described as a cross between “Tales from the Crypt” and “MAD Magazine” as well as a homage to the Universal Monsters.  The twist endings are heavily influenced by old episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and the black and white magazine format is a homage to the Warren magazines “Creepy,” “Eerie,” and “Vampirella.”  In addition to comic stories, the magazine has movie and book reviews, prose stories, pin-up artwork, letters, features, and other fun articles.  To date, the first three issues of “Horror Shorts” are currently available with more planned for the future!

Check out Lou’s website, MC Book Publishing, for all the latest “Horror Shorts” news as well as links to tons of horror and comic book artwork!