IT’S no secret that we’re big fans of the work of Frederick Blakeslee here at Age of Aces Books. He did the covers for all of Popular Publications’ big Air titles—Dare-Devil Aces, Battle Aces, Battle Birds, Fighting Aces, Dusty Ayres and his Battle Aces, and, of course, G-8 and his Battle Aces. In addition he did the interior art for Dare-Devil Aces, Battle Birds and Fighting Aces. But Blakeslee did art for other titles as well.

This month we’re going to present an illustrated feature Blakeslee ran in the pages of New Publications’ weird mystery magazine SHOCK.This was “Adventures Into The Unknown”. “Adventures Into The Unknown” was a two page illustrated feature that explored weird and eerie mysteries and tales.

Unfortunately, SHOCK only ran three issues, and Blakeslee’s feature only in the first two, but it moved to the pages of Popular’s long running Dime Mystery Magazine with the December 1948 issue. It stayed with the title even when it changed it’s name to 15 Mystery Stories in 1950.

From the pages of the premiere issue of SHOCK, Frederick Blakeslee looks into the mystery surrounding Glamis Castle—long thought to have hidden a monster deep within a secret room! From March 1948 it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: The Secret of Glamis Castle!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: The Secret of Glamis Castle
by Frederick Blakeslee (SHOCK, March 1948)

Smithsonian has a more detailed article on the mystery if you care to read more about it!