HOGURTH CASTLE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments) (1950s era)

Occupation: Fortress, predator

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Arthur Sulman

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Hidden Vampire" (in story title only), "Hogurth Vampire"

Base of Operations: Hogurth, Hungary

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#21/5 (January, 1955)

Powers/Abilities: Although appearing to be a medieval fortress (complete with accompanying interior furnishing and decor), Hogurth Castle was apparently a vampiric shape-shifter of immense size (see comments).

Having complete control over its malleable form, it demonstrated such abilities as slamming and locking its doors shut, forming solid stone barriers over its open windows, and collapsing its stairway; it further altered and elongated its interior when it seized and closed in upon its human prey.

Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see comments)
Eyes: Inapplicable
Hair: Inapplicable

History:
(Journey into Mystery I#21/5 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, a shape-shifting entity settled near the Hungarian city of Hogurth; it eventually took on the appearance of a castle and gained a fearsome reputation amongst the townspeople.

(Journey into Mystery I#21/5) - Reporter Arthur Sulman went to Hogurth to investigate rumors of a vampire prowling in the area. But Sulman got the same reaction whenever he questioned the citizens about the vampire--they were too terrified to even speak of it; the only help he got was from a little boy, who pointed him to a castle on a hill (Afterwards, the boy's angry mother pulled the youngster off the street and warned him not to speak to strangers). Sulman tried to hire a horse-drawn carriage to take him to the castle, but upon hearing the reporter's intended destination, the frightened driver only called him insane and promptly rode off, so Sulman walked to the castle instead.

   It was late in the afternoon when Sulman finally reached the old and moldy fortress; he opened the door and entered the antechamber--he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud thud behind him, but it was only the wind blowing the door shut (...at least, that was what he wanted to believe). Sulman tried to open the door again, only to find it was closed tight--but he was unperturbed, because he figured he could always climb out a window, so he continued his search for the vampire.

   As the sunlight outside began to fade, Sulman pulled out his flashlight and went to the castle's cellar, where he supposed the vampire's coffin would be; but after spending some time searching, he found nothing there of any consequence. Seeing no evidence of a vampire, Sulman decided to leave--as he climbed the cellar stairs, he thought about what fools the townspeople were for being scared of a musty, old, empty castle.

   When Sulman reached the antechamber, he tried the door again, but found it was still stuck, so he went to climb out a window--he was shocked when a wall of solid stone appeared in the open space, blocking his escape. Sulman ran to another window...and another...and another, but found them all blocked. Panicking because he was trapped in the castle, he tried to run upstairs, but the entire stairway began to crumble under his feet.

   Sulman stood with his back against the cold, damp wall, with a sickening thought racing through his mind: Every old legend he'd heard said that vampires could take any disguise, but there was one disguise that he had never suspected...

   As the interior of the fortress began to close in upon him, the horrified Sulman realized too late that the vampire was Hogurth Castle itself! (see comments)

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Fred Kida (artist).

This 5-page story--The Hidden Vampire!--was told from Arthur Sulman's narrative perspective; the monster was never properly identified by any particular name.

Dracula and other vampires have been known to transform into bats or wolves, but changing into an entire castle would seem to be beyond the range of even their power--possibly this creature wasn't a true vampire, but some other sort of entity, and the townspeople of Hogurth only mistakenly believed it to be a vampire from previous experience with those supernatural beings.

Since Hogurth Castle's true form was never depicted, I didn't bother to hazard a guess at its true height and weight (I assume that demonic figure looming over the castle in the Main Image was what it really looked like).

Perhaps Hogurth Castle had some connection to other similar living domiciles, such as House, the House of Shadows, and Quogg.

This story would be reprinted in Giant-Size Dracula#5 (June, 1975).

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Hogurth Castle has no known connections to:

Arthur Sulman has no known connections to:

Arthur Sulman

An American reporter for an unidentified newspaper, Sulman was on assignment in the Hungarian town of Hogurth; he was searching for a vampire that was supposedly in the area.

After Sulman arrived in Hogurth by train, he found that the citizens were too terrified to even answer his questions about the vampire; eventually, a little boy pointed him to Hogurth Castle, but a carriage-driver was unwilling to take him there, so Sulman walked to the fortress.

Sulman went in the castle and began searching for the vampire, but could find no evidence of such a creature, so he decided to leave. But when he tried to get out of the fortress, Sulman found the main door shut tight, and all the windows were covered with stone barriers.

As the entire internal structure of the castle altered its shape and closed in upon him, Arthur Sulman realized too late that Hogurth Castle itself was the vampire!

--Journey into Mystery I#21/5

images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Hogurth Castle)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p3, pan2 (Arthur Sulman standing by main entrance of Hogurth Castle)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p5, pan4 (stairs within Hogurth Castle collapse under Arthur Sulman)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p5, pan7 (interior of Hogurth Castle closes in upon Arthur Sulman, and seizes him)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p4, pan4 (Arthur Sulman in cellar of Hogurth Castle)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p4, pan6 (Arthur Sulman walking up cellar stairs of Hogurth Castle)
Journey into Mystery I#21/5, p5, pan1 (Arthur Sulman discovers ground-floor windows of Hogurth Castle blocked with stone)

Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#21/5 (January, 1955) - unidentified writer, Fred Kida (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 02/28/2019
Last updated: 02/28/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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