The House of Mystery is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, The House of Secrets. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First series Genesis The House of Mystery started out as a horror anthology, featuring tales of the supernatural as well as supernatural-themed mystery stories. Issue #1 was cover dated December-January 1951. With the growing backlash against American horror comics in the mid-1950s, as well as the advent of the Comics Code Authority and its restrictions on horror-themed storylines (banning stories dealing with such supernatural fare as vampires and werewolves), the series was quietly revamped into dealing with science fiction-type monsters and other mystery/suspense-type tales that were permitted by the Comics Code. Superheroes In the mid-1960s, the series was revamped to include superhero stories. From The House of Mystery #143 (June 1964) to 155 (December 1966), "J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars" headlined the book, as his back-up feature from Detective Comics was moved to The House of Mystery. This was followed with the introduction of "Dial H for Hero" in issue #156 (January 1966), which took over as headliner until issue #173 (March–April 1968). The Martian Manhunter was again relegated to back-up status during this time. Return of horror With issue #174, EC Comics veteran Joe Orlando was hired by DC to take over as editor of The House of Mystery. As the Comics Code Authority was now being challenged by both DC and Marvel over content restrictions, the series returned to its overt horror themes. The first issue under Orlando would be a reprint issue of old horror/suspense stories, as the new direction would truly begin with #175 (July–August 1968). The issue would introduce a new figure to the series, Cain, the "able care taker" of the House of Mystery who would introduce nearly all stories that would run in the series before its cancellation. Cain would also host the spin-off humor series Plop! and later become a recurring character in Blue Devil and The Sandman. Artist Bernie Wrightson's first professional comic work was the story "The Man Who Murdered Himself" which appeared in issue #179 (March–April 1969). Under Orlando's stewardship, the series won a good deal of recognition in the comics industry, including the "Shazam Award for Best Individual Short Story (Dramatic)" in 1972 for "The Demon Within"