ANTON AXEL

Real Name: Anton Axel

Identity/Class: Human/ghost

Occupation: Antique dealer, crook

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: The Ghost of Kragmoor Castle

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Somewhere in Europe

First Appearance: Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/2 (January, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: None in life, but following his death, Anton Axel possessed all the characteristics of a spirit-being (immateriality, etc.).

History: (Amazing Adult Fantasy#8) - Anton Axel was a dishonest antique dealer who made his fortune by swindling others out of their prized possessions. One day, Axel noticed a newspaper ad for a castle that was being sold at a bargain price. Getting the idea of pretending the fortress was haunted and making it into a tourist attraction, Axel purchased Kragmoor Castle and immediately began to set it up with props to simulate ghosts. But when he had finished, Anton Axel heard an eerie voice and was visited by a real ghost! Fleeing in terror, Axel fainted and died from a heart attack.

The next morning, authorities discovered Anton Axel's body, and they agreed that the heartless man would not be missed much -- but following his death, people started to say that the palace was haunted and tourists would pay a fortune to be allowed to visit.

The ghost that haunted the castle told Axel that he had gotten his wish, and that the haunted castle would be a huge success -- "A pity the money can do you no good now!"

With the spell that held him there now broken because another had taken his place, the ghost faded away into the afterlife, but he said his final farewell to Anton Axel, the new Ghost of Kragmoor Castle!

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

NOTE: In this tale, "Everyone Likes a...Ghost Story", the name of the castle was spelled both as KragMOOR and KragMORE -- blame it on sloppy editing/lettering.

And a big THANK YOU to Dennis Giansante for scanning this story for me!

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
Anton Axel has no known connections to:

• "Axel", nickname for member of Rescorlan race @ Avengers Spotlight#21
• any other characters with a similar name

The Ghost of Kragmoor Castle has no known connection to:

• Ghost of Grismore Castle, ghost @ Strange Tales I#79
• any other ghost characters

Ghost of Kragmoor Castle

An unidentified spirit who had been cursed by a spell centuries ago to haunt Kragmoor Castle until another took his place. When Anton Axel purchased the old fortress and began to set it up as a "haunted" castle, the ghost appeared and frightened Axel to death. With another spirit now taking his place, the ghost faded away into the afterlife.

--Amazing Adult Fantasy#8/2

images:
Amazing Adult Fantasy#8, p11, pan7 (main image)