HOUSE OF SECRETS #73

Cover shows notable wear consistent with mid-grade: visible spine stress lines and a small tear/crease at the upper left edge, corner blunting on the top left and bottom left corners, and general surface rubbing with slight color fading along the left edge. There is a small dimple/crease near the top edge and minor edge wear along the right side. The book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine surface texture; interior and back cover were not assessed.

House of Secrets #73 appeared in the summer of 1968, during the anthology's transitional period between its earlier Mark Merlin/Prince Ra-Man adventure features and the straight horror-anthology format the title would fully embrace in the years leading up to Swamp Thing's debut in issue #92. Like most DC mystery-anthology issues of the era, #73 carries no continuing character and instead offers a set of self-contained short horror or suspense tales typical of the line's house style, produced amid the industry's broader late-1960s revival of pre-Code-adjacent horror storytelling under the Comics Code.

Market activity for the issue is thin, consistent with a non-key mid-run anthology title: the only meaningful data point sits at the 7.0 grade tier, with a handful of recorded sales and a fair market value in the $60 range against a higher one-year average. Certified population is sparse across the board, with no copies graded above 9.6 and no completed sales recorded at that tier or at 9.4 despite a small cluster of holders. Demand is driven primarily by Silver Age DC horror completists and cover-art collectors rather than any first appearance or landmark creative milestone.

This is a book that trades in modest dollar ranges at nearly every grade, with raw low- and mid-grade copies serving mainly as filler for run-builders and back-issue bins rather than headline lots. High-grade and certified copies see occasional premium interest simply because so few have been submitted, meaning a well-preserved 9.6 or better example would likely draw stronger bidding on rarity alone rather than any inherent story or character significance. Overall, the issue is best positioned as a solid but unspectacular addition to a broader House of Secrets or DC horror-anthology collection.