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Issue: The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #30
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Title: A Slight Case of Murder and Other Stories
Variant: unnamed
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Publisher: FlagFantagraphics
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Indicia Publisher: Fantagraphics Books Inc.
On Sale Date: 01/20/2021
Volume: 30
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781683963981
UPC/EAN: 978168396398153499
Price: $34.99 USD
Indicia Frequency:
Content Items: 44 (29 stories, 1 cover)
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Publication Type: Hardcover
Color: black and white with some color
Dimensions: 7.25" x 10.25" (18.4 cm x 26 cm)
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Binding: hardcover
Publishing Format: collected edition
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A Slight Case of Murder and Other Stories

Illustration  on  Cover, Front
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A Slight Case of Murder

Credits  on  Interior Page(s)
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Miscellaneous
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents  on  Interior Page(s)
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Gentleman George

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
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Subject Matter
"Loveable," "pleasant," and "gentlemanly" is how his peers described him.
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Miscellaneous
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Essay on the stories including in this volume along with a photo of and art by Evans. Includes the final page to "Swamp Thing" from House of Secrets (DC, 1965 series) #92 and the cover to Strange Adventures (DC, 1950 series) #8. Neither of these pages are by Evans.
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Frightened Man

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
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Close-up image by Evans of a frightened man, taken from one of the stories included in this volume.
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Frightened Couple

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
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Miscellaneous
1
Close-up image by Evans of a frightened couple, taken from one of the stories included in this volume.
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Roped In!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host); unnamed Policeman; Miss Ballentine (secretary); Donald Morgan (construction company co-owner); Ellis (villain, construction company co-owner, death); Buckley (villain, construction company co-owner, death); Wagner (villain, construction company co-owner, death?)
Three business partners in construction make a patsy out of a fourth to take the blame for shoddy construction of a hospital that collapses and kills 21 patients. They take a flight in a small plane out in South America and, when trying to fly through a gap between two mountains at night, become snagged by cables. When the dawn arrives, they realize that their plane has become stuck in a giant spider's web.
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Miscellaneous
7
Colorist and letterer credits added by Craig Delich, letterer credit verified by Al Feldstein.
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Strictly from Hunger!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
The posse stood before the mouth of the dark cave, where they had trailed a creature that had killed ten of their own, stripping their flesh from their bones. Doc told them he'd seen this creature long ago....before it came to look like it did now. Pete came to see Doc with a lump on his arm, which he discovered was cancer, and he only had a few months to live. Dejected, Pete went to see the Old Hag up on Baldy Mountain, and she hexed him so that he'd never die....IF he'd agree to never ask her to un-hex him. When Pete returned later to see Doc, his arm had been taken over by the cancerous tumor....and slowly more of his body was taken over until all the healthy cells were destroyed and all that was left were cancerous cells gone wild. Just then, the oozing thing emerged from the cave, and the men threw searing torches at it until it retreated back into the cave. Then the men blocked up the entrance.....and prayed no one would ever uncover that entrance!
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Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.
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All Washed Up!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A man doesn't have the money to marry his girl, so he kills his wealthier rival and dumps his body down an old well. While he is doing so, he accidentally drops the diamond ring he stole from the victim down the well. He returns for the ring only to have the corpse clamp its teeth into his ankle when he attempts to climb back up out of the well and drag him back down under the surface.
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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This Trick'll Kill You!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A magician and his wife are visiting India looking for new acts to perform when he spies a girl with a trick rope that rises into the air when she plays a pipe and can be climbed upon. He offers to buy the rope from her but she refuses. His wife invites her back to the hotel room where the two plot to kill her and steal the rope. He strangles the girl and the rope still rises into the air when the pipe is played. His wife climbs the rope but disappears at the top of it, and moments later, the dismembered parts of her corpse fall from the air. The unattached rope wraps itself around the man's neck and holds him swaying off the ground.
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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For How the Bell Tolls!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault-Keeper's Grim Fairy Tale!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
Long ago, in a far-away land, there was a castle which had a belfry and a large bell hanging in it. Every time there was a special occasion, the royal bellringer plied his trade, watched for over 34 years by his apprentice....but never given the chance to ring the bell once in all that time! On the Queen's birthday, the royal bellringer, now very old, was told to ring it all day long....but his apprentice wanted to do it. When he was told no, he pulled down an axe from the wall and killed the royal bellringer....just as the King walked in. The King sentenced him to death and wouldn't listen to the man's pleas to ring the bell....that is, until the Queen's birthday. The bell tolled loud and clear...but became more muffled throughout the day. Why? Because the apprentice got to ring that bell....his body was the clapper!
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Miscellaneous
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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A Creep in the Deep!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A man's wife is a attacked by a vampire while she is out in a rowboat in the middle of a lake and he is spear fishing. When he later returns to the lake, he hears of strange killings where the victims have been drained of blood and realizes that his wife must have been turned into one of the undead and now resides in the lake. He sharpens his spear and returns to the lake to stake her through the heart and bring her peace.
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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Oil's Well That Ends Well!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
Two swindlers run a racket where they visit a small town and convince them there is oil present and get them to issue stock in order to come up with the check to begin drilling. One of them fakes his death and is buried in order to hide the money and default. Unfortunately for him, the other is a smoker and when he digs up his casket, it turns out there really is oil in the cemetery dirt. This oil has collected in the casket, and when the startled smoker lifts the casket lid he drops the cigarette into it which causes an explosion.
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Miscellaneous
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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The Small Assassin!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
A Horror SuspenStory
Alice (death); David (Alice's husband, death); Dr. Jeffers; David and Alice's unnamed baby (villain, eventual death)
A mother is paranoid that her newborn baby is attempting to kill her. She's right. And the doctor, who brought the child into the world, after finding her husband dead as well, decides to take care of matters......in his own way!
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-8. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.
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Gorilla My Dreams!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A brain surgeon transfers the brain of his victim into the body of a gorilla taken from a carnival. At first, he thinks of writing a message for his wife and children about what has happened to him, but after eluding the police in the dark, he realizes that, with the surgeon dead of a heart attack, the world no longer has a place for him other than the carnival cage.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Practical Choke!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host); Bill Gaines; Al Feldstein; three pre-med students (all die); various Police officers
Three medical students play a series of practical jokes using actual human body parts and watching the reactions of various people. The med students roared with laughter, but then seriously wondered what would happen when it was discovered parts of a cadaver was missing, so they went to get the remaining body parts and dispose of them, not noticing a pile of coiled-up intestines that were moving toward them. The next day the Police found the body parts and the students: in a refrigerated unit with the intestines coiled around their necks.
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In this story are cariactures of Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein in the first panel on page 2 and in many other panels throughout the story.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Bedtime Gory!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A woman buys a stretch rack for her husband when he reveals that he killed her wealthy father so as to appear it was an accident, and then married her for her money and not for love.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Curiosity Killed...

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A woman is convinced that her friend down the hall has been murdered by her husband and that he is disposing of her remains bit by bit via carrier pigeon to a local kennel. It turns out that her husband is in on the deal too, and he comes for her sooner than he anticipated since she has found out.
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Miscellaneous
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Colorist and letterer credits by Craig Delich.
Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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Lover, Come Hack to Me!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
Every generation, a madwoman is conceived on the night of her parents’ wedding who follows the tradition of murdering her newlywed husband with an ax in the same house.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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An Ample Sample

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault-Keeper (host); Hannah (Irwin's wife, death); Bert; Irwin (villain)
Irwin was telling his neighbor Bert of how he and his wife Hannah fell in love and how Hannah loved expensive chocolates so much. She got fatter as he had to do without vital necessities, and he just couldn't take it anymore. Irwin admitted to killing her and asked Bert to come over to his house. As they walked in, Bert gasped in horror as he spotted a giant, handmade chocolate box, marked with different types of candy, and pieces of Hannah in each part!
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Miscellaneous
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Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.
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About Phase

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
Crime SuspenStories
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Miscellaneous
7
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A Slight Case of Murder!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host); Doc Sam Swanson; Phil Ingram (newspaper editor); Sheriff Moulton (villain, actually a deformed baby, death); Amelia Bates (Moulton's mother)
Doc Swanson gazed up at the abandoned mansion on the hill and knew it was the answer to all of the killings, and told the Sheriff who he thought responsible for the crimes, but the Sheriff said the murders had to have been committed by something inhuman, and explained how each of the bodies were found, throats slashed, and door locked. Sam figured that a woman's deformed baby born in the mansion was the murderer. The Sheriff suddenly lunged at Doc, wanting to kill him, but the townsfolk entered and took care of the Sheriff, whose body was an artificial framework housing that deformed child!
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Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.
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The Headhunters

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
science fiction
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Miscellaneous
7
Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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Chess-Mate

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A marvel chess player in a small town shoots himself when they hold a parade and he is expected to remove his top hat to salute the flag. The top hat hides a Siamese twin head that accounted for his superior abilities at chess.
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7
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Pearly to Dead

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
Two navy divers discover a pearl bed while placing demo charges and make plans to go back for them after the war ends. One gets greedy and murders the other one whose corpse then surprises him while he is attempting to acquire the pearls.
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Miscellaneous
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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No Silver Atoll!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A plane goes down in the ocean and the passengers make for an atoll where the captain announces they have a gun and a medical kit. People's belongings begin to go missing and they realize that what is being stolen is silver. Two people are attacked and killed and they come to believe there is a werewolf among the passengers. Although the werewolf thinks he is safe by having stolen the silver belt buckles and coins, he overlooks the silver nitrate in the medical kit hypodermic which his third attempted victim shoves into his chest.
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Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.
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Come Back, Little Linda

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host); Dr. Morgan Ullman; Eric Hagen
In order to save money, the management of an insane asylum moves the patients into dungeon cells that the hospital was built on. When an inspection notice from the state board arrives, the doctor panics and orders that all the patients return to their wards. Their scheme is undone when one old crazy man refuses to be bullied into silence, crying out to the inspectors that they've taken his beloved 'Linda' away from him. When they follow his headlong dash downstairs, they find that 'Linda' is a rather large dungeon rat.
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Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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The Secret

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Old Witch
The Old Witch (host); Theodore; Miss Heather; Miss Graves; Mrs. Colbert (death); Mr. Colbert (death)
A young boy is adopted by a couple who turn out to be vampires and only want to fatten him up to drain his blood. The surprise is on them, though, as he turns out to be a werewolf and tears them to shreds.
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Although hosted by The Old Witch, the story does not use "The Witch's Cauldron" title.
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Indisposed!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A man uses his new garbage disposal to eliminate the remains of his wife's body, but his plumber friend who installed it doesn't have experience and connects it to the water intake, so when one of the man's friends tries to get a glass of water his wife's gory remains come oozing out.
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Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.
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Clots My Line

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Pierce Draynor (guest, death); Anton Chatfield (villain, master of ceremonies, a vampire); Ralph Peters (villain, night watchman, a vampire); Celia Pronick (villain, movie cashier, a vampire); Paul Dunkel (villain, maintenance man, a vampire)
A television show about guessing the guest's occupation brings on a manufacturer of red ink. As the panel asks more questions of the guest, they begin to grow annoyed with the host, as the answers seem to dance around the idea that the guest may be a vampire. The host assures the panel that the man has a legitimate occupation, but they feel the host has double-crossed them. The host is delighted he has stumped the panel and reveals to the guest what he's won, a coffin, which surprises the guest. The panel descend upon him and drain his blood, relieved that he's not one of them.
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Miscellaneous
6
Colorist and letterer credits by Craig Delich, letterer credit verified by Al Feldstein.
Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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Game Washed Out!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A man in a Puritan colony kills his wife and dumps her body with a weight attached into a pond in order to solicit another man's wife to run away with him. He is caught kissing her and so is sentenced to three dunkings in the pond, where on the third dunk, the dead wife loops the coil of rope over him and pulls him off the chair while he drowns.
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Miscellaneous
7
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Blind Alleys

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
The blind victims of an unscrupulous and cruel director lock him and his dog up for several days without food and then release them into a maze with razor blades embedded into the walls. And then turn out the lights.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.
Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.
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The Dress

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
drama
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Miscellaneous
6
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Country Doctor

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
drama
Reprinting
 
Miscellaneous
7
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Heart Interest

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
drama
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Man attacked by zombie

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
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Miscellaneous
2
Close-up image by Evans of a man attacked by a zombie, taken from one of the stories included in this volume.
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Self portrait

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
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1
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George Evans

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Subject Matter
His work was realistic and controlled
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Miscellaneous
4
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Rocket Man

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
Image of a man in a rocket ship above a suburban home.
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Miscellaneous
1
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Behind the Panels

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Subject Matter
Short bios of Otto Oscar Binder, Ray Bradbury, Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Jack Kamen, Carl Wessler.
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Miscellaneous
2
Note there is no bio of George Evans included.
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The Old Witch

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
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Miscellaneous
1
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Crime, Horror, Terror, Gore, Depravity, Disrespect for Established Authority - and Science Fiction, Too! The Ups and Downs of EC Comics

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
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Miscellaneous
3
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The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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typeset
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1
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The Complete George Evans EC Horror Collection!

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
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Subject Matter
Look inside for all of gentlemanly George Evans's shockingly ghastly horror stories...
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Back cover.

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