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Content Items (11 total)

Portrait in Wax

Illustration on Cover, Front

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Colorist(s): ? (see notes)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Vault of Horror

First Line: ...and here we see the stretch-rack, one of the...

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #12 published June 1950
as Portrait in Wax [Illustration on Cover, Front]

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as [untitled] [Illustration on Cover, Front]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: Cover title taken from first interior story from which the cover is based.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin, but it is unlikely that Severin had begun coloring at EC when this issue was colored (Cassell 2012, 33–34 and 171).
_________
Reference:

Cassell, Dewey, with Aaron Sultan. 2012. Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics. Raleigh: TwoMorrows Publishing.

SuspenStory Fans!

Promotional Material (from Publisher) on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): ?; typeset

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

First Line: Here's another magazine specifically designed to...

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Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: Promotional ad showing the cover of The Crypt of Terror (1950 series) #17, with three Feldstein illustrations, on sale now. Appears on inside front cover.

Portrait in Wax!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Colorist(s): ? (see notes)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror, mystery

Feature(s): The Vault of Horror

Character(s): The Vault Keeper (host); Robert [aka Jules Vendette] (artist, death); unnamed art buyer; Lord James Cherringwood; Henry (villain, Robert's friend, death)

First Line: Ah, we meet again, dear reader!

Synopsis: Henry was jealous of his artist friend Robert for not selling his etchings. One day Henry began selling Robert's work to an art buyer. Robert found out and confronted Henry, who threw acid in his face then dumped the body into an acid vat. Henry almost used up the wealth of Robert's drawings until he met a wax statue maker and opened a museum with him. When one of the statues' arms was damaged Henry found a human hand beneath it. Henry confronted the sculptor, who removed a wax mask from his face, revealing himself as Robert.

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Iskalde Grøss #3/1992 published January 1992
as Voks-ende bekymringer [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as Portrait in Wax! [Story on Interior Page(s)]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 8

Notes: Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin (see Indexer Notes for this issue’s cover, above).

This story features Craig's first depiction of the Vault-Keeper.

Inspired by the story "The Mystery of the Wax Museum" by Michael Curtiz.

Cover story.

The Werewolf Legend

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Colorist(s): ? (see notes)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror, mystery

Feature(s): The Vault of Horror

Character(s): Pobb's (a butler); Tom Faversham (death); Walter Mallory; Sir Gregory Mallory (villain, a werewolf); Edmund Mallory (villain, a werewolf, flashback); Dennis Mallory (villain, a werewolf, Baron of Munscrief, flashback); Arthur Mallory (villain, a werewolf, flashback)

First Line: My name is Walter Mallory.

Synopsis: Walter Mallory believes that he is a werewolf, committing murder after murder, and is convinced when he uncovers the Mallory family's werewolf legend. He tells Scotland Yard about this and they agree to help capture the creature, but Walter is determined to end the string of killings, and is about to shoot himself when Scotland Yard enters and tells him that it was actually Sir Gregory (an accomplished hypnotist) who killed the people because they were blackmailing him. He had hypnotized Walter and put werewolf makeup on him to make Walter think he had committed the crimes... as a werewolf!

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as The Werewolf Legend [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #2 published August 2012
as The Werewolf Legend [Story on Interior Page(s)]black-and-white reprint

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 7

Notes: "Came the Dawn" forward by Bill Mason credits Fox as the writer, so Fox is added and Harrison is given a ?. Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin (see Indexer Notes for this issue’s cover, above).

Fingers of Death!

Text Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Penciller(s): ? (1 panel art)

Inker(s): ? (1 panel art)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

Genres: mystery

First Line: His fingers relaxed and he felt the body sliding away from him, toward the floor.

Synopsis: At last he had done it: he had killed Montrose to get a valuable gold chain, but someone was coming and he had to get away....he could return for the chain later. Later, the killer then broke into Montrose's coffin and there was the gold chain in the corpse's hands. He tried to pry the chain from those stiff fingers, but he couldn't budge it until finally, the fingers moved ever so slightly to release that chain. As the man bent forward to examine the chain in the light, the fingers of the corpse began to close again, this time around the man's throat, tighter and tighter and tighter until...

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as Fingers of Death! [Text Story on Interior Page(s)]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Horror in the Night

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror, mystery

Feature(s): Another SuspenStory from The Vault of Horror!

Character(s): Tom Hawkins; Jim; John Smith (in flashback, death); Emily Smith (John's wife, in flashback, death)

First Line: Never had Tom Hawkins known such fear before...

Synopsis: At the Hawkin's Tourist Colony, Tom is hitting the bottle as his friend Jim walks in, and explains that he is doing so because of a terrible dream he had the night before. In it, a couple come in to take a room for the night....but the woman fears that death is stalking her and kills a cat, believing it was death coming for her. The couple get into a fight he kills her, then shoots himself! Jim tells Tom it was just a nightmare and leaves. A few moments later, a car pulls up and the same couple Tom had seen in his dream were standing before him wanting a room!

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as Horror in the Night [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

Iskalde Grøss #4/1994 published January 1994
as Et sant mareritt [Story on Interior Page(s)]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 6

Notes: Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion. Previous indexer had Al Feldstein ?

Although drawn after Kurtzman drew "House of Horror" in The Haunt of Fear #15 (#1) (1950), the story in this issue was Kurtzman's first EC story to appear in print.

Marie Severin’s statement that “[Harvey] Kurtzman colored his own art, especially on covers...” (1995) suggests that Kurtzman colored stories that he drew, albeit perhaps less consistently than he colored his cover art.
_________
References:

Cassell, Dewey, with Aaron Sultan. 2012. “The Artists of EC Comics” (reprinting Severin 1995). In Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics. 46–47. Raleigh: TwoMorrows Publishing.

Severin, Marie (John Province, transcriber [uncredited]). 1995. “Mostly About Color.” In CFA-APA 36, January.

[untitled]

Letters Page on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

Character(s): The Vault-Keeper (head shot)

Synopsis: Contains letters from readers Grace Calmesi, Cleo Gruner and Shirley Johnson.

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Tooth and Fang!

Text Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Penciller(s): ? (2 panels art)

Inker(s): ? (2 panels art)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

Genres: crime

First Line: The knife slashed down!

Synopsis: A knife flashes down and the owner of a circus falls to the floor dead. The killer then saw the shadows of the roustabouts just outside the tent, so he shoved money he had just stolen into his pockets, then looked for another way out. He spied a barred door at the back of the tent, opened it and hid there. Suddenly, there was a snarl behind him and he could see the eyes of a large panther. He tried to escape, but the barred door wouldn't open. He thought of screaming to alert the roustabouts who were leaving the area, but he couldn't be heard over the roars of the cat as it killed him!

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as Tooth and Fang! [Text Story on Interior Page(s)]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Terror Train

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Colorist(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): Vault of Horror

Character(s): Gloria; Ralph

First Line: He was trying to kill me!

Synopsis: Gloria was in a cab, running away from her husband Ralph...heading toward the train station and the train that would take her away from this man whom she thought was trying to poison her. Seated on the train, she kept imagining him at every turn and remembering the $25,000 insurance policies Ralph had taken out on them both...then she remembered that poison bottle he had brought home. Asleep in her berth, Gloria suddenly awakens at what she thinks is a scream, and goes to wake the conductor...but he is dead in his berth. In fact, everyone is dead in their berths! She jumps off the train and locates a farmhouse that has a freshly-dug grave outside. She enters the house and spies a coffin in it....then sees Ralph behind her, who grabs Gloria, puts her in the coffin, nails it shut, drags it to the grave and buries it. Suddenly, she awakens in her berth on the train.....sees Ralph with an attendant in a white coat, who takes her off to a nice house with bars on it so that Ralph can never get to her again!

Reprinting

In Issue:

The Vault of Horror #1 published January 1982

In Content Item: Flag

Haunt of Fear #20 published July 1953
as Terror Train [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

Iskalde Grøss #3/1992 published January 1992
as Redselsreisen [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

Vault of Horror #1 published October 1992
as Terror Train [Story on Interior Page(s)]

In Content Item: Flag

Haunt of Fear #20 published August 1997
as Terror Train [Story on Interior Page(s)]

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 7

Bunk! Nobody is Just "Naturally" Skinny!

Advertisement (Comic Format) on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): ? (illustrations); ? (photograph)

Inker(s): ? (illustrations); ? (photograph)

Letterer(s): ?; typeset

Editor(s): ? (ad agency or client)

Subject Matter

Character(s): two young men

First Line: Why don't you try to put some weight on?

Reprinting

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: Inside back cover mail order ad for a free book from Charles Atlas, Dept. 1645, 115 East 23rd Street, New York 10, New York.

Close-out! 3 Power All-Metal Binoculars

Advertisement on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): ? (illustration)

Inker(s): ? (illustration)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

Editor(s): ? (ad agency or client)

Subject Matter

First Line: These are the very same 3-power all-metal Binoculars that we formerly...

Reprinting

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: Back cover mail order for reduced price binoculars from Illinois Merchandise Company, Dept. 6411-A, 1227 Loyola Avenue, Chicago 26, Illinois.