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Content Items (59 total)

Foul Play and Other Stories

Illustration on Cover, Front

Credits

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Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 1

Foul Play and Other Stories

Credits on Interior Page(s)

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Pages: 1

Notes: Close-up of the splash panel of "Foul Play!"

Foul Play and Other Stories

Credits on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 2

Table of Contents

Table of Contents on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 4

Jack the Genre Killer

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 16

Notes: Notes on the stories appearing in this volume.

Soldier Attacking a Pig

Illustration on Interior Page(s)

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Pages: 1

Notes: Close-up of the splash panel of "This Little Piggy..."

Uppercut!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): A Horror SuspenStory

Character(s): Herby Dixon (boxer); Eddie (boxer); Tom Murphy (boxer); Jerry Colby (boxer, death); Ernie Maxwell (boxer); Max (fight scheduler); Lou (bookie); Joe Wiley (fight promoter, death); Harry (forensic pathologist)

First Line: Your name is Joe Wiley!

Synopsis: A fight promoter tells the boys he sends into the ring that they've got to have guts. One of the washed-up cases steals a drug from his brother in med school that will make a person look dead, but still be alive, so that the promoter will be buried alive. However, when the promoter comes to, he has not been buried but finds himself in a Police morgue, and he briefly looks down to see that his guts have been removed during the autopsy.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: in The EC Archives (Gemstone Publishing, 2006 series): Shock SuspenStories Volume 1 (July 2006)

Miscellaneous

Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-2. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

This Little Piggy...

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! One more to go...

Synopsis: A British officer visits his uncle in India during the occupation. His uncle warns him off hunting the wild boars in the area which are sacred to the natives. He disregards him and kills a boar, then prepares it by boiling the hair off, roasting it upon a spit, and finally serving it on a plate with an apple in its mouth. A native servant present during the dinner witnesses this and is horrified. The uncle apologizes to the native head, but word gets out, and though the officer is to leave the area tomorrow, the natives get hold of him and give him the same treatment.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.

People Who Live in Brass Hearses...

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Lionel Byrd

First Line: Greetings, bores and ghouls!

Synopsis: The children ran up to the hearse as Mr. Byrd drove by, yelling things at him as he made his way to the general store. They couldn't understand why a man, who was NOT an undertaker, would drive such a contraption. The townsfolk were scared of the man, who lived in a rented, deserted house. Whenever Lionel would come to town, the kids would look in the back of the hearse and only see a curtain partition, wondering what was behind it. The answer began when Lionel first moved to town....before he ever owned the hearse, and a couple of fugitives came by his house, looking to hide out from the law. When Lionel told them to leave, they shot him dead, and dug a grave to bury him behind the cabin. When they re-entered the cabin, there he was, holding a shotgun on them, and telling them they had killed his siamese twin! As he stepped forward, they could see the dead corpse still attached to Lionel, who tied the pair up and threw them in the grave they had prepared for him. Now we know why Lionel had that curtain in the back of his hearse!

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Pages: 7

Cold Cuts!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): A Horror SuspenStory

Character(s): Helen Benson (Victor's wife, death); Charlie (real estate agent); Mr. Johnson; Mrs. Johnson; Ed (Victor's partner); Victor Benson (villain)

First Line: The impact of the horrifying wind-up to this story will curdle your blood!

Synopsis: A man murders his wife and cuts up her body in the tub to store in the meat locker. His plans to dispose of the remains are continually frustrated until his friend invites him for dinner, and, after he's taken a bite, reveals to him that he borrowed the meat from the locker.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-5. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Death of Some Salesmen!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Hmmph! Fairy Tales!

Synopsis: A salesman has the bad luck to break down outside the home of a deranged old couple who cover him with a shotgun as they show him their refrigerator, stove, vacuum cleaner, grandfather clock, and television set that they made sure worked by testing it out on the body of each device's respective salesman. The man asks him "What do you sell?" and he replies "It's out in the car" while the old woman covers him with the shotgun. The old man goes to get it and he tells the woman "You don't want what I sell" and offers to pay anything to be released but she just waits for her husband to return with the device, a handy-dandy meat cutter...

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Pages: 7

Notes: Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.

The Chips Are Down!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Sigmund Darby; Averill Henning; Dilbert Field; Colonel Turner

First Line: Heh, heh! Once I saw a saw-mill!

Synopsis: Sigmund was buzzed on his intercom that Colonel Turner was there to see him and his two partners, Henning and Field. The Colonel was there to tell them that their sawmill had been chosen ror a highly secret government contract to produce thin wooden discs, at a rate of 60,000 per month. They agreed, but then wondered how they could produce that many until Field arrived at a solution with a new type of saw. Later, Henning and Darby muse over a way to keep all the profits for themselves, cutting Field out by engaging him in poker matches and taking him to the cleaners by winning his share in the saw mill.....which they did. After he walked out of the game, he shot himself and was buried.....and as Darby and Henning walk away, they muse over the marked deck they had used on Field. What they didn't see was a rotting hand rising from Field's grave that followed the two back to the mill, where screams are heard. The next morning, the mill foreman walked into open up and saw Darby and Henning standing stiffly next to the cutting machine in a pool of blood. When he touched them, they fell over.....minutely sliced into thousands of thin layers!

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Pages: 7

Notes: Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.

The Coffin!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! Yep, it's your Crypt-Keeper again, fiends...

Synopsis: A man builds an automatic coffin to lower the cost of funerals. The coffin plays music, reads a service, and unfortunately for his sponging kid brother who lies down in it, drains the corpse's blood, injects formaldehyde, and buries itself with shovel attachments on its side.

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Pages: 7

Notes: E.C.'s first authorized Ray Bradbury adaptation "Copyright, 1947, by Popular Publications Inc."

This short story was originally published as "A Wake for the Living" in the September 1947 issue of Dime Mystery Magazine.

Let's Play Poison!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Mr. Howard

First Line: Heh, heh! And now it's my turn to entertain you!

Synopsis: Mr. Howard returned to his classroom in time to see some of his students corner a young boy, who then fell out of a window to his death. Stunned, Howard resigned his position because he secretly now hated all children because of what happened. Seven years later, he resumed teaching after a fellow teacher friend of his died. He called his charges less than human....and they resented it. One day he came across some the kids "playing poison".....on sidewalks with names on them that they took for gravestones. From then on, Howard screamed at any kid even playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. One night, as he sat in his home, he saw a skull appear outside his window.....and he continued seeing it, night after night. One evening, he ran outside after the kids responsible, and fell into an excavation ditch. The kids covered him with dirt. In the days that followed, no adult paid much attention to the sidewalk square with the name "M. Howard R.I.P." on it......as the kids continued to play their game of poison!

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Pages: 7

Notes: Based on the 1946 Ray Bradbury story.

Garden Party

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! So now, it's your Crypt-Keeper's turn to amuse you, eh?

Synopsis: A man has a barbecue in his garden-obsessed wife's back yard where the guests ruin the flowers. She snaps and advances on her husband with the carving knife to serve him upon the barbecue.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Who Doughnut?

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Danny Hughes (reporter, death); Pat (Danny's secretary, death); various Policemen; an octopus (villain)

First Line: Heh, heh! And now, it's my turn to curdle your blood.

Synopsis: Seven women had been murdered and the Police were baffled by the doughnut-shaped wounds all over their bodies, blood drained and traces of sea brine on their skin and clothing. Danny Hughes, crime reporter, was on the scene and mocked the Police for not having a suspect. The next day, Danny's secretary was murdered in the same way, and was suspected until another killing occured. Danny remembered seeing a strange figure near Pat's home, and when he saw it again, he followed it to an aquarium, and came face to face with a blood-sucking octopus!

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Pages: 7

Notes: Reference is made to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

The Black Ferris!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); two boys; rich woman; thief (villain)

First Line: Heh, heh! So now it's the Crypt-Keeper's turn to chill you.

Synopsis: Two boys witness a ferris wheel at a creepy carnival that can make time go forwards or backwards for the rider depending on which way the wheel spins. A man tries to take advantage of this by riding the wheel backwards 24 times until he is a 10 year boy and then posing as an orphan in order to find and steal a kindly old woman's money who has taken him in. He plans to then ride the wheel forwards 24 times so no one will ever find the culprit. The boys tell the woman, but are not believed, so they wait until the man is on the ferris wheel and sends it into the future....with amazing results.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Based on the Ray Bradbury short story that was first published in the May 1948 issue of "Weird Tales" magazine.

A Peach of a Plot!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Michael Lane; Lt. Phil Dolan

First Line: Heh, heh. And now it's's your Crypt-Keeper's turn to curdle your blood.

Synopsis: Lieutenant Dolan looked at the roots of a peach tree that held the corpse in its roots, and ordered the corpse and tree be taken in for autopsy. He turned to Michael Lane, the murderer, who now confessed to why he did the act. Her name was Sarah, young, wealthy and beautiful, and he got what he wanted from her until she realized that he didn't love her....just her money. There was a terrible fight, then talk of divorce. Finally one night, as she ate a peach, he killed her, buried her in the garden and destroyed all of her possessions, giving the impression she had left him. The problem was that she has swallowed the peach pit, and from that pit, a peach tree began to grow. Seven years passed by and finally the tree bore fruit.....Lt. Dolan came by the house, hoping to trap Lane into admitting the act he suspected him of. Then as they walked into the garden, Lane reached for a peach and bit into it....quickly spitting it out. The Lieutenant now knew where to look for Lane's wife's body, for that peach had blood inside it!

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Pages: 7

Foul Play!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! Ah... spring is here, eh, fiends?

Synopsis: Psychotic baseball players dismember a player from an opposing baseball team in revenge for his using poisoned cleats in a game and then use his body parts to play ball.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Out of His Head!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Stanley (Alex's law partner, death); unnamed doctor; Alex Melton (villain, lawyer, death)

First Line: Greetings, ghouls! Let's drink blood pools!

Synopsis: Alex had murdered Stanley with an axe to his head, trying to blame the death on a maniac. It seemed, however, that the dead man kept haunting him day and night, and everywhere Alex looked, his former law partner was still there. Unable to stand it any longer, he blinded himself with an icepick. He was taken to the hospital and operated on, and when the bandages were removed, he saw someone. He figured it was Stanley again and ran to the window and jumped out to his death. The doctor looked out the window and all he could say was that the man must be mad!

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Cover story.

Hyde and Go Shriek!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh heh!

Synopsis: A chemist strings along a rich admirer of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde who is willing to pay to have such a personality altering formula recreated. The joke is on the chemist when he ingests the formula he comes up, thinking that it's a placebo, but it actually does work and he loses control of himself and murders his girlfriend.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Let the Punishment Fit the Crime!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Clara Cootes; Edwin Cootes; Herbert Draper (mortician); Dr. Stacey; Frank Bundage (store owner); George Sparkman (electrician); Mathilda Priddy (schoolteacher); Sye Shusters (lawyer); Judge Delaney; Mrs. Philips; Freddy Philips (death)

First Line: heh, heh! Find felicitations, fiends.

Synopsis: Children in town had questioned people about various things regarding death and funerals, and were fascinated about a man dying in the electric chair. But they really wanted to know what the punishment for robbery and kidnapping would be, and a lawyer informed them it wouldn't be death. As the kids came down the street carrying a coffin, a mother came up screaming to townsfolk, telling them that her son was missing and that he had stolen another child's doll and had refused to give it back. Then they all looked in horror as they gazed over at the kids, who had just finished burying the coffin!

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Pages: 7

Notes: Script revision by Craig Delich, adding Feldstein's script credit.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Cover story.

Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Ulric, the undying (death); Dr. Emil Manfred (death); Saxton

First Line: Heh, heh! Now that the old hag has bored you with her sissy-scream-scoopings...

Synopsis: A doctor transplants a cat's nine lives gland into a derelict in order to make money in death-defying stunts. The derelict betrays the doctor in order to keep more of the money, but the doctor has the last laugh by realizing the derelict is miscounting the lives he has left to lose since the dead cat had already used one making eight, not nine left.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

The Welchers

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Feature(s): Crime SuspenStories

First Line: Do not get me wrong.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Script credit from "Tales of Terror! - The EC Companion" by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman.

While the Cat's Away...

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); John Younger; Frank Weston

First Line: Heh, heh! So vacation time is over... eh, kiddies?

Synopsis: John & Frank had been working their little travel agency scam for almost a year. They would book trips for wealthy clients, then clean out their homes of valuables while they were away. This time they scheduled a little trip for a Mr. Kingman, who lived alone in the suburbs, and when his plane for Ecuador took off, they went over to clean out his house. The place was a run-dwon wreck, with nothing of value they could see. They went down the cellar steps and found a metal door warning them not to enter, signed "T.C.K." They broke in and entered a library and founded a secret passage, which they entered, and came upon a group of zombies. They fled down another passage and ran into a room of vampires, then headed down yet another hall and ran into werewolves and then into another with mummies! By the time John and Frank reached the front door entrance, they were stark raving mad......and never noticed that the owner had just returned: the Crypt-Keeper!

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Pages: 7

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

Model Nephew

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh. Greetings, ghouls!

Synopsis: A nephew murders his uncle for his money and winds up a prisoner in one of his ship-in-a-bottles.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Loosely inspired by the H. P. Lovecraft story "The Terrible Old Man".

Tombs-Day!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Prof. Burton; Melody Allen

First Line: Heh, heh! For a while, I thought the Vault-Keeper...

Synopsis: The expedition, led by Professor Burton, neared the Pyramid of Khafra, the scene of the disappearance of a previous expedition. As they passed by the Sphinx, in legend called the "Father of Terrors", he told the accompanying journalist, Miss Allen facts about the previous expedition. Reaching the entrance to the pyramid, all entered to make a preliminary investigation when suddenly the massive stone panel they had entered through closed behind them, and a booby-trap killed of one the explorers. The group headed down some passages to find a possible exit, and as they proceeded, one by one members of the group were killed, leaving only Burton and Allen alive. As they made their way deeper into the pyramid, Burton told her that legend said the sphinx actally lived at one time, but Allen pooh-poohed the idea. Suddenly they came upon King Khafra's tomb, crawled through a passage and reached the interior to find all of Khafra's wealth and some hieroglyphics stating the legend of the sphinx was true.....just before the living sphinx sprang out and killed them!

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Pages: 7

Country Clubbing!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! And now it's time for me, your Crypt-Keeper...

Synopsis: An escaped convict beats in a woman's skull with a club in order to steal her food out in a shack set in the swamp. The convict looks up from his meal, only to see a huge hulking brute of a man looking at him. He flees in terror only to have the brute follow him clutching the club. He faces several dangers of the swamp, yet still the brute pursues with the club. Finally, he can go no further, and begs for mercy. The brute ignores his pleas and hands him back the club telling him he forgot it at his house and leaving him mentally unhinged from the stress.

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Pages: 7

Notes: Cover story.

Witch Witch's Witch!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Eric Holbein; Helena

First Line: Heh, heh! So nice of you foul fiends to visit with me again!

Synopsis: Eric was coming home to Blumstedt with his new wife.....who was not the girl to whom he had been betrothed since childhood. As he entered the house, he was met by his former betroth, Alicia, her Mom and his Mom, all of whom harshly berated him for bringing shame to them all. Eric's mother soon passed away, but Helena wouldn't go to the funeral. Days later, the ladies from the local church saw Helena and told her not to attend their meetings....and the leader of that group soon died. Talk began to surface saying Helena was a witch, and they thought it true when Helena walked down the street and a woman, Alicia's mother, fell dead. A mob formed and went after Helena, and, when Eric tried to intervene, they killed him and began stoning Helena to death, when she stood and chanted a few words and all the people turned to rats and scurried away. In the midst of it all was the most ugly and hideous creature of them all: Helena....the witch!

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Pages: 7

Head-Room!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! And now it's time for yoiur Crypt-Keeper to wind up...

Synopsis: A landlady falls for the Jekyll of a Jekyll-n-Hyde type, and when she discovers his closet of severed heads, she becomes his seventh victim.

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Pages: 7

Chop Talk!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Emil Voight; Anna; Heinrich

First Line: Heh, heh! Greetings, ghouls!

Synopsis: Emil and Anna said their last goodbyes to each other in the park.....their affair was to be over. But Emil decided to end it permamently: he killed her, and her husband came along, witnessed the act, stuck Emil and carried his dead wife away. But he returned and grabbed Emil and turned him into the Police....a trial was held and Emil was sentenced to have his head chopped off. Little did he know his executioner was Heinrich, the husband of the dead woman, and he proceeded to tell Emil how a person dies at the block. Emil lost consciousness and dreamed of that gory moment....then suddenly awoke. For days he agonized, until the day he decided to accept his fate and went to the block cheerfully. When Heinrich saw this, he lost his temper....killed Voight, then swallowed poison to be with his Anna. Suddenly, a voice called out to Emil Voight in a strange afterlife.....the voice of Heinrich, who proceeded to kill Emil again and again and again.....for all eternity!

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Pages: 7

The Light In His Life!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! And now it's wind-up time in C.W.'s morbid mag.

Synopsis: A man snowbound in an Alaskan cabin makes his obese wife into candles and oil for him to read by.

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Pages: 7

Coffin Spell!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host); Janos; Nadyi

First Line: Heh, heh! Ghastly greetings, you old ghoulish gluttons!

Synopsis: The two men finished digging up a corpse for Dr. Karolyi, but the man refused their efforts, so they went out to search for more bodies that the good doctor's students could use. They found a masoleum w/many bodies interred, so Nadyi left to get a larger wagon, leaving Janos there. Upon his return, Nadyi admonished Janos for falling asleep on the job, but the two grave robbers loaded the wagon to the hilt anyway and returned to their residence to await the next day to deliver the bodies. However, that evening, the coffins suddenly opened up and the corpses inside advanced on the surprised pair, who rushed out of the room and bolted the door. Nadyi told Janos that he knew what was happening....that the corpses were vampires. When asked how he knew, Nadyi, fangs bared, advanced on his partner, proving his point!

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Pages: 7

Comes The Dawn!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Salutations, slobs!

Synopsis: A man who has barricaded himself in an unprovisioned Arctic cabin with a vampire outside feels he's safe since he can leave once the sun comes up until he remembers that the Arctic nights can be very long...

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Pages: 8

A Work of Art!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: horror

Feature(s): The Crypt of Terror

Character(s): The Crypt-Keeper (host)

First Line: Heh, heh! And now it's time for your Crypt-Keeper...

Synopsis: A man is so unsatisfied with the commercial attitudes of his fellow morticians, including that of the son-in-law he fruitlessly tried to impart a sense of art, that he builds his own robot mortician to euthanize him and do a job he himself would be proud of.

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Pages: 8

Divorce

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: drama

First Line: I'm lost, and I'm scared, and everything is so big around me...

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Pages: 6

The Debt

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: drama

First Line: Eight years before, it seemed like a bad dream to Joe Wiler.

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Pages: 6

The Lonely One

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: war

First Line: The last act of your little comedy...

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Pages: 7

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

The New C.O.

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: war

First Line: At twenty-three, I was the old man of the 210th Pursuit Squadron because I was the only one out of the original outfit that had survived.

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Pages: 7

Footnote

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: war

First Line: You're not thinking about the job ahead of you when the fokker triplanes drop out of the sun

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Pages: 7

The Case of Champagne

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: aviation, war

Character(s): Scotty; Harrigan; Lieutenant Nick Blaine; Jones; Captain Oliver

First Line: What was it about the 47th squadron that made me rush back to it from that bubbling oasis in a shell-battered world... gay paree?

Synopsis: Scotty has a case of champagne but refuses to open it until they have something to celebrate.

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Pages: 7

Notes: WWI story. Wessler credit per Robin Snyder's biblio in The Comics, vol 24, no 3, March 2013.

Home Again

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: aviation, war

Character(s): Colonel Dumond; Sergeant Ryan; Gaston

First Line: It wasn't that I wanted to fly.

Synopsis: Sergeant Ryan wants nothing more than to fly. When he gets his chance, he makes the most of it.

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Pages: 7

Notes: WW1 story.

Iron Man!

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: aviation, war

Character(s): Fred Allison; Jim Hadly; Johnson; Hart; Saxon

First Line: You've led a charmed life, Fred Allison.

Synopsis: Fred Allison believes he can't be shot down.

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Pages: 6

Notes: WWII story.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Barrier

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: science fiction

First Line: The ship was a symphony of power...

Synopsis: In the future, both the Western and Eastern Alliances (who are at war with each other), are trying to beat each other to the Moon for global domination. But their ships are constantly crashing into an invisible barrier near the moon. They later discover that the barrier encompasses the entire Earth, and that they are caged. Why? Because evolved aliens believe humans are like violent wild animals and all wild animals need to be caged.

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Pages: 7

Marked Man

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: science fiction

First Line: The court-martial adjutant gives you your reward...

Synopsis: After the verdict on his court-martial comes down, Commander Abel Grant reflects on his twenty years of space duty; fighting battles with planets beyond Pluto, blasting Venusians who've taken Earthlings hostage, and dumping the Grand Admiral of the Fleet's corpse into space after he dies from an alien virus so as not to contaminate Earth when the crew returns. The latter incident is what got him court-martialed. When the trial is over, he discovers there are men within the government who appreciate his no-nonsense approach and elevate him to new Grand Admiral!

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Pages: 7

Kaleidoscope

Story on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: science fiction

First Line: This is how it looked...

Synopsis: As the Venusians conquer Earth, one man decides to rig a ship and destroy not only the invaders, but Venus as well. Turns out he was just fascinating inside an old wrecked ship, and had to return to his mundane life as a Venusian slave.

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Pages: 6

Notes: Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

[untitled]

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: war

First Line: This issue, number twelve of Frontline Combat, is devoted to the United States Air Force.

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Pages: 1

Notes: Illustrated frontispiece.

Readers! The U.S. Air Force Needs Your Help!

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Subject Matter

Genres: military

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Pages: 1

Notes: Plug for Ground Observer Corps.

Are You a Red Dupe?

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: humorous, opinion

Character(s): Melvin Blizunken

Synopsis: This editorial illustrated page purports that the Communists are the ones trying to destroy the comic magazine industry, citing the Soviet "Daily Worker" newspaper and Dr. Frederick Wertham.

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Pages: 1

Notes: Inside front cover.

Tongue in cheek editorial parody in an attempt to link efforts to destroy comics to Communists.

Writer credits from Lyle Stuart himself, during an interview by Bill Spicer in Squa Tront (Fantagraphics, 2002 series) #12 (2007); and from Grant Geissman's book, Tales of Terror!: The EC Companion (Fantagraphics, 2000 series), who lists the writer as Bill Gaines; as well as Frank Jacobs' The MAD World of William M. Gaines (Carol Publishing Group, 1973 series) notes that Gaines worked with Stuart on the piece. Original indexer credited Albert B. Feldstein.

Biplane under attack

Illustration on Interior Page(s)

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Pages: 1

Notes: Close-up of page 5 panel 3 of "The Case of Champagne."

The Coolest Stuff

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

First Line: Jack Davis's artwork has likely motivated more kids to part with their allowance than any other artist in history.

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Pages: 6

Notes: Biography of Davis with art by him.

Jack Davis

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

First Line: If Jack Davis had only worked at E.C. Comics and never drawn for another line

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Pages: 4

Notes: Article on Davis's art at E.C., with art by him.

Behind the Panels

Text Article on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 2

Notes: Biographies of Otto Oscar Binder, Ray Douglas Bradbury, Johnny Craig, Albert B. Feldsetin, William Maxwell Gaines, Jack Oleck, Carl Wessler.

Hangman attacking a man

Illustration on Interior Page(s)

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Pages: 1

Notes: Close up of page 5 panel 1 of "Chop Talk!"

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

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 3

The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library

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

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 1

Judgment Day for Earth

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

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): ?

Inker(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 1

Every EC Ray Bradbury Story in One Volume!

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

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 1

His Most Infamous Stories!

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

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

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Pages: 1

Notes: Back cover.