What do you think?
Rate this book
The EC Archives
The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt Volume 1
EC Comics (Entertaining Comics) were all published from the late 1940s until around 1956, when the Comics Code Authority whitewashed all comic books to remove all themes of horror and violence. Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham and Senator Estes Kefauver's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency attacked horror comics as causes of the rise in juvenile delinquency and crimes by minors. These comic books were accused of having no redeeming value to society and were effectively banned by the actions of these groups in creating the Comics Code. EC Comics were superior to other comics of the 1950s because of a higher quality of writing and artwork, and they were widely imitated by other comics publishers. The subject matter for EC Comics were horror, science fiction/fantasy, crime stories, war stories and stories with a social message that generally had a twist or "shock" ending. This volume reprints the first six complete issues (24 stories) of the comic book Tales From the Crypt, originally published in 1950, and features classic horror stories of vampires, werewolves, ghouls and monsters in the vein of hte early Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man movies. This title was EC's best seller, and was the inspiration of several feature films and the HBO series of the same name.
212 pages, Hardcover
First published June 23, 2015
About the author
Al Feldstein
351 books44 followersAlbert Bernard Feldstein was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. After retiring from Mad, Feldstein concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
November 29, 2011
As a devoted fan of EC Archives, it's with no small measure of sadness that I confess my nut-shrinking disappointment with the sad sack stories in the first half of this collection.
I'm sorry...but it needed to be said. Most of the early stories in this volume were simply not up to EC's standards of juvenile corrupting excellence.
Thankfully, my twisted, horror-happy was salvaged by the demented doings of last two issues which largely rehabilitated my admiration for this collection. However, it was "touch and get going" there for little while as that initial batch of stories was a prescription strength sleep inducer that had me struggling to wrangle my wandering attention span.
To be fair, even in the early going there were a few bright spots, but certainly nothing worthy of the standard of vile, degenerate awesomeness on display in The EC Archives: Crime Suspenstories Volume 1 and EC Archives: The Vault Of Horror Volume 1. However, eventually the world righted itself and the final talesreplenished my hope that the early tales were just a bad stumble.
Now as a supporter of the series, I don’t want to spend a lot of words spewing a bash-o-matic description of the sub par stories. Thus, I'm going to employ the drive-by approach to my bitterness and simply point out why I found some of the early pieces more crappy than creepy, while still taking the time to dole out compliments to the quality pieces....because I care.
ISSUES 1 TO 4:
First off, even though some of the early vignettes blew chunks story-wise, the art was consistently wonderful and kept the reading experience from ever being a complete pile of shitty. Maestros like Wally Wood and Johnny Craig were strutting their stuff in and did a terrific job expressing the mood and tension of the stories. I just wish they had had better material to garnish with their talent.
My primary gripe/problem/complaint/bitch/soul-shattering-scream of irritation was that the initial stories were just WAY too tame in comparison to previous collections. There just wasn't enough society-shocking, juvenile delinquency-causing naughtiness to satisfy the damp, fetid darkness within me. I craved mass mayhem, wanted crime without consequences, bloody bodies with suppurating sores and evil walking corpses feasting on the brains of cheating spouses. I wanted filthy and vile, and profane... is that so wrong.
Still, there were a fewhighlights midlights among the early issues. For example, “The Man Who Was Death” about a prison executioner who loves his work WAY too much and decides to take matters into his own nutty hands. I thought this one was well written and had a nice Twilight Zone ending. Another quality effort was The Maestro’s Hand, a loose adaptation of W.F. Harvey’s classic story, "The Beast with Five Fingers." This was fairly fun and had a nice sense of creep about it.
Unfortunately, besides those two, the other six stories in the first two issues were pedestrian and lacked oomph in shock department.
Things started to improve in issues 3 and 4 which saw a noticeable up tick in the general quality with “The Hungry Grave” and “The Fatal Caper” being true highlights that I thought were wonderfully diabolocal.
Both of the above stories were noiry, murder tales where the killers got a hefty helping of comeuppance at the climax. In addition to those two, the rest of this midpoint stories were each decent to good and included a slick adaptation of W.F. Harvey’s “August Heat” which is one of my favorite classic short stories. Bonus there.
Overall, while the stories were certainly getting better, the first 16 were a disappointment given how much I enjoyed the previous two volumes from EC Archives.
Then...suddenly...Redemption.
ISSUES 5 AND 6
Finally...the last 8 entries were exactly the type of pulpy "no redeeming value" fantasticness that I was expecting when I first cracked the cover on this collection.
Issue #5:
Each story in this issue was outstanding, starting with “A Shocking Way to Die”, in which an Kentucky fried murderer does the old “back from the grave” routine to stomp on the judge and jury who roasted him. This one contained all 11 herbs and spices.
Next up is one of my two favorites, “Terror Ride”. Two carnival goers with air for brains find themselves paddle-less up crap creek inside a psychotastic house of horror. YES!! My only gripe here is that I was hoping for a downer ending...oh well, still great stuff.
Moving right along to my other favorite, a pleasant little piece of pulp entitled, “House of Horror”. A fraternity initiation prank goes murderously FUBAR and bodes pile up like cord wood. Loved this one and thought it was terrific from start to finish.
Finally, issue #5 ends nicely with the most idiotic husband-killer of all time gets exactly what he deserves in “Death Suited Him”. Hint: buy a new tux before you marry the murdered guy’s wife, you wacko.
Issue #6 is another quality helping or high level horror. This batch has two gems worthy of special note. The first is Blood Type V which, after a handful of earlier werepooch stories, finally (and stylishly) introduces the fang-banger to the world of EC Archives. The end of this story was a true EC capper with no bright shiny resolution to placate the masses.
Finally, there’s “Death’s Turn” which takes us back to a carnival and a pair of scheming scumbags who get all shook up after they roll the inventor of a new super-coaster. A nice bit of physics included as part of the fun.
On the whole, the collection ends very strong and helped to alleviate some of the earlier disappointment. Let's call it a strong 3 stars. Still, I am hopeful that EC Archives: Tales From The Crypt Volume 2 is even better.
Recommended!!
I'm sorry...but it needed to be said. Most of the early stories in this volume were simply not up to EC's standards of juvenile corrupting excellence.
Thankfully, my twisted, horror-happy was salvaged by the demented doings of last two issues which largely rehabilitated my admiration for this collection. However, it was "touch and get going" there for little while as that initial batch of stories was a prescription strength sleep inducer that had me struggling to wrangle my wandering attention span.
To be fair, even in the early going there were a few bright spots, but certainly nothing worthy of the standard of vile, degenerate awesomeness on display in The EC Archives: Crime Suspenstories Volume 1 and EC Archives: The Vault Of Horror Volume 1. However, eventually the world righted itself and the final talesreplenished my hope that the early tales were just a bad stumble.
Now as a supporter of the series, I don’t want to spend a lot of words spewing a bash-o-matic description of the sub par stories. Thus, I'm going to employ the drive-by approach to my bitterness and simply point out why I found some of the early pieces more crappy than creepy, while still taking the time to dole out compliments to the quality pieces....because I care.
ISSUES 1 TO 4:
First off, even though some of the early vignettes blew chunks story-wise, the art was consistently wonderful and kept the reading experience from ever being a complete pile of shitty. Maestros like Wally Wood and Johnny Craig were strutting their stuff in and did a terrific job expressing the mood and tension of the stories. I just wish they had had better material to garnish with their talent.
My primary gripe/problem/complaint/bitch/soul-shattering-scream of irritation was that the initial stories were just WAY too tame in comparison to previous collections. There just wasn't enough society-shocking, juvenile delinquency-causing naughtiness to satisfy the damp, fetid darkness within me. I craved mass mayhem, wanted crime without consequences, bloody bodies with suppurating sores and evil walking corpses feasting on the brains of cheating spouses. I wanted filthy and vile, and profane... is that so wrong.
Still, there were a few
Unfortunately, besides those two, the other six stories in the first two issues were pedestrian and lacked oomph in shock department.
Things started to improve in issues 3 and 4 which saw a noticeable up tick in the general quality with “The Hungry Grave” and “The Fatal Caper” being true highlights that I thought were wonderfully diabolocal.
Both of the above stories were noiry, murder tales where the killers got a hefty helping of comeuppance at the climax. In addition to those two, the rest of this midpoint stories were each decent to good and included a slick adaptation of W.F. Harvey’s “August Heat” which is one of my favorite classic short stories. Bonus there.
Overall, while the stories were certainly getting better, the first 16 were a disappointment given how much I enjoyed the previous two volumes from EC Archives.
Then...suddenly...Redemption.
ISSUES 5 AND 6
Finally...the last 8 entries were exactly the type of pulpy "no redeeming value" fantasticness that I was expecting when I first cracked the cover on this collection.
Issue #5:
Each story in this issue was outstanding, starting with “A Shocking Way to Die”, in which an Kentucky fried murderer does the old “back from the grave” routine to stomp on the judge and jury who roasted him. This one contained all 11 herbs and spices.
Next up is one of my two favorites, “Terror Ride”. Two carnival goers with air for brains find themselves paddle-less up crap creek inside a psychotastic house of horror. YES!! My only gripe here is that I was hoping for a downer ending...oh well, still great stuff.
Moving right along to my other favorite, a pleasant little piece of pulp entitled, “House of Horror”. A fraternity initiation prank goes murderously FUBAR and bodes pile up like cord wood. Loved this one and thought it was terrific from start to finish.
Finally, issue #5 ends nicely with the most idiotic husband-killer of all time gets exactly what he deserves in “Death Suited Him”. Hint: buy a new tux before you marry the murdered guy’s wife, you wacko.
Issue #6 is another quality helping or high level horror. This batch has two gems worthy of special note. The first is Blood Type V which, after a handful of earlier werepooch stories, finally (and stylishly) introduces the fang-banger to the world of EC Archives. The end of this story was a true EC capper with no bright shiny resolution to placate the masses.
Finally, there’s “Death’s Turn” which takes us back to a carnival and a pair of scheming scumbags who get all shook up after they roll the inventor of a new super-coaster. A nice bit of physics included as part of the fun.
On the whole, the collection ends very strong and helped to alleviate some of the earlier disappointment. Let's call it a strong 3 stars. Still, I am hopeful that EC Archives: Tales From The Crypt Volume 2 is even better.
Recommended!!
September 19, 2023
Dark Horse Books has brought back the cult classic Tales From The Crypt comics from EC Comics in all its cheesy horror glory!
The Entertaining Comics (EC) group was a comics line founded by Maxwell Gaines in 1945 and later run by his son William Gaines, who published popular horror, science fiction, and war-related comics. Sadly the comic line was torpedoed by the Comics Code Authority, and the publishers stopped printing the horror comics in 1956, instead devoting their time to the fledgling Mad magazine known for its humor and satire. But EC left behind many fond memories and a strong legacy in the comics world, thus this is the first volume in a series that reprints some of the best stories from that era!
The Crypt Keeper, which many readers might recognize from the tv series on HBO in the 90s (yet another legacy from EC), opens many of the tales giving a brief narration for the upcoming theme of the story. Keeping in mind these stories were published from the 40s thru the 50s the stories are quite tame with little gore and often incorporate a lesson in them. While there were supernatural beings such as werewolves, Neanderthals, vampires and zombies- the scoundrels typically met their doom, while the pure prevailed. There were also some cringe-worthy storylines that demeaned women with sexist attitudes, and there was an especially racist story about Black island natives. Well-regarded author and illustrator Al Feldstein, who later edited Mad magazine, was credited with many of the stories found in this volume.
Some standout stories were:
Death Must Come- A doctor who has cheated death with a youth serum finally meets his end.
The Man Who Was Death- An executioner becomes too diligent with his work.
Curse of the Full Moon- The werewolf is not who you think it is!
Mute Witness to Murder- After witnessing a murder, a woman goes mute in shock, and the killer comes after her.
Ghost Ship- A newly married couple are stranded and climb aboard a ghost ship.
The Hungry Grave- A cheating couple who scheme to kill the woman’s husband has the tables turned on them.
Rx…Death- Be careful in taking the correct medicine, or else deal with the dire consequences.
Terror Ride- Don’t go on sketchy-looking carnival rides!
The Vault of Horror- A curse dooms a family and should have been taken more seriously.
The illustrations are dated to modern readers, but were from the Golden Age of Comics, and have such a retro look to us today because of the clothes and hairstyles of that time period. Cover pages were especially well done- for they captured your attention and drew you into the story. Artists such as Johnny Craig (who also wrote some of the stories), Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman, George Roussos, Jack Kamen and Marie Severin gave their talents to EC and it’s a delight to see some of their gone-but-not-forgotten work. This was an enjoyable Halloween read, and while not as scary as I had imagined it might be, it was very worthwhile.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2021/10/1...
The Entertaining Comics (EC) group was a comics line founded by Maxwell Gaines in 1945 and later run by his son William Gaines, who published popular horror, science fiction, and war-related comics. Sadly the comic line was torpedoed by the Comics Code Authority, and the publishers stopped printing the horror comics in 1956, instead devoting their time to the fledgling Mad magazine known for its humor and satire. But EC left behind many fond memories and a strong legacy in the comics world, thus this is the first volume in a series that reprints some of the best stories from that era!
The Crypt Keeper, which many readers might recognize from the tv series on HBO in the 90s (yet another legacy from EC), opens many of the tales giving a brief narration for the upcoming theme of the story. Keeping in mind these stories were published from the 40s thru the 50s the stories are quite tame with little gore and often incorporate a lesson in them. While there were supernatural beings such as werewolves, Neanderthals, vampires and zombies- the scoundrels typically met their doom, while the pure prevailed. There were also some cringe-worthy storylines that demeaned women with sexist attitudes, and there was an especially racist story about Black island natives. Well-regarded author and illustrator Al Feldstein, who later edited Mad magazine, was credited with many of the stories found in this volume.
Some standout stories were:
Death Must Come- A doctor who has cheated death with a youth serum finally meets his end.
The Man Who Was Death- An executioner becomes too diligent with his work.
Curse of the Full Moon- The werewolf is not who you think it is!
Mute Witness to Murder- After witnessing a murder, a woman goes mute in shock, and the killer comes after her.
Ghost Ship- A newly married couple are stranded and climb aboard a ghost ship.
The Hungry Grave- A cheating couple who scheme to kill the woman’s husband has the tables turned on them.
Rx…Death- Be careful in taking the correct medicine, or else deal with the dire consequences.
Terror Ride- Don’t go on sketchy-looking carnival rides!
The Vault of Horror- A curse dooms a family and should have been taken more seriously.
The illustrations are dated to modern readers, but were from the Golden Age of Comics, and have such a retro look to us today because of the clothes and hairstyles of that time period. Cover pages were especially well done- for they captured your attention and drew you into the story. Artists such as Johnny Craig (who also wrote some of the stories), Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman, George Roussos, Jack Kamen and Marie Severin gave their talents to EC and it’s a delight to see some of their gone-but-not-forgotten work. This was an enjoyable Halloween read, and while not as scary as I had imagined it might be, it was very worthwhile.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2021/10/1...
November 13, 2020
The horror stories found in the old EC Comics title “Tales from the Crypt” are, probably by today’s standards, extremely tame. Originally published in the 1950s, the pulp publishing company known as Entertaining Comics had a lock on horror comics with several titles besides “Tales from the Crypt”, including “The Haunt of Fear” and “The Vault of Horror”. Along with comics devoted to crime stories, war dramas, and science fiction, EC also published a popular series devoted to stories from the Bible.
Horror became a surprising success for EC, but it came with a price. Many parents, psychologists, and politicians were infuriated by them, eventually resulting in the creation of a rigid comics “code of conduct”, which regulated the level of sexual content, violence, profanity, and anything else deemed too offensive for young, impressionable minds.
Strangely enough, though, the EC horror comics were extremely moralistic and heavy on proselytizing: innocent victims often escaped death at the last minute, and punishment was a given for anyone who committed a moral transgression (adultery being the most popular) and/or crimes like theft or murder. The amount of gore was limited or non-existent. Indeed, a majority of the stories managed to engender scares without a single drop of blood evident in any panel.
From a purely artistic standpoint, the EC horror comics were brilliant early masterpieces of comic book art, with highly detailed work by artists Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, and Harvey Kurtzman.
In 2015, Dark Horse Comics released beautiful hardcover editions reprinting several of the EC horror titles. “The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt, Volume 1” includes issues #17-19 of The Crypt of Terror and issues #20-22 of the retitled Tales from the Crypt.
These are must-reads for fans of both horror and the golden age of comic books.
Horror became a surprising success for EC, but it came with a price. Many parents, psychologists, and politicians were infuriated by them, eventually resulting in the creation of a rigid comics “code of conduct”, which regulated the level of sexual content, violence, profanity, and anything else deemed too offensive for young, impressionable minds.
Strangely enough, though, the EC horror comics were extremely moralistic and heavy on proselytizing: innocent victims often escaped death at the last minute, and punishment was a given for anyone who committed a moral transgression (adultery being the most popular) and/or crimes like theft or murder. The amount of gore was limited or non-existent. Indeed, a majority of the stories managed to engender scares without a single drop of blood evident in any panel.
From a purely artistic standpoint, the EC horror comics were brilliant early masterpieces of comic book art, with highly detailed work by artists Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, and Harvey Kurtzman.
In 2015, Dark Horse Comics released beautiful hardcover editions reprinting several of the EC horror titles. “The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt, Volume 1” includes issues #17-19 of The Crypt of Terror and issues #20-22 of the retitled Tales from the Crypt.
These are must-reads for fans of both horror and the golden age of comic books.
July 4, 2021
Me ha gustado releer estas historias a pesar de sus guiones ingenuos y finales apresurados, todavía lejos de la maestría que lograrían en los números siguientes. Sobre todo porque en la ilustración ya se ve la genialidad de unos autores cuyo arte, décadas más tarde, perduraría a través de un montón de dibujantes, desde Charles Burns a Dave Gibbons. La reedición de Diábolo me parece satisfactoria, con buena reproducción de los originales y un color más cercano que el delirio digital de la reedición de Dark Horse. Eso sí, aún tiene cosas que mejorar: hay ilustraciones de acompañamiento que mantienen el recoloreado, y no entiendo cómo ciertos textos (las páginas de periódico, p.e.) se mantienen en inglés en las historietas, cuando la tipografía es normal y se podían haber traducido sin alterar significativamente los originales. Esperemos que el siguiente tomo se acerque más a ese ideal que todos anhelamos.
September 3, 2023
Ha estado interentes, es un recopilatorio de unos 6 comics de los años 50, no he encontrado todos los cómics por separado, así que esos contarán como una lectura más en este recopilatorio
February 23, 2023
2023 - 365 Days of Horror
Issues #17-22
Issue #17: First issue of the series (continues from Crime Patrol). First "New Trend" issue to hit stands. Cover art by Johnny Craig. Death Must Come, script and art by Al Feldstein; A transferred gland preserves youth. The Man Who Was Death, script by Gardner Fox, art by Bill Fraccio; A state executioner takes the law into his own hands. The Corpse Nobody Knew, script by Al Feldstein, art by George Roussos; A couple find a body in their hotel room and play detective. Curse of the Full Moon!, script and art by Johnny Craig; Ralf thinks he's become a werewolf after being scratched by a Wolfsbane plant. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #18: Cover art by Johnny Craig. The Maestro's Hand, script and art by Al Feldstein; Dr. Hellman arrives at a cabin in the woods to forget the suicide of his ex-fiancee after he unnecessarily removed the injured piano hand of her lover and he killed himself. The Living Corpse, script by Al Feldstein, art by Wally Wood; A magician strikes his assistant while wearing a snake ring and then attempts to locate where her body was taken by playing dead himself as to remove the snake imprint evidence. Madness At Manderville, art by Harvey Kurtzman; When Tom Mander and his wife lose their son Billy, Tom worries the strain may be driving her insane when she tells him that she sees and hears things he cannot. Mute Witness To Murder!, art by Johnny Craig. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #19: Cover art by Johnny Craig. Ghost Ship, script and art by Al Feldstein; A man and his wife are flying in a small plane when a thick fog arises and they are forced to put down at sea; Using a lifeboat for a couple of days they come across a rotted ship. The Hungry Grave, script by Gardner Fox, art by Graham Ingels; A woman hates her husband so she gives him small doses of arsenic trying to work up her nerve to finish him off, but all she succeeds in doing is allowing him to develop a tolerance to the stuff. Cave Man, script and art by Johnny Craig; A man thaws out after 200,000 years in ice and attacks his exhibitors. Zombie!, script and art by Johnny Craig. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #20: First issue of the series (continues from The Crypt of Terror). Cover by Johnny Craig. "The Thing From the Sea," script and art by Al Feldstein; During a sea voyage a passenger discovers that stateroom 13 has the reputation of being haunted. "A Fatal Caper," script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; Teenagers remove a body from a casket in order to dress as a mystically-summoned monster and place one of their own inside as a prank; the undertaker is unaware of this and buries the body. "Backfire" text story. "Rx...Death," script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; A sister worries that her brother is under too much stress and so asks a doctor to write a prescription for some medicine. "Impending Doom," script by Al Feldstein, art by Johnny Craig; An artist draws a frightened face with a circle around it; Thinking it odd, he goes for a walk encountering a grave-stone cutter who looks like the picture he drew carving a tombstone with his name on it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
#21: Cover by Al Feldstein. "A Shocking Way To Die," script and art by Al Feldstein; A scientist revives a man sent to the electric chair who then pursues revenge against the jury and judge that convicted him. "Terror Ride!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Wally Wood; A lunatic owner of a 'tunnel of love' ride replaces the wax figures in his lurid displays of violence with the more realistic-looking bodies of his victims so his customers will no longer laugh at the exhibits of his genius. "Burial" text story. "House of Horror," script by Al Feldstein, art by Harvey Kurtzman; Three college freshmen disappear one night as part of a frat hazing at a local haunted house. "Death Suited Him," script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; The rivalry between two college boys for the love a woman ends when the poorer of the two murders the other, making it look like an accident, to gain his wife and money. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #22: Cover by Al Feldstein. "The Thing From the Grave!", script and art by Al Feldstein; Bill and Jim are rivals for Laura's affection; After Jim proposes and Laura accepts, she worries about Bill's temper; Bill kills Jim and buries his body in the forest and disposes of his car in a sinkhole. "Blood Type 'V'!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; An auto accident forces a man to seek help for his wife who has been knocked unconscious; When he returns with a doctor, the doctor is surprised to see she has suffered few cuts but nonetheless is nearly dead from massive blood loss. "The Way Out" text story. "Death's Turn!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; Two unscrupulous amusement park owners offer a third partnership to a man who claims he has plans for the world's fastest roller coaster. "The Curse of the Arnold Clan!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Johnny Craig; A man finds a an old book in the attic which details a curse that stipulates every 50 years the eldest Arnold will be buried alive. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issues #17-22
Issue #17: First issue of the series (continues from Crime Patrol). First "New Trend" issue to hit stands. Cover art by Johnny Craig. Death Must Come, script and art by Al Feldstein; A transferred gland preserves youth. The Man Who Was Death, script by Gardner Fox, art by Bill Fraccio; A state executioner takes the law into his own hands. The Corpse Nobody Knew, script by Al Feldstein, art by George Roussos; A couple find a body in their hotel room and play detective. Curse of the Full Moon!, script and art by Johnny Craig; Ralf thinks he's become a werewolf after being scratched by a Wolfsbane plant. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #18: Cover art by Johnny Craig. The Maestro's Hand, script and art by Al Feldstein; Dr. Hellman arrives at a cabin in the woods to forget the suicide of his ex-fiancee after he unnecessarily removed the injured piano hand of her lover and he killed himself. The Living Corpse, script by Al Feldstein, art by Wally Wood; A magician strikes his assistant while wearing a snake ring and then attempts to locate where her body was taken by playing dead himself as to remove the snake imprint evidence. Madness At Manderville, art by Harvey Kurtzman; When Tom Mander and his wife lose their son Billy, Tom worries the strain may be driving her insane when she tells him that she sees and hears things he cannot. Mute Witness To Murder!, art by Johnny Craig. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #19: Cover art by Johnny Craig. Ghost Ship, script and art by Al Feldstein; A man and his wife are flying in a small plane when a thick fog arises and they are forced to put down at sea; Using a lifeboat for a couple of days they come across a rotted ship. The Hungry Grave, script by Gardner Fox, art by Graham Ingels; A woman hates her husband so she gives him small doses of arsenic trying to work up her nerve to finish him off, but all she succeeds in doing is allowing him to develop a tolerance to the stuff. Cave Man, script and art by Johnny Craig; A man thaws out after 200,000 years in ice and attacks his exhibitors. Zombie!, script and art by Johnny Craig. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #20: First issue of the series (continues from The Crypt of Terror). Cover by Johnny Craig. "The Thing From the Sea," script and art by Al Feldstein; During a sea voyage a passenger discovers that stateroom 13 has the reputation of being haunted. "A Fatal Caper," script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; Teenagers remove a body from a casket in order to dress as a mystically-summoned monster and place one of their own inside as a prank; the undertaker is unaware of this and buries the body. "Backfire" text story. "Rx...Death," script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; A sister worries that her brother is under too much stress and so asks a doctor to write a prescription for some medicine. "Impending Doom," script by Al Feldstein, art by Johnny Craig; An artist draws a frightened face with a circle around it; Thinking it odd, he goes for a walk encountering a grave-stone cutter who looks like the picture he drew carving a tombstone with his name on it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
#21: Cover by Al Feldstein. "A Shocking Way To Die," script and art by Al Feldstein; A scientist revives a man sent to the electric chair who then pursues revenge against the jury and judge that convicted him. "Terror Ride!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Wally Wood; A lunatic owner of a 'tunnel of love' ride replaces the wax figures in his lurid displays of violence with the more realistic-looking bodies of his victims so his customers will no longer laugh at the exhibits of his genius. "Burial" text story. "House of Horror," script by Al Feldstein, art by Harvey Kurtzman; Three college freshmen disappear one night as part of a frat hazing at a local haunted house. "Death Suited Him," script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; The rivalry between two college boys for the love a woman ends when the poorer of the two murders the other, making it look like an accident, to gain his wife and money. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Issue #22: Cover by Al Feldstein. "The Thing From the Grave!", script and art by Al Feldstein; Bill and Jim are rivals for Laura's affection; After Jim proposes and Laura accepts, she worries about Bill's temper; Bill kills Jim and buries his body in the forest and disposes of his car in a sinkhole. "Blood Type 'V'!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; An auto accident forces a man to seek help for his wife who has been knocked unconscious; When he returns with a doctor, the doctor is surprised to see she has suffered few cuts but nonetheless is nearly dead from massive blood loss. "The Way Out" text story. "Death's Turn!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; Two unscrupulous amusement park owners offer a third partnership to a man who claims he has plans for the world's fastest roller coaster. "The Curse of the Arnold Clan!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Johnny Craig; A man finds a an old book in the attic which details a curse that stipulates every 50 years the eldest Arnold will be buried alive. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 5, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of classic comic books from The EC Archives, Tales from the Crypt series. It gave me some fond memories of watching Tales from the Crypt when I was much younger on late night Friday/Saturday tv. Great fun scary stories, often brought on by someone that was venturing where they shouldn't go. Loved them!!
I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publishing via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publishing via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
December 12, 2017
No one did Horror comics like EC. The art and writing were top notch for the time and still read well today. The stories were considered very graphic then and let to much of what EC did getting a lot of bad press and being banned from news stands in some cities. The artists and writers that made these incredible comics became some of the industry leaders a few years later. Recommended
July 10, 2021
Aunque la edición pudo mejorar por el lado del color, las historias se disfrutan tanto que tengo que darle las 5 estrellas de rigor. Impresionante
November 7, 2022
Primero que nada debo admitir que soy un fan de las series, películas o libros que son antologías. Y una de las que más marcó mi infancia fue precisamente la serie inspirada y basada en estos cómics de EC. Estar viernes en la noche a la media noche, o a las 10, o a la hora que al maldito encargado de programación del canal 5 de México y su orquitis vieran a bien transmitirlo, pasando a veces más miedo por el intro que por el capítulo, son grandes recuerdos.
Aquí tenemos una colección de cómics de esta serie, cada uno conteniendo mínimo 3 historias de distinta longitud. Sin embargo la longitud no determina la calidad, hay unos relatos que tienen páginas de más que son muy planos, y hay otros de 3 o 4 páginas que son bastante impresionantes.
Todo el camino lo hacemos con tres personajes que nos presentan cada historia alternándose, El guardián de la cripta, la vieja bruja o el guardián de la bóveda. Los últimos dos anfitriones de otros cómics antológicos de horror de la editorial EC, The haunt of fear y The vault of horror. Otros cómics con el mismo corte y temática. Estos nos dan una pequeña introducción a las historias y a veces una pequeña y retorcida conclusión. Además de una o dos historias cortas que se nos narran entre las historias, totalmente en texto y casi siempre acompañadas de las publicidades a otras revistas de la editorial, muy propio de la época y una pequeña sección para responder correspondencia que se les enviaba.
Es muy particular leer este tipo de historias y por eso, el impacto, el dibujo y la imaginación, ese volumen logra la calificación de 4 estrellas.
Sin duda estos cómics son una ventana a otra época, antes de que casi fueran exterminados los cómics por un psiquiatra con muchas frustraciones y represiones. Una época donde esto era revolucionario y perturbaba mucho más, donde la imaginación tenía que volar y los miedos eran distintos, donde se permitía más el contacto con la audiencia. Lamentablemente muchas veces estos cómics no llegaron a nuestro mercado, había copias o inspiraciones y versiones, pero poder leer los originales gracias a Diábolo ediciones es algo que se agradece y disfruta.
También disponibles en su idioma original, el inglés, son las opciones para checar estas joyas, estaré leyendo próximamente los otros dos volúmenes que tengo a mi disposición y ya veré qué tal me va, recomendado para amantes del horror y cómics vintage, clásicos y hechos por talentos que después se volvieron leyendas.
Aquí tenemos una colección de cómics de esta serie, cada uno conteniendo mínimo 3 historias de distinta longitud. Sin embargo la longitud no determina la calidad, hay unos relatos que tienen páginas de más que son muy planos, y hay otros de 3 o 4 páginas que son bastante impresionantes.
Todo el camino lo hacemos con tres personajes que nos presentan cada historia alternándose, El guardián de la cripta, la vieja bruja o el guardián de la bóveda. Los últimos dos anfitriones de otros cómics antológicos de horror de la editorial EC, The haunt of fear y The vault of horror. Otros cómics con el mismo corte y temática. Estos nos dan una pequeña introducción a las historias y a veces una pequeña y retorcida conclusión. Además de una o dos historias cortas que se nos narran entre las historias, totalmente en texto y casi siempre acompañadas de las publicidades a otras revistas de la editorial, muy propio de la época y una pequeña sección para responder correspondencia que se les enviaba.
Es muy particular leer este tipo de historias y por eso, el impacto, el dibujo y la imaginación, ese volumen logra la calificación de 4 estrellas.
Sin duda estos cómics son una ventana a otra época, antes de que casi fueran exterminados los cómics por un psiquiatra con muchas frustraciones y represiones. Una época donde esto era revolucionario y perturbaba mucho más, donde la imaginación tenía que volar y los miedos eran distintos, donde se permitía más el contacto con la audiencia. Lamentablemente muchas veces estos cómics no llegaron a nuestro mercado, había copias o inspiraciones y versiones, pero poder leer los originales gracias a Diábolo ediciones es algo que se agradece y disfruta.
También disponibles en su idioma original, el inglés, son las opciones para checar estas joyas, estaré leyendo próximamente los otros dos volúmenes que tengo a mi disposición y ya veré qué tal me va, recomendado para amantes del horror y cómics vintage, clásicos y hechos por talentos que después se volvieron leyendas.
April 8, 2020
I never thought the Tales from the Crypt comics were as good as the Suspenstories, which I always thought of as being the best of E.C. The big difference, of course, is the supernatural element of almost ever Crypt story, i.e., vampires, werewolves, voodoo, etc. The are none the less entertaining though.
Read
February 23, 2024These EC horror collections are fun to read every now and then. The campiness, the cleverness, and the genuine perverse creepiness of some stories is pretty great. I do wish these reprints were in black-and-white though, if only to preserve the original art's beautiful detail.
June 26, 2021
Imprescindible!!!!
January 13, 2023
Overall, I loved this book! It kept me on my toes!
I did not enjoy the last story because I think it was an outdated, poorly written story involving a hearing person becoming a Deaf person.
I did not enjoy the last story because I think it was an outdated, poorly written story involving a hearing person becoming a Deaf person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2024
Bones històries, compilació clàssica dels anys cinquanta.
November 28, 2022
Best. Comics. Ever. Don't believe anyone giving less than five stars to the volume 1 of each of the horror (and sci-fi and war) titles. There is a TON of great stuff that happens only in these precious first issues that isn't quite as immediate or striking as later issues, but if I had to have only a few archives (and I have over 40), it would be these, starting with this one in particular.
The two most important artist-writers (Feldstein and Kurtzman) stopped drawing stories after the first year to focus on writing full time for the other artists, so these (and the sci-fi) are some of the last, and most expressive, comics stories drawn by either of these two titans. They both did covers and other smaller contributions, but the visual style of each of these lies invisibly underneath all the EC stories they wrote, which is to say nearly all of the classic material, and to fans of the stories themselves, having read and re-read them, there is a purity and electricity here that remains exciting, alluring, even intoxicating.
Feldstein, who wrote over 600 stories in these five years, kicks things off with "Death Must Come", which is less detailed visually and narratively than his work immediately before this and reflects the strain of, well, changing pop culture. It's not bad, but not as memorable as it would be remade, like the rest of the first issue. His next, "The Maestro's Hand" is, appropriately, a masterpiece, with a plot that just gets crazier (and better) as it goes. "The Ghost Ship", "The Thing From The Sea" and "A Shocking Way to Die" are all bathed in his inimitable woodcut-like visual style that feels like something from another century. "The Thing From The Grave", deservedly the cover story of this volume, is perhaps his most archetypal classic, setting the tone for the entire genre of story we now call 'zombie' (which is different from the 'zombie' of then, but don't worry: they're here too).
Harvey Kurtzman, who hated horror comics, nevertheless turns in two winners with "Madness in Manderville" and especially "House of Horror", which feels like the first telling of an urban legend. (They would inspire his first story in MAD when he invented that legendary comic a year later).
The third artist writer, Craig, is still riding the surge of ambition that marked his work since he debuted in Crime Patrol and Saddle Justice, and he remains the most consistent thread of the EC story as a whole. His "Mute Witness To Murder" and "Cave Man" provide a different sort of intelligence that breaks up the storytelling sensibilities in a welcome way. "Zombie", of the Haitian voodoo kind, is also nice work, and amongst the better of the several of these he did.
Then Ingels. The most striking artist of all EC horror jumps into the spotlight with his first four scary stories. In this volume, it's "The Hungry Grave" (Vault of Horror has "Doctor of Horror" and "Rats Have Sharp Teeth", Haunt has "The Killer In the Coffin"), and his visual style in these is at an all time high. These stories in particular have a jaw-droppingly gorgeous use of heavy, heavy blacks and shadows, so much that I wonder if he was asked to pull back a little. Best of all, the panels are broken into irregular shapes, something Ingels had been doing more and more at EC up to that point. This work leaps off the page, announcing the arrival of a major artist who would raise the bar for everyone at the label, or drawing horror anywhere, to meet over the coming years.
As Feldstein got gained more clout as a writer, he unfortunately began to constrict his artists by forcing them to conform to his rigid brick-panel style, but for the first volume Ingels gets his way and the drawings are some of this revolutionary artists most charged and essential. His other stories are good, too.
When I was new to EC, not long ago at all, I underrated these first issues and I think the star ratings of other readers reflect that (both on the volume 1 and 5's, which are all under-rated IMHO). Make no mistake: this is the cream of comics golden age, and definitely a lot better than volume 4, which is totally overrated possibly because of how damn expensive it is (though it does have a prettier, less iconic cover). Devour these undying tales again, and again, and again....
The two most important artist-writers (Feldstein and Kurtzman) stopped drawing stories after the first year to focus on writing full time for the other artists, so these (and the sci-fi) are some of the last, and most expressive, comics stories drawn by either of these two titans. They both did covers and other smaller contributions, but the visual style of each of these lies invisibly underneath all the EC stories they wrote, which is to say nearly all of the classic material, and to fans of the stories themselves, having read and re-read them, there is a purity and electricity here that remains exciting, alluring, even intoxicating.
Feldstein, who wrote over 600 stories in these five years, kicks things off with "Death Must Come", which is less detailed visually and narratively than his work immediately before this and reflects the strain of, well, changing pop culture. It's not bad, but not as memorable as it would be remade, like the rest of the first issue. His next, "The Maestro's Hand" is, appropriately, a masterpiece, with a plot that just gets crazier (and better) as it goes. "The Ghost Ship", "The Thing From The Sea" and "A Shocking Way to Die" are all bathed in his inimitable woodcut-like visual style that feels like something from another century. "The Thing From The Grave", deservedly the cover story of this volume, is perhaps his most archetypal classic, setting the tone for the entire genre of story we now call 'zombie' (which is different from the 'zombie' of then, but don't worry: they're here too).
Harvey Kurtzman, who hated horror comics, nevertheless turns in two winners with "Madness in Manderville" and especially "House of Horror", which feels like the first telling of an urban legend. (They would inspire his first story in MAD when he invented that legendary comic a year later).
The third artist writer, Craig, is still riding the surge of ambition that marked his work since he debuted in Crime Patrol and Saddle Justice, and he remains the most consistent thread of the EC story as a whole. His "Mute Witness To Murder" and "Cave Man" provide a different sort of intelligence that breaks up the storytelling sensibilities in a welcome way. "Zombie", of the Haitian voodoo kind, is also nice work, and amongst the better of the several of these he did.
Then Ingels. The most striking artist of all EC horror jumps into the spotlight with his first four scary stories. In this volume, it's "The Hungry Grave" (Vault of Horror has "Doctor of Horror" and "Rats Have Sharp Teeth", Haunt has "The Killer In the Coffin"), and his visual style in these is at an all time high. These stories in particular have a jaw-droppingly gorgeous use of heavy, heavy blacks and shadows, so much that I wonder if he was asked to pull back a little. Best of all, the panels are broken into irregular shapes, something Ingels had been doing more and more at EC up to that point. This work leaps off the page, announcing the arrival of a major artist who would raise the bar for everyone at the label, or drawing horror anywhere, to meet over the coming years.
As Feldstein got gained more clout as a writer, he unfortunately began to constrict his artists by forcing them to conform to his rigid brick-panel style, but for the first volume Ingels gets his way and the drawings are some of this revolutionary artists most charged and essential. His other stories are good, too.
When I was new to EC, not long ago at all, I underrated these first issues and I think the star ratings of other readers reflect that (both on the volume 1 and 5's, which are all under-rated IMHO). Make no mistake: this is the cream of comics golden age, and definitely a lot better than volume 4, which is totally overrated possibly because of how damn expensive it is (though it does have a prettier, less iconic cover). Devour these undying tales again, and again, and again....
June 25, 2021
Me ha gustado muchísimo, me ha recordado cuando veía con 12 o 13 años, Creepshow, The Twilight Zone, empezaba a leer Stephen King, la revista Creepy. De lo mejor que he leído últimamente.
June 18, 2021
Todo un clásico que ahora se puede volver a disfrutar a color en castellano, excelentemente editado por Diábolo en un primer tomo de la serie. Se puede ir apreciando la evolución desde los primeros cuentos, que tienden más hacia el crimen y el "noir" hacia el terror más sobrenatural, con la aparición de vampiros, maldiciones, zombis... La introducción del cineasta experto en el género, John Carpenter, nos retrotrae, desde ese balsón de su nostalgia, a todo lo que significaron estos cómics en una época represiva y puritana. Quizá la mayor parte de las historias, con su consabida "moraleja", puedan resultarle naif a un lector presente como ocurre con los relatos de Poe o de la revista "Weird Tales" pero debe uno alejarse del "presentismo hipercorrecionista" y apreciar su irreverencia crítica, tan necesaria en estos momentos de recuperar. No puede faltar en los estantes de la biblioteca de cualquier mansión embrujada digna de tal nombre.
August 17, 2007
I remember growing up my dad was obsessed with Robins Donuts,this is before the Tim Hortons revolution hit Canada.Nonetheless The cafe was located next to a comic shop. This place supplied my addiction to the sinister crypt keeper that would introduce each and every tale. That would put shivers down my spine and equal a sleepless night.
March 24, 2010
Rudimentary. Every series has to start somewhere, but this volume is out of print with good reason: the first issues aren't good.
August 22, 2023
So I've always wanted to read the Tales from the Crypt comics, having loved the TV show growing up. So if you don't know Tales from the Crypt, published in the late 1940s and early 1950s by comic book publisher EC Comics is a hugely important comic book in comic history. The super hero fad had sort of come and gone in post World War II and comics about the American frontier, noir-ish detective comics and because of EC Comics, horror comics became popular comics.
Because of their content though, the comics started to be criticised by parents, schoolteachers and clergymen and as a result, what was known as the Comics Code was put into place.
The Comics Code Authority was formed in a congressional hearing in 1954 and while there was no law requiring its use, advertisers and retailers used its reassurance to stock the books. There were the guidelines to get the stamp of Comics Code, per wikipedia:
"Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.
Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals."
So, with these in mind and the dwindling sales since retailers would not stock their books, Tales from the Crypt was cancelled. It was eventually revived as a movie and then more importantly, a TV show on HBO in the 1990s, which is mainly what I've been familiar with and love.
These comics aren't anything groundbreaking reading this in 2023, but they're *hugely* important if you're any sort of horror fan. I think they do get better as the series ages, but mainly the plots follow a formula; someone does something wrong, morally or legally and is punished for it in various methods. The Crypt Keeper here is an old man, not the boney-puppet of the TV show voiced wonderfully by John Kassir, but there is a charm to this whole thing if you can place yourself back in that time period. It's *wild* that these comics caused such an uproar, because by modern day standards these stories are fairly tame, content you would have found in the 1990s in teen books like the Fear Street series by R.L. Stine.
Anyway, I do recommend these comics with that frame of mind, if you can buy into it, they're a quick enjoyable read, though nothing you haven't seen before.
Because of their content though, the comics started to be criticised by parents, schoolteachers and clergymen and as a result, what was known as the Comics Code was put into place.
The Comics Code Authority was formed in a congressional hearing in 1954 and while there was no law requiring its use, advertisers and retailers used its reassurance to stock the books. There were the guidelines to get the stamp of Comics Code, per wikipedia:
"Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.
Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals."
So, with these in mind and the dwindling sales since retailers would not stock their books, Tales from the Crypt was cancelled. It was eventually revived as a movie and then more importantly, a TV show on HBO in the 1990s, which is mainly what I've been familiar with and love.
These comics aren't anything groundbreaking reading this in 2023, but they're *hugely* important if you're any sort of horror fan. I think they do get better as the series ages, but mainly the plots follow a formula; someone does something wrong, morally or legally and is punished for it in various methods. The Crypt Keeper here is an old man, not the boney-puppet of the TV show voiced wonderfully by John Kassir, but there is a charm to this whole thing if you can place yourself back in that time period. It's *wild* that these comics caused such an uproar, because by modern day standards these stories are fairly tame, content you would have found in the 1990s in teen books like the Fear Street series by R.L. Stine.
Anyway, I do recommend these comics with that frame of mind, if you can buy into it, they're a quick enjoyable read, though nothing you haven't seen before.
March 29, 2019
So this might be the time for me to admit that I'm really not much of a horror fan.
Oh I like the classics...Dracula, Frankenstein and their film analogs (I love the classic Universal monster films) but at some point I felt like horror lost its way. It was probably something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that did it, replacing gore with the mystery and suspense of the classic horror yarn. The tension is created as much by what the viewer doesn't see as what they do and when they do see it, presentation matters.
Unfortunately for Tales From The Crypt, it has two things working against it for me. First, my first exposure of Tales was from the HBO anthology series. Again, not naturally a horror fan, so this show didn't do much for my teenage psyche. Secondly, before I read The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt Vol. 1, I had spent some time reading the Warren Publishing horror anthology "magazines" Creepy , Eerie , Vampirella and to some extent Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing (which was DC, not Warren.) Discounting Moore, when comparing Tales from the Crypt is missing a vital element from the Warren magazines that it inspired--Archie Goodwin.
Perhaps this comparison isn't fair--after all Goodwin wasn't in comics when the Tales From the Crypt issues were published in 1950 (he was 13 at the time), and this is the work that obviously inspired Goodwin's work on Creepy, et al. The problem is that the target audience for Warren's books was ostensibly "young adults" as one of the reasons the EC books were cancelled was due to the book Seduction of the Innocent and the subsequent founding of the Comics Code Authority, that effectively handcuffed the genre until books like Creepy and the Savage Sword of Conan circumvented the code by publishing in magazine format. This actually was a boon for Creepy as the art was rendered in pencils and inks only, lending a more horrific feel to Goodwin's storytelling. And it is Goodwin who is the gold standard for these horror yarns--the moment he left Warren, the quality of those magazines immediately fell off.
There are legends of comics in these volumes, Al Feldstein, Wally Wood and Johnny Craig among others, but it's amazing how most horror stories boil down to the same narrative. For as groundbreaking as some horror content can be, I won't mourn reading a story where a man covets an unavailable woman of his affection, going on a murder spree to claim her as some sort of possession, only to have comeuppance dealt by the dead zombie lover. I realize that these Leave It to Beaver-esque views are a product of the times, but it just feels like a horror #metoo that never ends.
From historical perspective Tales from the Crypt is probably required reading for horror fans of both comics and film, as this book inspired a whole generation of horror creators (see the introduction from filmmaker John Carpenter to begin the volume and again, the aforementioned Archie Goodwin), but when it comes to comic horror, nothing is going to beat Goodwin and Moore's early Swamp Thing work (which ironically played a major role in killing the Comics Code Authority) so maybe something like the early issues of Creepy is the better bet.
Oh I like the classics...Dracula, Frankenstein and their film analogs (I love the classic Universal monster films) but at some point I felt like horror lost its way. It was probably something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that did it, replacing gore with the mystery and suspense of the classic horror yarn. The tension is created as much by what the viewer doesn't see as what they do and when they do see it, presentation matters.
Unfortunately for Tales From The Crypt, it has two things working against it for me. First, my first exposure of Tales was from the HBO anthology series. Again, not naturally a horror fan, so this show didn't do much for my teenage psyche. Secondly, before I read The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt Vol. 1, I had spent some time reading the Warren Publishing horror anthology "magazines" Creepy , Eerie , Vampirella and to some extent Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing (which was DC, not Warren.) Discounting Moore, when comparing Tales from the Crypt is missing a vital element from the Warren magazines that it inspired--Archie Goodwin.
Perhaps this comparison isn't fair--after all Goodwin wasn't in comics when the Tales From the Crypt issues were published in 1950 (he was 13 at the time), and this is the work that obviously inspired Goodwin's work on Creepy, et al. The problem is that the target audience for Warren's books was ostensibly "young adults" as one of the reasons the EC books were cancelled was due to the book Seduction of the Innocent and the subsequent founding of the Comics Code Authority, that effectively handcuffed the genre until books like Creepy and the Savage Sword of Conan circumvented the code by publishing in magazine format. This actually was a boon for Creepy as the art was rendered in pencils and inks only, lending a more horrific feel to Goodwin's storytelling. And it is Goodwin who is the gold standard for these horror yarns--the moment he left Warren, the quality of those magazines immediately fell off.
There are legends of comics in these volumes, Al Feldstein, Wally Wood and Johnny Craig among others, but it's amazing how most horror stories boil down to the same narrative. For as groundbreaking as some horror content can be, I won't mourn reading a story where a man covets an unavailable woman of his affection, going on a murder spree to claim her as some sort of possession, only to have comeuppance dealt by the dead zombie lover. I realize that these Leave It to Beaver-esque views are a product of the times, but it just feels like a horror #metoo that never ends.
From historical perspective Tales from the Crypt is probably required reading for horror fans of both comics and film, as this book inspired a whole generation of horror creators (see the introduction from filmmaker John Carpenter to begin the volume and again, the aforementioned Archie Goodwin), but when it comes to comic horror, nothing is going to beat Goodwin and Moore's early Swamp Thing work (which ironically played a major role in killing the Comics Code Authority) so maybe something like the early issues of Creepy is the better bet.
October 12, 2021
Reprints The Crypt of Terror #17-19 and Tales from the Crypt #20-22 (April 1950-February 1951). The Crypt Keeper has some stories for his fearful readers. The Crypt is full of horror…the dead walk, witches cast spells, jealous spouses plot murder…and the horror is endless. The Crypt Keeper is ready to welcome his guests, and the Crypt is always open!
Written by Al Feldstein, Gardner Fox, Johnny Craig, and Ivan Klapper (with some writers unknown), EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt—Volume 1 is an EC horror anthology collection released by Dark Horse Comics. With Al Feldstein, Bill Fraccio, George Roussos, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kamen, and Graham Ingels, the series was considered influential upon its release and spawn TV series and films. The series was previously started as Crime Patrol and then took the title The Crypt of Terror before settling on Tales from the Crypt.
Despite years and years of comic book reading and watching all of the HBO series, I never actually read any of the original Tales from the Crypt or its sister titles. With a brand new high quality trade paperback reprint series by Dark Horse, I thought it was the right time to visit the Crypt…and as expected, I loved it.
Don’t go into Tales from the Crypt expecting shock. The stories play out largely how you think they will simply because they are clichés now (and likely were clichés then). The comics always come with twists that seem pretty obvious to readers and feel like pulp stories from old magazines. Despite this, the writers have fun with stories and know that many of the readers were younger…leading to the knowledge that they were reading something kind of salacious and “dangerous”…something that parents wouldn’t approve of. It was this self-awareness that allowed Tales from the Crypt to flourish.
The stories are combined with a solid group of artists. The formats and the look of the comics aren’t like modern comics and “new” readers might find that aspect a bit challenging. The quality of the art is better than a lot of the comics that were coming out at the time, and Dark Horse has really cleaned up the prints. In a way, this is fantastic…you can see all the lines and inking as the artist saw it (or even better). This also is a bit of a letdown in a way in that there is something wholesome and fun of these type of comics having a little grime from being something that wasn’t meant to be clean and pristine.
If you never read Tales from the Crypt, now is the time. Dark Horse has a nice schedule to release many of the EC titles (which started out as Educational Comics) and this first collection is a great start. The backlash from Tales from the Crypt rocked the comic book world and helped establish the comic code which helped crush the EC series…but also led to Marvel and DC’s silver age. The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt—Volume 1 is an important comic in history and still worth visiting.
Written by Al Feldstein, Gardner Fox, Johnny Craig, and Ivan Klapper (with some writers unknown), EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt—Volume 1 is an EC horror anthology collection released by Dark Horse Comics. With Al Feldstein, Bill Fraccio, George Roussos, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kamen, and Graham Ingels, the series was considered influential upon its release and spawn TV series and films. The series was previously started as Crime Patrol and then took the title The Crypt of Terror before settling on Tales from the Crypt.
Despite years and years of comic book reading and watching all of the HBO series, I never actually read any of the original Tales from the Crypt or its sister titles. With a brand new high quality trade paperback reprint series by Dark Horse, I thought it was the right time to visit the Crypt…and as expected, I loved it.
Don’t go into Tales from the Crypt expecting shock. The stories play out largely how you think they will simply because they are clichés now (and likely were clichés then). The comics always come with twists that seem pretty obvious to readers and feel like pulp stories from old magazines. Despite this, the writers have fun with stories and know that many of the readers were younger…leading to the knowledge that they were reading something kind of salacious and “dangerous”…something that parents wouldn’t approve of. It was this self-awareness that allowed Tales from the Crypt to flourish.
The stories are combined with a solid group of artists. The formats and the look of the comics aren’t like modern comics and “new” readers might find that aspect a bit challenging. The quality of the art is better than a lot of the comics that were coming out at the time, and Dark Horse has really cleaned up the prints. In a way, this is fantastic…you can see all the lines and inking as the artist saw it (or even better). This also is a bit of a letdown in a way in that there is something wholesome and fun of these type of comics having a little grime from being something that wasn’t meant to be clean and pristine.
If you never read Tales from the Crypt, now is the time. Dark Horse has a nice schedule to release many of the EC titles (which started out as Educational Comics) and this first collection is a great start. The backlash from Tales from the Crypt rocked the comic book world and helped establish the comic code which helped crush the EC series…but also led to Marvel and DC’s silver age. The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt—Volume 1 is an important comic in history and still worth visiting.
July 21, 2019
E.C. Comics most popular title Tales from the Crypt evolved out of a comic called Crime Patrol. Crime Patrol #15 introduced a new feature called “The Crypt of Terror” which was a horror tale. Then Crime Patrol #16 was all horror stories, and the name of the comic changed with the next issue to The Crypt of Terror. This compilation begins with that issue. The title’s origins as a crime comic are still obvious. That first issue contains mainly crime-related horror stories - a man discovers a way to keep himself young but it means committing a series of murders, an executioner gets carried away with meting out extra-judicial punishment, a mysterious corpse is found in a hotel room and the murderer must be discovered. The last story is a werewolf tale, but not the conventionally supernatural variety. From that first issue it is possible to see the title flower into a true horror comic as we get a healthy mix of ghost ships, voodoo and vampires mixed with the non-supernatural dread of greedy or vengeful people bringing unspeakable fates down upon themselves with their dastardly schemes. It would become Tales from the Crypt with Issue 20, the fourth issue in this volume.
Some stories, like Rx… Death! and House of Horror never explain their horrific events and conjure up all the more dread for that reason. And there are some very cleverly plotted stories, especially impressive in such a brief medium - The Living Corpse, Madness at Manderville (an interesting variation on Gaslight), Mute Witness to Murder! (which would have been perfect for Alfred Hitchcock Presents), A Fatal Caper! (with a great ending). Probably the highlight, though, is the marvellously meta Impending Doom, which begins with an artist drawing a face and then follows him as he finds himself in a horror story which links his fate with that of the real life man who has that face.
Some stories, like Rx… Death! and House of Horror never explain their horrific events and conjure up all the more dread for that reason. And there are some very cleverly plotted stories, especially impressive in such a brief medium - The Living Corpse, Madness at Manderville (an interesting variation on Gaslight), Mute Witness to Murder! (which would have been perfect for Alfred Hitchcock Presents), A Fatal Caper! (with a great ending). Probably the highlight, though, is the marvellously meta Impending Doom, which begins with an artist drawing a face and then follows him as he finds himself in a horror story which links his fate with that of the real life man who has that face.
November 11, 2020
Maybe three and a half stars. I kind of experimented with some classic EC comics a few years ago and wasn't very impressed. This time I think maybe having an idea of what I was getting into helped.
Each story is self-contained, and there are no real carryover characters. The Crypt Keeper looks different than his more famous incarnation, and he just makes lots of dumb jokes, so that's... fine. It is kind of amusing to see that he has a relationship with the other horror hosts, and the other horror hosts make guest appearances here, but their humor and personalities are almost identical to CK.
Each self-contained story tends to follow certain patterns, usually involving ghosts and undead and revenge, especially with married couples or spurned lovers and the like. These get repetitive, and I wanted more creature features, but some of the stories are fairly memorable, and some have effectively creepy imagery! The art is definitely a highlight, with lots of highly-detailed and creepy art. The early comics I would say are not that gruesome compared to their eventual reputation. Overall, the stuff is entertaining, although I cannot say the same for the text-only short stories which tend to lack punch or interest.
I read this book for Halloween, and afterwards I found out about an even older horror anthology title called Adventures into the Unknown, republished by Dark Horse. I picked up the first volume and read it soon after this one, and the format is nearly identical save for the lack of a horror host. Tales from the Crypt really feels like an updated, higher-quality version of Adventures into the Unknown, with a lot of the same tropes and patterns appearing in both titles.
Overall, certainly interesting for fans of older comics and comic history. I might continue reading later on, but I wish there was a bit more substance.
Each story is self-contained, and there are no real carryover characters. The Crypt Keeper looks different than his more famous incarnation, and he just makes lots of dumb jokes, so that's... fine. It is kind of amusing to see that he has a relationship with the other horror hosts, and the other horror hosts make guest appearances here, but their humor and personalities are almost identical to CK.
Each self-contained story tends to follow certain patterns, usually involving ghosts and undead and revenge, especially with married couples or spurned lovers and the like. These get repetitive, and I wanted more creature features, but some of the stories are fairly memorable, and some have effectively creepy imagery! The art is definitely a highlight, with lots of highly-detailed and creepy art. The early comics I would say are not that gruesome compared to their eventual reputation. Overall, the stuff is entertaining, although I cannot say the same for the text-only short stories which tend to lack punch or interest.
I read this book for Halloween, and afterwards I found out about an even older horror anthology title called Adventures into the Unknown, republished by Dark Horse. I picked up the first volume and read it soon after this one, and the format is nearly identical save for the lack of a horror host. Tales from the Crypt really feels like an updated, higher-quality version of Adventures into the Unknown, with a lot of the same tropes and patterns appearing in both titles.
Overall, certainly interesting for fans of older comics and comic history. I might continue reading later on, but I wish there was a bit more substance.
April 25, 2022
As with my recent reading of THE EC ARCHIVES: THE HAUNT OF FEAR, VOL. 1, I found the stories in TALES FROM THE CRYPT, VOL. 1 to be utterly charming in a cheesy, nostalgic sort of way. Nothing here is going to get under the skin of a modern horror reader, but if you're anything like me, you'll love the stories anyway. They're earnest, direct, and anything but subtle. Most of them are tales of supernatural comeuppance, although a few, like the vampire story "Blood Type V" and the body horror "Rx...Death!", break the mold to offer a sting in the tail.
Something I never knew was that the first four issues of TALES FROM THE CRYPT were actually titled THE CRYPT OF TERROR (in keeping with the titles of its sister publications THE HAUNT OF FEAR and THE VAULT OF HORROR). What's more, those initial issues, which are included here, focus on stories of crime and suspense rather than horror, perhaps as holdovers from when CRYPT was originally a crime comic called CRIME PATROL. In fact, it isn't until the comic changes its name to the more familiar TALES FROM THE CRYPT that the stories become the supernatural tales we all know and love. (This is my sole reason for giving the volume 4 stars instead of 5.)
Interestingly, the first horror story in the first issue titled TALES FROM THE CRYPT, "The Thing from the Sea," is an uncredited and I assume unauthorized adaptation of F. Marion Crawford's "The Upper Berth." I can only guess that Al Feldstein, the credited author, thought none of the comic's young readers would notice! (He also changed the ending.)
The EC ARCHIVES series from Dark Horse is truly a joy. I look forward to getting my hands on more volumes!
Something I never knew was that the first four issues of TALES FROM THE CRYPT were actually titled THE CRYPT OF TERROR (in keeping with the titles of its sister publications THE HAUNT OF FEAR and THE VAULT OF HORROR). What's more, those initial issues, which are included here, focus on stories of crime and suspense rather than horror, perhaps as holdovers from when CRYPT was originally a crime comic called CRIME PATROL. In fact, it isn't until the comic changes its name to the more familiar TALES FROM THE CRYPT that the stories become the supernatural tales we all know and love. (This is my sole reason for giving the volume 4 stars instead of 5.)
Interestingly, the first horror story in the first issue titled TALES FROM THE CRYPT, "The Thing from the Sea," is an uncredited and I assume unauthorized adaptation of F. Marion Crawford's "The Upper Berth." I can only guess that Al Feldstein, the credited author, thought none of the comic's young readers would notice! (He also changed the ending.)
The EC ARCHIVES series from Dark Horse is truly a joy. I look forward to getting my hands on more volumes!
February 15, 2023
There’s a very strong overlap between the morality of these horror stories and a certain type of ‘hardboiled’ 1950s crime story: they full of no-good dames, dirty rotten hoods, and in the end - crime don’t pay! Stories such as ‘Mute Witness to Murder’ (about a woman who goes mute from the trauma of seeing a crime), and ‘Death’s Turn’ (about amusement park owners who murder their business partner) the guilty die on the last pages and the innocent escape. Indeed despite the reputation of these comics as shocking violators of contemporary morality at the time they were published, there’s very little in these stories that upends the traditional social order. White men are always in charge, women rarely take the initiative (and if they do, it's usually bad!), and the only non-white people are back drops to a story about a ‘White Zombie’ (about the wife of a white plantation owner in Haiti who is murdered, but returns).
I don’t think this is the strongest volume of stories in the 'Tales from the Crypt' series. Some of the problems of the form (predictable set-ups that are resolved too quickly) are very apparent here. However the final story 'The Curse of the Arnold Clan' - does have a broader imaginative range than others. And throughout this volume the artists (e.g. Harvey Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig), even if the quality varies, are always impressive.
I don’t think this is the strongest volume of stories in the 'Tales from the Crypt' series. Some of the problems of the form (predictable set-ups that are resolved too quickly) are very apparent here. However the final story 'The Curse of the Arnold Clan' - does have a broader imaginative range than others. And throughout this volume the artists (e.g. Harvey Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig), even if the quality varies, are always impressive.
February 3, 2022
As someone who grew up watching TFTC (on Fox, never even knew all the uncensored stuff HBO was airing until I bought the DVDs later) I spent a childhood always looking for and absolutely never finding an issue of TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Alas, I was born too late and the TFTC comic books days were over. So that these are now readily available as reprints is so so amazing to me.
This is my first encounter with them, and I honestly enjoyed them so much. They started out a little tame, but what series didn't. By the time we reach the end of this volume, these stories were really knocking it out of the park. A few tales were even very similar to the actual episode that later aired 40 years later which shows how great this writing was. I'm particularly thinking of the college fraternity pledging through a haunted house episode.
Also of interest, was of course the 10 cents on the covers, and the old ads which you can send in for. I found amusing the boy who offered a whopping 75 cents per back issue to anyone willing to sell. Hell, that's almost 8x the asking price!
If you have fond memories of TFTC, or just looking for an outstanding horror comic, I highly recommend this volume!
This is my first encounter with them, and I honestly enjoyed them so much. They started out a little tame, but what series didn't. By the time we reach the end of this volume, these stories were really knocking it out of the park. A few tales were even very similar to the actual episode that later aired 40 years later which shows how great this writing was. I'm particularly thinking of the college fraternity pledging through a haunted house episode.
Also of interest, was of course the 10 cents on the covers, and the old ads which you can send in for. I found amusing the boy who offered a whopping 75 cents per back issue to anyone willing to sell. Hell, that's almost 8x the asking price!
If you have fond memories of TFTC, or just looking for an outstanding horror comic, I highly recommend this volume!
November 14, 2022
I love the Crypt Keeper and everything about this gleefully ghoulish collection. I'm so glad someone collected and republished these EC volumes, it's great to go back and see how horror authors like Stephen King would've been influenced by these groundbreaking comics. Also, fuck Dr. Fredric Wertham.
It's fun to experience and study this type of horror, which was designed for pure entertainment. Nobody learns a lesson, and who cares! Sometimes, readers just want to enjoy a story about an arrogant, greedy asshole getting their comeuppance for messing with forces they shouldn't have... and these comics scratch that itch like no other. No wonder they were so popular. It's an interesting contrast with modern horror, where there seems to be an expectation of a theme or underlying commentary built in (especially if it wants to be mainstream popular or taken seriously by a publisher). I like living in a literary world that allows horror to be elevated and used as a highly effective method of social commentary... but I now better understand that horror fans find this genre appealing because it promises satisfaction and wish fulfillment. Very cool.
It's fun to experience and study this type of horror, which was designed for pure entertainment. Nobody learns a lesson, and who cares! Sometimes, readers just want to enjoy a story about an arrogant, greedy asshole getting their comeuppance for messing with forces they shouldn't have... and these comics scratch that itch like no other. No wonder they were so popular. It's an interesting contrast with modern horror, where there seems to be an expectation of a theme or underlying commentary built in (especially if it wants to be mainstream popular or taken seriously by a publisher). I like living in a literary world that allows horror to be elevated and used as a highly effective method of social commentary... but I now better understand that horror fans find this genre appealing because it promises satisfaction and wish fulfillment. Very cool.
September 8, 2018
This one's most intriguing if you've already read a few other volumes of EC horror comics already. Here, one really gets the feel for what the evolution of crime/suspense comics to outright supernatural horror was like. With the vast majority of the artwork done by Feldstein, the imagery can get a little monotonous, but again, this one is all about the birth of the "new trend" and it's not like Feldstein's thick lines and graphic sensibilities are unpleasant.
I also like how one story towards the end, "The Thing From The Grave," is basically the platonic template of what the typical EC horror story would become. It really FEELS like that groundbreaking concept that would be successfully emulated in so many future stories.
I also like how one story towards the end, "The Thing From The Grave," is basically the platonic template of what the typical EC horror story would become. It really FEELS like that groundbreaking concept that would be successfully emulated in so many future stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews