Shock SuspenStories #9

(June-July 1953)

The October Game (Table of Contents: 1)

A Horror SuspenStory / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Ray Bradbury; Al Feldstein (adaptation)

Pencils

Jack Kamen

Inks

Jack Kamen

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Mitch put the gun back into the bureau drawer...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Louise Wilder (Mitch's wife); Marion Wilder (Louise and Mitch's daughter, death); Helen; Mitch Wilder (villain)

Synopsis

A madman who hates his wife dismembers his daughter and passes around her body parts to children in a darkened cellar on Halloween.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Monsieur Sourire (Albin Michel, 1985 series) (1985) [N&B [B&W]]
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #5/1993 (uke 43 1993)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #31 - Three for the Money and Other Stories (December 2021) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2
• in Home to Stay! The Complete EC Ray Bradbury Stories (Fantagraphics, 2022 series) (January 2023)

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Based on the Ray Bradbury story that was first published in the March 1948 edition of Weird Tales.

Came The Dawn! (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Inks

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I knew someone was in the lodge the minute I hit the clearing.

Genre

crime

Characters

Cathy Maxwell (death); Bob Ames; un-named criminally insane girl (villain)

Synopsis

A man thinks that the girl he has met in the woods may be a dangerous escaped lunatic because she matches the description, but his girlfriend ends up meeting a grim fate as the latest victim of the true escapee.

Reprints

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
• in Der beste Horror aller Zeiten (BSV - Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in EC Portfolio (Russ Cochran, 1971 series) #5 (1974)
• in Den store skrækbog (Williams, 1974 series) ([1974])
• in Horreur - une anthologie en bandes dessinées (Williams France, 1974 series) (2e trimestre 1974)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Gysertimen (Interpresse, 1987 series) #1 (13. april 1987)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #4/1992 (uke 23 1992)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #2 - Came the Dawn and Other Stories (August 2012) [black-and-white reprint]
• in Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (Dark Horse, 2019 series) (2019)
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Surgery! (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Inks

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Ben Parker sniffed deeply at the ether-soaked sponge...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Doc Spender (unlicensed doctor); Bat Parker (villain); Danny (villain)

Synopsis

In a Police Hospital room, criminal Bat Parker, seriously wounded in a gunfight with the Police, needs a gangrene-laden leg amputated before he dies. The only way this quack would operate was if he were drunk. That was the easy part......the hard part was Bat discovering that the doc had cut off the wrong leg!

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2

Shock Talk (Table of Contents: 4)

Shock Talk / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2

Indexer Notes

The Editors print a variety of letters from readers, many of which centered around the Ray Bradbury adaptation, "The Small Assassin" from issue #7.

The Meddlers! (Table of Contents: 5)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Joe Orlando (signed)

Inks

Joe Orlando (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

When he came downtown on those rare visits to pick up provisions...

Genre

crime

Characters

Dr. Conrad Rivers (research chemist, death); Mr. Kearns (groery store owner, death); the widow Jones (death); Jed (death); Enos (death); Martha (death)

Synopsis

The folk of a small town attempt to drive away a doctor who is attempting to create life in a test tube. They smash his equipment while he suffers heart failure. His failed experiments combine in the sewer to create a blob-like living mass which devours the townsfolk.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1994 (uke 25 1994)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #9 - Judgment Day and Other Stories (May 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2

Keywords

Millville

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Carrion Death! (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Reed Crandall (signed)

Inks

Reed Crandall (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

My lips are parched and swollen and cracked.

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

unnamed State Trooper (death); unnamed bank robber (villain, death)

Synopsis

A man handcuffed to a policeman is trying to make his way through the desert on foot. He realizes that he has to separate himself from the body but has nothing sharp to cut off the dead man's hand with. He decides to lie down and allow the vultures to strip the corpse, but when he regains consciousness the vultures have already started in on him as well.

Reprints

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
• in Der beste Horror aller Zeiten (BSV - Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in Nacht der vampiers (Classics/Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in Den store skrækbog (Williams, 1974 series) ([1974])
• in Horreur - une anthologie en bandes dessinées (Williams France, 1974 series) (2e trimestre 1974)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Les Meilleures Histoires de... (Les Humanoïdes Associés, 1983 series) #[3] - Suspense (1983)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1989 (uke 16 1989)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #4 ([august] 1997)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #15 - The High Cost of Dying and Other Stories (February 2016) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (Dark Horse, 2019 series) (2019)
• in The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #2

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Cover story.