(April-May 1950)

EC, 1950 Series
| Next Issue >
Volume
1
Price
0.10 USD
Pages
36
Indicia Frequency
bi-monthly
On-sale Date
1950-01-09
Publisher's Age Guidelines
Authorized A. C. M. P. Conforms to the Comics Code
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
L. L. Publishing Co. Inc.
Brand
EC An Entertaining Comic
Editing
Bill Gaines (credited as William M. Gaines) (editor, credited)

Issue Notes

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing.
Parts of this issue are reprinted:

[Portrait in Wax] (Table of Contents)

The Vault of Horror / cover / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Johnny Craig (signed)
Inks
Johnny Craig (signed)
Colors
? (see notes)
Letters
Ben Oda
Genre
horror-suspense
Reprints

Indexer Notes

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

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

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

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

Cover Thumbnail for Vault of Horror (EC, 1950 series) #12
Edit cover
Cover gallery

SuspenStory Fans! (Table of Contents: 1)

The Crypt of terror / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script
Al Feldstein ?
Pencils
Al Feldstein (illustrations); Johnny Craig (signed)
Inks
Al Feldstein (illustrations); Johnny Craig (signed)
Letters
?; typeset
Genre
horror-suspense

Indexer Notes

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

Portrait in Wax! (Table of Contents: 2)

The Vault of Horror / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
Johnny Craig (signed)
Pencils
Johnny Craig (signed)
Inks
Johnny Craig (signed)
Colors
? (see notes)
Letters
Jim Wroten
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Ah, we meet again, dear reader!
Genre
horror-suspense
Characters
The Vault Keeper (host); Robert [aka Jules Vendette] (artist, death); unnamed art buyer; Lord James Cherringwood; Henry (villain, Robert's friend, death)
Synopsis
Henry was jealous of his artist friend Robert for not selling his etchings. One day Henry began selling Robert's work to an art buyer. Robert found out and confronted Henry, who threw acid in his face then dumped the body into an acid vat. Henry almost used up the wealth of Robert's drawings until he met a wax statue maker and opened a museum with him. When one of the statues' arms was damaged Henry found a human hand beneath it. Henry confronted the sculptor, who removed a wax mask from his face, revealing himself as Robert.
Reprints
Keywords
Paris; Star-Bugle-Clarion

Indexer Notes

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

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

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

Cover story.

The Werewolf Legend (Table of Contents: 3)

The Vault of Horror / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script
Gardner Fox; Harry Harrison ?
Pencils
Harry Harrison (signed as Harrison)
Inks
Wally Wood (signed as Wood)
Colors
? (see notes)
Letters
Jim Wroten
First Line of Dialogue or Text
My name is Walter Mallory.
Genre
horror-suspense
Characters
Pobb's (a butler); Tom Faversham (death); Walter Mallory; Sir Gregory Mallory (villain, a werewolf); Edmund Mallory (villain, a werewolf, flashback); Dennis Mallory (villain, a werewolf, Baron of Munscrief, flashback); Arthur Mallory (villain, a werewolf, flashback)
Synopsis
Walter Mallory believes that he is a werewolf, committing murder after murder, and is convinced when he uncovers the Mallory family's werewolf legend. He tells Scotland Yard about this and they agree to help capture the creature, but Walter is determined to end the string of killings, and is about to shoot himself when Scotland Yard enters and tells him that it was actually Sir Gregory (an accomplished hypnotist) who killed the people because they were blackmailing him. He had hypnotized Walter and put werewolf makeup on him to make Walter think he had committed the crimes... as a werewolf!
Reprints
Keywords
monsters; Moors of Devon; Scotland Yard

Indexer Notes

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

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

Fingers of Death! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script
Bill Gaines
Pencils
? (1 panel art)
Inks
? (1 panel art)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
First Line of Dialogue or Text
His fingers relaxed and he felt the body sliding away from him, toward the floor.
Genre
detective-mystery
Synopsis
At last he had done it: he had killed Montrose to get a valuable gold chain, but someone was coming and he had to get away....he could return for the chain later. Later, the killer then broke into Montrose's coffin and there was the gold chain in the corpse's hands. He tried to pry the chain from those stiff fingers, but he couldn't budge it until finally, the fingers moved ever so slightly to release that chain. As the man bent forward to examine the chain in the light, the fingers of the corpse began to close again, this time around the man's throat, tighter and tighter and tighter until...
Reprints

Horror in the Night (Table of Contents: 5)

Another SuspenStory from The Vault of Horror! / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Ivan Klapper ?
Pencils
Harvey Kurtzman
Inks
Harvey Kurtzman
Colors
Harvey Kurtzman ? (see notes)
Letters
Jim Wroten
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Never had Tom Hawkins known such fear before...
Genre
detective-mystery; horror-suspense
Characters
Tom Hawkins; Jim; John Smith (in flashback, death); Emily Smith (John's wife, in flashback, death)
Synopsis
At the Hawkin's Tourist Colony, Tom is hitting the bottle as his friend Jim walks in, and explains that he is doing so because of a terrible dream he had the night before. In it, a couple come in to take a room for the night....but the woman fears that death is stalking her and kills a cat, believing it was death coming for her. The couple get into a fight he kills her, then shoots himself! Jim tells Tom it was just a nightmare and leaves. A few moments later, a car pulls up and the same couple Tom had seen in his dream were standing before him wanting a room!
Reprints
Keywords
Hawkins Tourist Cabins

Indexer Notes

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

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

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

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

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

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6)

The Vault-Keeper's Corner / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Al Feldstein (spot illo)
Inks
Al Feldstein (spot illo)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Characters
The Vault-Keeper (head shot)
Synopsis
Contains letters from readers Grace Calmesi, Cleo Gruner and Shirley Johnson.
Reprints

Tooth and Fang! (Table of Contents: 7)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script
Bill Gaines
Pencils
? (2 panels art)
Inks
? (2 panels art)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
First Line of Dialogue or Text
The knife slashed down!
Genre
crime
Synopsis
A knife flashes down and the owner of a circus falls to the floor dead. The killer then saw the shadows of the roustabouts just outside the tent, so he shoved money he had just stolen into his pockets, then looked for another way out. He spied a barred door at the back of the tent, opened it and hid there. Suddenly, there was a snarl behind him and he could see the eyes of a large panther. He tried to escape, but the barred door wouldn't open. He thought of screaming to alert the roustabouts who were leaving the area, but he couldn't be heard over the roars of the cat as it killed him!
Reprints

Terror Train (Table of Contents: 8)

Vault of Horror / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script
Al Feldstein
Pencils
Al Feldstein (signed as Feldstein)
Inks
Al Feldstein (signed as Feldstein)
Colors
?
Letters
Jim Wroten
First Line of Dialogue or Text
He was trying to kill me!
Genre
horror-suspense
Characters
Gloria; Ralph
Synopsis
Gloria was in a cab, running away from her husband Ralph...heading toward the train station and the train that would take her away from this man whom she thought was trying to poison her. Seated on the train, she kept imagining him at every turn and remembering the $25,000 insurance policies Ralph had taken out on them both...then she remembered that poison bottle he had brought home. Asleep in her berth, Gloria suddenly awakens at what she thinks is a scream, and goes to wake the conductor...but he is dead in his berth. In fact, everyone is dead in their berths! She jumps off the train and locates a farmhouse that has a freshly-dug grave outside. She enters the house and spies a coffin in it....then sees Ralph behind her, who grabs Gloria, puts her in the coffin, nails it shut, drags it to the grave and buries it. Suddenly, she awakens in her berth on the train.....sees Ralph with an attendant in a white coat, who takes her off to a nice house with bars on it so that Ralph can never get to her again!
Reprints
Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. [Portrait in Wax]
    The Vault of Horror
  2. 1. SuspenStory Fans!
    The Crypt of terror
  3. 2. Portrait in Wax!
    The Vault of Horror
  4. 3. The Werewolf Legend
    The Vault of Horror
  5. 4. Fingers of Death!
  6. 5. Horror in the Night
    Another SuspenStory from The Vault of Horror!
  7. 6. [no title indexed]
    The Vault-Keeper's Corner
  8. 7. Tooth and Fang!
  9. 8. Terror Train
    Vault of Horror
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Weldon Adams
  • David B
  • Craig Delich
  • Bill Devine
  • Katy Hayhurst
  • Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
  • Michael Hoskin
  • R. S. Martin
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Jason Sacks
  • Jim Stangas
  • Jim Van Dore
  • Michael Vance
  • Mike White
If you believe any of this data to be incorrect, please let us know.
Cover thumbnails are used for identification purposes only. All rights to cover images reserved by the respective copyright holders.
Creative Commons License All portions of the Grand Comics Database™, except where noted otherwise, are copyrighted by the GCD and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This includes but is not necessarily limited to our database schema and data distribution format.
The GCD Privacy Policy. The GCD Web Site code is licensed under the GNU General Public License.