Vault of Horror #25

(June-July 1952)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

EC Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Seance! (Table of Contents: 2)

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

Script

Johnny Craig (signed as Johnny Craig [circle])

Pencils

Johnny Craig (signed as Johnny Craig [circle])

Inks

Johnny Craig (signed as Johnny Craig [circle])

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Heh, heh! Ah, it's good to be back with you again!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Madame Gilda (medium); John Chalmers (death); Mrs. Chalmers (John's wife); Ben Ganther (villain, confidence man, death); George Dent (villain, confidence man, death)

Synopsis

John Chalmers gives $20,000 to several confidence men, mentioning to them that Madame Gilda didn't approve. The fleecing of Chalmers continues until one day when Chalmers overhears them call him a sucker. Chalmers threatens to sue and the two men force his car off a cliff. Chalmers’ wife tells them that, with her husband gone, she's thinking of withdrawing his money from their firm, but she must have a seance first to talk it over with her dead husband. At the seance, George gets his revenge to everyone's surprise.

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1/1992 (uke 3 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #5 - Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories (July 2013) [Reprinted in black and white.]
which is reprinted
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #5 - Fall Guy For Murder and Other Johnny Craig Stories (July 2013) (in black and white)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3
which is reprinted
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #5 - Fall Guy For Murder and Other Johnny Craig Stories (July 2013) (in black and white)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #5 - Fall Guy For Murder and Other Johnny Craig Stories (July 2013) (in black and white)

Indexer Notes

Colorist and letterer credits by Craig Delich.
Cover story.

Kickin' the Gong A Round! (Table of Contents: 3)

The Crypt of Terror / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Jack Davis

Inks

Jack Davis

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Heh, heh! Now that the Vault-Keeper has warmed you up...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Crypt-Keeper (host); Patty Marko (boxer, death, comes back to life as a corpse); Williams (boxer); Phil (Marko's trainer); Judy Marko (Patty's wife); Mickey Marko (Patty's son); Jake Houseman (villain, boxer, death; Sid (villain, thug, death)

Synopsis

Marko had worked his way from the slums to a pro boxing career. However, when suddenly he has two visitors that pull a gun on him and take him away to the training camp of the man he is to fight next: Jake Houseman, Houseman offers to pay Marko any sum he asks to lose that fight, but refuses and is allowed to leave. When Marko's boy is kidnapped, Marko takes a terrible beating, and falls over in the 7th round, dead! Six months later, Marko’s rotting corpse drags Houseman to the sparring ring and proceeds to rip Houseman to shreds with his bony hand!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1 uke 46 [1987] (uke 46 1987)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #1 ([april] 1996)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #16 - The Living Mummy and Other Stories (August 2016) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

Colorist credit by Craig Delich.

Paradise! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines

Pencils

? (spot illo)

Inks

? (spot illo)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Flath

Synopsis

As Bracken's body sunk into the muck, Flath began to smirk as he sloshed back to his boat, realizing that soon the jungle insects would strip the body clean of its flesh. He marveled at this paradise, where he could so easily dispose of a body so easily. As Flath paddled laborously through the reeds, he sweated terribly, and all he could think of was getting out of this channel He could see the prow of his other boat, dreading having to get out of his canoe and wade five yards to that boat with only his head above water. Upon reaching the boat, he started pulling himself out of the water and discovered that he had leeches all over him. He swatted them off, only to have others attach themselves, weighing him back down into the water....crawling into his mouth and nostrils, until Flath disappeared beneath the surface. Yes, indeed this WAS a paradise for getting rid of a man without a trace!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

The text story is found on the inner halves of the two pages, with EC house ads to either side. One side promotes Shock SuspenStories #3 [with a Wally Wood cover], while the other side, with covers, promotes the Complete Old & New Testaments in the Picture Stories From the Bible series, Picture Stories From Science #2 and Picture Stories From World History #2.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

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

Pencils

Johnny Craig (spot illo)

Inks

Johnny Craig (spot illo)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (head view)

Synopsis

VK starts off with a lengthy letter from Mrs. Arline Grandou Phelan from Kansas City, Kansas, critizing EC for publishing pure rubbish, saying they should be outlawed. Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines then spend most of the column defending the EC books before turning the column back over to VK, who puts in a last-ditch plug for the photos of the three GhouLunatics for 25 cents.

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Practical Yolk! (Table of Contents: 6)

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

Script

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

Pencils

Jack Kamen (signed as Jack Kamen)

Inks

Jack Kamen (signed as Jack Kamen)

Colors

?

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Here's a ghastly Easter yarn!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Fredrick Hamilton

Synopsis

Fred Hamilton, having visited the Belgian Congo for a hunting expedition, was now on his way home with B'uuna, his servant, to wed his fiancée, Louise. Louise presented B'uuna with a present: an Easter egg with a scene of a rabbit and tiny eggs inside. He thanked her, but sensed something wasn't quite right. From conversation B'uuna overheard, he believes Louise did not want to marry his new master. As Louise left the apartment she was grabbed from behind. Fred awakened to B'uuna's chanting in the hall. To Fred's horror, B'uuna handed him the Easter egg, with his fiancée now inside!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #5/1992 (uke 29 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #20 - Daddy Lost His Head and Other Stories (November 2017) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

Collection Completed! (Table of Contents: 7)

The Witch's Cauldron! / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Inks

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Colors

?

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hee, hee! Smell it?

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Anna and Jonah Tillman

Synopsis

Anna had always loved animals and one day she saw a stray cat and brought it in to feed, but Jonah didn't approve of her habit of taking in every stray animal she came across. To get even at Anna, Jonah started his new hobby: taxidermy, and his first "patient" was going to be the mouse running around their home. He caught it, stuffed it, then went outside to lure a squirrel, then a bird, and then a dog to practice his craft on. Anna screamed at him until she was blue in the face, but it did no good. One day Jonah came to her and said that his collection of stuffed animals was almost complete....he smiled and left. Meanwhile, Anna kept calling the cat she'd found a few days earlier, then, when it couldn't be found, realized what her husband had meant. Running to the basement, she found the cat freshly stuffed.....with a crazed look in her eye, she turned toward Jonah, knife in hand, and told him that his collection still lacked one more thing. The next day, a neighbor found Anna in the basement, babbling incoherently, stroking her stuffed cat, and sitting next to.....her stuffed husband!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1/1991 (uke 2 1991)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #13 - Grave Business and Other Stories (June 2015) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.