Vault of Horror #26

(August-September 1952)

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

Weird Science; Weird Fantasy / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Two of a Kind! (Table of Contents: 2)

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

Script

Johnny Craig

Pencils

Johnny Craig

Inks

Johnny Craig

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Heh, heh! Welcome once again to the Vault of Horror, my fiends!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Willow Dree (actress, vampire); Al Bolton (photographer, in flashback); Bradbury Phillips (actor, ghoul)

Synopsis

Actress Willow Dree never had been successfully photographed, all attempts ending with a photo displaying only the background. Fellow star Brad Phillips suggests the two get away from all photographers and go on a skiing trip together. Unfortunately for the pair, they get snowbound in a cabin after a blizzard. Several days later, when a rescue team comes upon the cabin, they discover a horrifying scene inside.

Reprints

• in E.C. Classic Reprint (East Coast Comix, 1973 series) #7 (1974)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #6 - The Vault of Horror (1986)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #2/1989 (uke 9 1989)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #3 ([mars] 1997)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #3 (January 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #15 (April 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.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Colorist and letterer credits by Craig Delich.

Graft in Concrete! (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 (signed as JACK DAVIS)

Inks

Jack Davis (signed as JACK DAVIS)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Thank you, V.K., for eight pages of sheer... stark... nothing!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Crypt-Keeper (host); Godfrey Hornsby (villain, President of Hornsby Construction); Mayor John Applegate (villain); City Council [Williams; Barlow] (villains)

Synopsis

Hornsby threatened the Mayor to get the road contract he was after and had a document that proved the Mayor had gotten a kickback on the sale of land for the new school. The City Council members, also having skeletons in their closets, agreed to Hornsby's request and a road was built through the property containing a cemetery. The next morning, state troopers discovered the council's empty car, with the area all around the car neatly paved. And as they looked more closely, they discovered the bodies of the council neatly inset into the road's fresh new pavement!

Reprints

• in E.C. Classic Reprint (East Coast Comix, 1973 series) #7 (1974)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1 [1988] ([februar] 1988)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #1 ([april] 1996)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #3 (January 1992)
• in Skræk (Semic Interpresse, 1994 series) #4 (4. august 1994)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #15 (April 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

Keywords

Hornsby Construction

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

Colorist credit by Craig Delich.

Cover story.

Joker! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines

Pencils

? (spot illo)

Inks

? (spot illo)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The crowd was hushed and apprehensive...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Jacques Carigot

Synopsis

Jacques slowly climbed the stairs to the guillotine, smiling as he did so....a sure trait of the man named "Jacques the Joker." He was to die that day for the deaths of 20 innocent people at his hands.....a man thought of as the deadliest killer ever to walk the streets of France. The Chief Jailer stood at the base of the platform, wondering why this man asked for a bottle of purple ink and some paper as his last request....until he figured out that Carigot would swallow the ink and poison himself, so he had substituted harmless vegetable dye for the ink! Just then, the executioner had Carigot get to his knees and take his position below the sharpened blade. As he unwrapped the scarf around Carigot's neck, he was shocked to see a succession of crude dashes around the neck with these words: "Please cut along the dotted line! Thank you.....The Joker!"

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #3 (January 1992)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

This text story is found on the inner halves of the two pages, with EC house ads to either side. One promotes Shock SuspenStories #4 [with a Wally Wood cover], while the other promotes, with covers, 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's column starts off with letters from Jim Svoboda, Jerry Wise, Alvin Bowker, Larry Barnes, James Aguilera, Bernard Dewey, Ernest Shute and an unnamed person --- all of whom are writing in response to Mrs. Phelan's letter a few issues back criticizing EC comics as garbage. The VK reviews reader's voting on the previous issue's stories, plugs the 2nd Annual Tales of Terror anthology and the photos of the three GhouLunatics, as well as subscriptions to his mag.

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

Half-Way Horrible! (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

Sid Check (signed as S. Check)

Inks

Sid Check (signed as S. Check)

Colors

?

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

This story doesn't quite make it!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Zachary Boxer

Synopsis

Zachary was the undertaker in town and was at the door of an apartment, whose tenant had called him. As he entered, the odor of incense was almost over-powering as the person inside said to keep the light off. He informs Boxer that he visited his doctor not long back and was told he had some sort of mental problem that he needed professional help with. And the psychiatrist inform this man he had schizophrenia and needed therapy on a regular basis. Even with this, the man's spells caused him to do things he normally never would, as his dark side became more and more predominant. Then it happened....he went in for his normal session, and, an instant later, saw the psychiatrist's mutilated body lying at his feet. He decided to leave the country for Haiti, went to see a voodoo witch doctor and asked him to destroy his evil half. The witch doctor created a doll....half evil and half good, and stuck a pin through the evil half and told the man it had been destroyed. As the man finishes the story, and turns on the light, he tells Boxer the reason why he was called: to embalm his rotting, evil half of his body!

Reprints

• in E.C. Classic Reprint (East Coast Comix, 1973 series) #7 (1974)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in Gysertimen (Interpresse, 1987 series) #5 (13. november 1987)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #4/1989 (uke 22 1989)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #4 ([august] 1997)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #3 (January 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #15 (April 1996)
• 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: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

Hook, Line, and Stinker! (Table of Contents: 7)

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

Script

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

Pencils

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Inks

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hee, hee! Welcome to the Haunt of Fear, kiddies!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Stanley (death); Emma (Stanley's lover); Bernice's maid; Bernice (villain, Stanley's fiancee)

Synopsis

Bernice, after a 15-year romance with Stanley as his fiancée, was tired of his Saturday fishing trips and all the fish-mounted trophies she had to care for. She wanted to get married, and so, one Saturday morning, she followed him on one of his trips where she discovered that Stanley was two-timing her with another woman. Bernice decided that there was to be one more mounted trophy in her home: that of Stanley!

Reprints

• in E.C. Classic Reprint (East Coast Comix, 1973 series) #7 (1974)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 (1982)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #6 - The Vault of Horror (1986)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #2 [1988] (uke 11 1988)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #1 ([april] 1996)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #3 (January 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #15 (April 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #7 - Sucker Bait and Other Stories (February 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #3

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.