Vault of Horror #35

(February-March 1954)

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

EC Fan-Addict Club / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

...And All Through the House... (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

Ho, ho, ho! And what would you like for Christmas?

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Santa Claus

Synopsis

A terrific thud w/the fireplace poker and her husband Joseph lay dead on the floor. But then she heard her little girl upstairs, who asked her mommy if Santa Claus had come yet, and was told no and to go back to sleep. The wife then returned downstairs, cleaned off the poker, turned on the radio and heard an announcement of a maniac woman-killer dressed as Santa on the loose in the area. She wondered how she would be able to get rid of Joseph's body, when there was a knock at the door. She looked outside and saw a Santa at her door, the woman-killer, and paniced knowing she couldn't call the Police w/her husband's body there on the floor. Quickly she ran to every door and window, locking them, putting Joseph into a closet and then trying to board up windows from the inside. Going upstairs to check on Carol, her daughter, the woman was terrified when she found the little girl gone.....but more terrified when she went downstairs to see Carol having let in "Santa Claus"!

Reprints

• in Tales from the Crypt (Ballantine Books, 1964 series) (December 1964)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1 uke 46 [1987] (uke 46 1987)
which is reprinted
• in Nemi (Hjemmet / Egmont, 2003 series) #32 ([desember] 2005)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #4 (March 1992)
• in Skræk (Semic Interpresse, 1994 series) #4 (4. august 1994)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #24 (July 1998)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• in Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (Dark Horse, 2019 series) (2019)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #33 - Deadly Beloved and Other Stories (January 2023) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Indexer Notes

Cover story, although the art doesn't quite match up. The murderer is not the victim's husband, was dressed as Santa Claus, and there was no coffin under the Christmas tree.

Tombs-Day! (Table of Contents: 3)

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

Script

Jack Oleck ?

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

Heh, heh! For a while, I thought the Vault-Keeper...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Crypt-Keeper (host); Prof. Burton; Melody Allen

Synopsis

The expedition, led by Professor Burton, neared the Pyramid of Khafra, the scene of the disappearance of a previous expedition. As they passed by the Sphinx, in legend called the "Father of Terrors", he told the accompanying journalist, Miss Allen facts about the previous expedition. Reaching the entrance to the pyramid, all entered to make a preliminary investigation when suddenly the massive stone panel they had entered through closed behind them, and a booby-trap killed of one the explorers. The group headed down some passages to find a possible exit, and as they proceeded, one by one members of the group were killed, leaving only Burton and Allen alive. As they made their way deeper into the pyramid, Burton told her that legend said the sphinx actally lived at one time, but Allen pooh-poohed the idea. Suddenly they came upon King Khafra's tomb, crawled through a passage and reached the interior to find all of Khafra's wealth and some hieroglyphics stating the legend of the sphinx was true.....just before the living sphinx sprang out and killed them!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #4 (March 1992)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #2/1993 (uke 15 1993)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #24 (July 1998)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4, #4
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Space to Breathe! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (spot illo)

Inks

? (spot illo)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Lionel Blivet stamped down on the brake...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Lionel Blivet

Synopsis

Lionel reached the top of the Waraiji Mountain range on a deserted dirt road, stepped out of his car and then turned on the radio. Up here, he could breathe....relax in the open air, and as he readied himself to scale a crude path to the top, he mused that he should flip off the radio in the car so that the battery wouldn't run down. But before he could do so, a large blur flew past him into a cave, so he decided to explore, and forgetting to turn the radio off. As he entered the cave, something brutally hit him and knocked him down, so he moved out of the cave only to be attacked again by many of the creatures who savagely ripped at his body: huge, horrible man-killing BATS! And as he tasted the blood in his mouth and as his last ounce of consciousness ebbed away, all he could think of was the car radio and that he had left it on.....and that the battery was going to ..........!

Reprints

• in Justice Traps the Guilty (Arnold Book Company, 1954 ? series) #16
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #4 (March 1992)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

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

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

Letters

typeset

Synopsis

VK starts off his column touting EC's newest mag, Panic, then prints letters from Rosemary Cage, Richard Gunst, Allan Katz and Jerry Simonetti, plus some "Perverted Poetry" from Michael Reynolds, Larry Tucker, Arnold Hageman, Kreda Freeman and Paul H. Cox. He closes out the column pushing subscriptions for the Vault of Horror and memberships in the EC Fan Addict Club.

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Beauty Rest (Table of Contents: 6)

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

Script

Jack Oleck ?

Pencils

Jack Kamen (signed as J. Kamen)

Inks

Jack Kamen (signed as J. Kamen)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Here's a horrible yarn about a girl who got her...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Helen Curtis; Joyce Noble

Synopsis

Helen gazed out the window of the room she shared w/Joyce as the latter bid goodnight to a Mr. Boxer, the man she told Helen would help her to win a beauty contest the next day: "Miss Corpse of 1954"! Helen decided to play a trick on her roomie: she'd drug Joyce's drink w/sleeping pills, take a note Boxer had given to Joyce and appear in her place the next day. Helen gave the note to the man in charge, got into her suit and won the contest, being told to report that evening to an address for the award presentation. Arriving home, Helen found Joyce dead in bed [from an overdose of those pills], she called the Police and reported it as a suicide. Later Helen reported to the address she was given, but told the people there she had taken Joyce's spot.....a bad move, since she discovered that the wonner had to ACTUALLY be a corpse to win. That's the last she knew as the men came at her with scapels, rubber tubes and embalming fluid!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #4 (March 1992)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #24 (July 1998)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Shoe-Button Eyes! (Table of Contents: 7)

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

Script

Johnny Craig

Pencils

Graham Ingels

Inks

Graham Ingels

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hee, hee! Well it's time for me to brew my goo...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Billy (young blind boy, death); Billy's mother (death); Billy's father (death); Jed (Billy's step-father, death)

Synopsis

The little boy celebrated the best Christmas he ever had because he could now see! Born blind, all he ever knew was the love of his mother, and the companionship of his teddy bear. His father died, so Mom remarried a cruel and vicious man who mistreated her. He always said that the little boy had "shoe-button" eyes, just like his teddy. One day, the little boy's mother became deathly ill, and he asked his step-dad to help her. He abused her, took the boy's bear and ripped the eyes off of it. Mom sewed on new button eyes before she died. Jed killed the boy, who regained his sight in heaven.

Reprints

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
which is reprinted
• 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 EC Portfolio (Russ Cochran, 1971 series) #6 (1977)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #5 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #6 [1988] (uke 35 1988)
• in Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1991 series) #4 (March 1992)
• in Skræk (Semic Interpresse, 1994 series) #4 (4. august 1994)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #24 (July 1998)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #29 - Accidents and Old Lace and Other Stories (January 2021) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Indexer Notes

Most of the story is told in flashback.