Haunt of Fear #17

(January-February 1953)

Horror We? How's Bayou? (Table of Contents: 1)

The Witch's Cauldron! / comic story / 8 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! I see you're horror-hungry again...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Dr. Max Forman (death); unnamed woman (death, in flashback); Anthony Jackson (salesman, death, in flashback); Everett (villain); Sidney (villain, Everett's brother)

Synopsis

A man in the Louisiana swamp diverts traffic from the road to his mansion in order to satisfy the cravings of his demented homicidal brother for victims to dismember. One night, after the latest victim, a doctor, has been dispatched, three corpses composed of mismatched pieces rise from the quicksand pool and dismember the man and reattach his body parts in incorrect order.

Reprints

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
• in EC Portfolio (Russ Cochran, 1971 series) #1
• in Der beste Horror aller Zeiten (BSV - Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in Nacht der vampiers (Classics/Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in A History of Underground Comics (Straight Arrow Books, 1974 series) (1974)
• in Den store skrækbog (Williams, 1974 series) ([1974])
• in Horreur - une anthologie en bandes dessinées (Williams France, 1974 series) (2e trimestre 1974)
• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1 uke 46 [1987] (uke 46 1987)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss - Klassikerserien (Hjemmet / Egmont, 2006 series) #[nn] ([mai] 2006)
• in The Haunt of Fear (Gladstone, 1991 series) #1 (May 1991)
• in A History of Underground Comics (Ronin Publishing, 1993 series) (1993)
• in Haunt of Fear (Gemstone, 1994 series) #17 (November 1996)
• in Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics! (HarperCollins, 2005 series) (2005)
• in A History of Underground Comics: 20th Anniversary Edition (Ronin Publishing, 2012 series) (2012)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #7 - Sucker Bait and Other Stories (February 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (Dark Horse, 2019 series) (2019)

Keywords

Louisiana

Indexer Notes

Script revision by Craig Delich, formerly Albert B. Feldstein.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Part of the story is told in flashback.

Cover story.

Gorilla My Dreams! (Table of Contents: 2)

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

Script

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

Pencils

George Evans (signed)

Inks

George Evans (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Heh, heh! Greetings, boils and gores!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Philip Stoker (death, but brain transplanted into a gorilla); Gloria Stoker (Stoker's wife); Stoker's two unnamed children; Miss Trumbull (Stoker's secretary); Stumpy (a gorilla); Hank (Policeman); Dr. Heinrich Morgan (villain, brain surgeon, death)

Synopsis

A brain surgeon transfers the brain of his victim into the body of a gorilla taken from a carnival. At first, he thinks of writing a message for his wife and children about what has happened to him, but after eluding the police in the dark, he realizes that, with the surgeon dead of a heart attack, the world no longer has a place for him other than the carnival cage.

Reprints

• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #4 [1988] (uke 23 1988)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss - Klassikerserien (Hjemmet / Egmont, 2006 series) #[nn] ([mai] 2006)
• in The Haunt of Fear (Gladstone, 1991 series) #1 (May 1991)
• in Haunt of Fear (Gemstone, 1994 series) #17 (November 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #30 - A Slight Case of Murder and Other Stories (April 2021) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Hiding Place (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein ?

Letters

typeset

Synopsis

Henderson murders an old doctor and trys to find where he hid his breakthrough invention; a powerful type of acid. After not finding the acid, Henderson uses the doctor's pitcher and bowl full of water to wash up. After he begins to burn and blister horribly, he realizes that the "water" was actually the powerful acid.

Reprints

• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)
• in Haunt of Fear (Gemstone, 1994 series) #17 (November 1996)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4)

The Old Witch's Niche / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein ?

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)

A Likely Story! (Table of Contents: 5)

The Old Witch's Grim Fairy Tale! / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

Jack Kamen (signed as Jack Kamen)

Inks

Jack Kamen (signed as Jack Kamen)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hee, hee! And now it's another terror tale for tiny tikes...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host)

Synopsis

In this grim fairy tale a cranky old queen constantly badgers the castle's seamstress, decorator and artist into painting a portrait of her to hang on a bare wall spot. The artist finally gets fed up with her and severs her head with an ax, the seamstress sews it to the canvas, and the decorator has it framed to fit upon the wall.

Reprints

• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #6/1990 (uke 35 1990)
• in The Haunt of Fear (Gladstone, 1991 series) #1 (May 1991)
• in Haunt of Fear (Gemstone, 1994 series) #17 (November 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #36 - Kamen's Kalamity and Other Stories (2024) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Garden Party (Table of Contents: 6)

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

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

Jack Davis (signed)

Inks

Jack Davis (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Heh, heh! So now, it's your Crypt-Keeper's turn to amuse you, eh?

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Crypt-Keeper (host)

Synopsis

A man has a barbecue in his garden-obsessed wife's back yard where the guests ruin the flowers. She snaps and advances on her husband with the carving knife to serve him upon the barbecue.

Reprints

• in Haunt of Fear (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 (1985)
• in The Haunt of Fear (Gladstone, 1991 series) #1 (May 1991)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1994 (uke 25 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Nemi (Hjemmet / Egmont, 2003 series) #27 ([juli] 2005) [bearbeidet oversettelse]
• in Haunt of Fear (Gemstone, 1994 series) #17 (November 1996)

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.