Shock SuspenStories #9

(June-July 1953)

The October Game (Table of Contents: 1)

A Horror SuspenStory / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script:

Ray Bradbury; Al Feldstein (adaptation)

Pencils:

Jack Kamen

Inks:

Jack Kamen

Colors:

Marie Severin

Letters:

Jim Wroten

Genre:

horror-suspense

Characters:

Louise Wilder (Mitch's wife); Marion Wilder (Louise and Mitch's daughter, death); Helen; Mitch Wilder (villain)

Synopsis:

A madman who hates his wife dismembers his daughter and passes around her body parts to children in a darkened cellar on Halloween.

Reprints:

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #5/1993 (uke 43 1993)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Came The Dawn! (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script:

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

Pencils:

Wally Wood [as Wood] (signed)

Inks:

Wally Wood [as Wood] (signed)

Colors:

Marie Severin

Letters:

Jim Wroten

Genre:

crime

Characters:

Cathy Maxwell (death); Bob Ames; un-named criminally insane girl (villain)

Synopsis:

A man thinks that the girl he has met in the woods may be a dangerous escaped lunatic because she matches the description, but his girlfriend ends up meeting a grim fate as the latest victim of the true escapee.

Reprints:

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
• in Der Beste Horror aller Zeiten (BSV - Williams, 1973 series) (1973)
• in EC Portfolio (Russ Cochran, 1971 series) #5 (1974)
• in Den store skrækbog (Williams, 1974 series) ([1974])
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Gysertimen (Interpresse, 1987 series) #1 (13. april 1987)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #4/1992 (uke 23 1992)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #[2] - Came the Dawn and Other Stories (August 2012) [black-and-white reprint]

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Surgery! (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script:

Al Feldstein

Pencils:

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Inks:

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Genre:

horror-suspense

Characters:

Doc Spender (unlicensed doctor); Bat Parker (villain); Danny (villain)

Synopsis:

In a Police Hospital room, criminal Bat Parker, seriously wounded in a gunfight with the Police, needs a gangrene-laden leg amputated before he dies. The only way this quack would operate was if he were drunk. That was the easy part......the hard part was Bat discovering that the doc had cut off the wrong leg!

Reprints:

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)

Shock Talk (Table of Contents: 4)

letters page / 1 page (report information)

Letters:

typeset

Reprints:

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)

Indexer Notes

The Editors print a variety of letters from readers, many of which centered around the Ray Bradbury adaptation, "The Small Assassin" from issue #7.

The Meddlers! (Table of Contents: 5)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script:

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

Pencils:

Joe Orlando (signed)

Inks:

Joe Orlando (signed)

Colors:

Marie Severin

Letters:

Jim Wroten

Genre:

crime

Characters:

Dr. Conrad Rivers (research chemist, death); Mr. Kearns (groery store owner, death); the widow Jones (death); Jed (death); Enos (death); Martha (death)

Synopsis:

The folk of a small town attempt to drive away a doctor who is attempting to create life in a test tube. They smash his equipment while he suffers heart failure. His failed experiments combine in the sewer to create a blob-like living mass which devours the townsfolk.

Reprints:

• from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #[9] - Judgment Day and Other Stories (May 2014)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1994 (uke 25 1994)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)

Keywords:

Millville

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Carrion Death! (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script:

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

Pencils:

Reed Crandall (signed)

Inks:

Reed Crandall (signed)

Colors:

Marie Severin

Letters:

Jim Wroten

Genre:

horror-suspense

Characters:

unnamed State Trooper (death); unnamed bank robber (villain, death)

Synopsis:

A man handcuffed to policeman is trying to make his way through the desert on foot. He realizes that he has to separate himself from the body but has nothing sharp to cut off the dead man's hand with. He decides to lie down and allow the vultures to strip the corpse, but when he regains consciousness the vultures have already started in on him as well.

Reprints:

• in EC Horror Library of the 1950's (Nostalgia Press, 1970 series) (1970)
• 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 Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #2 (1981)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1989 (uke 16 1989)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #4 ([august] 1997)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Gemstone, 1994 series) #9 (September 1994)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #[15] - The High Cost of Dying and Other Stories (February 2016)

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-9. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.