Vault of Horror #32

(August-September 1953)

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

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

Whirlpool (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

Well, well!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); unnamed woman; three asylum employees

Synopsis

Her mind was whirling as three horrid creatures hovered over her, asking her her name, and she ran to escape. A series of events: thrown into boiling water, plunged into ice, poked with a hypodermic, strapped into an electric chair, and put into a small room that kept shrinking. She thought she was going insane, but the men told her everything had been in her mind and that she was an inmate in an insane asylum. She began to quiver and as they began to ask her her name, she suddenly remembered that THEY were the ones trying to persecute her!

Reprints

• in Tales from the Crypt (Ballantine Books, 1964 series) (December 1964)
• 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 Den store skrækbog (Williams, 1974 series) ([1974])
• in Horreur - une anthologie en bandes dessinées (Williams France, 1974 series) (2e trimestre 1974)
• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #6 [1988] (uke 35 1988)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Semic, 1996 series) #2 ([november] 1996)
• in The Vault of Horror (Gladstone, 1990 series) #6 (June 1991)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #21 (October 1997)
• in Nemi (Hjemmet / Egmont, 2003 series) #3 ([april] 2003) [2. translation]
• 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

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Out of His Head! (Table of Contents: 3)

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

Script

Al Feldstein

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

Greetings, ghouls! Let's drink blood pools!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Crypt-Keeper (host); Stanley (Alex's law partner, death); unnamed doctor; Alex Melton (villain, lawyer, death)

Synopsis

Alex had murdered Stanley with an axe to his head, trying to blame the death on a maniac. It seemed, however, that the dead man kept haunting him day and night, and everywhere Alex looked, his former law partner was still there. Unable to stand it any longer, he blinded himself with an icepick. He was taken to the hospital and operated on, and when the bandages were removed, he saw someone. He figured it was Stanley again and ran to the window and jumped out to his death. The doctor looked out the window and all he could say was that the man must be mad!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (1982)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #1/1990 (uke 4 1990)
which is reprinted
• in Iskalde Grøss pocket (Hjemmet / Egmont, 1998 series) #6 ([september] 1998)
• in The Vault of Horror (Gladstone, 1990 series) #6 (June 1991)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #21 (October 1997)
• 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

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Cover story.

Crash Landing! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (spot illo)

Inks

? (spot illo)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Brewster; Crawford

Synopsis

With the plane in the air, Brewster emerged from hiding in the back of the plane, wrench in hand, and crept to the cockpit, where he hit Crawford over the head. As the plane spiraled out of control, Brewster ran to the emergency door and jumped out, waiting to pull the ripcord of his parachute until the last second possible so that no one would see him. As he came down, he watched the plane crash into a grove of trees, splintering the ends, and burn. But a sudden shift in the wind brought Brewster closer and closer to the splintered branch limbs until he jammed into them which stopped his descent. In agony, he noted that the limbs had torn open his stomach, and as he lay dying, his body writhing on the end of a branch, he felt like some insect squirming on a needle in a science lab!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (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

Indexer Notes

This text story is found on the inner part of the two pages, with EC house ads to either side. One was for Weird Fantasy #20 [with an Al Feldstein cover], and the other side featured, with covers, the Complete Old & New Testament editions from 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)

Letters

typeset

Synopsis

In this issue's letter column, VK prints letters from Mrs. Monroe ASdams, Terry Black, Ronnie Audet, PFC Hank Wawrzyniak, Ray Parrinello, Dennis Taplin, Robert Travieso, Martin Fishman, David McGill and Richard L. Bruch before pushing readers to buy subsciptions to EC mags.

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (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

An Ample Sample (Table of Contents: 6)

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

Script

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

Pencils

George Evans (signed as George Evans)

Inks

George Evans (signed as George Evans)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Here's a sweet terror-tale with an appetizing wind-up!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Vault-Keeper (host); Hannah (Irwin's wife, death); Bert; Irwin (villain)

Synopsis

Irwin was telling his neighbor Bert of how he and his wife Hannah fell in love and how Hannah loved expensive chocolates so much. She got fatter as he had to do without vital necessities, and he just couldn't take it anymore. Irwin admitted to killing her and asked Bert to come over to his house. As they walked in, Bert gasped in horror as he spotted a giant, hand-made chocolate box, marked with different types of candy, and pieces of Hannah in each part!

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (1982)
• in Gysertimen (Interpresse, 1987 series) #3 (13. juli 1987)
• in The Vault of Horror (Gladstone, 1990 series) #6 (June 1991)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #21 (October 1997)
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2014 series) #4
• 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.]
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Some of the story is told in flashback.

Script credit from Tales of Terror: The EC Companion.

The visages of the Vault-Keeper on pages 1 and 6 are a photostat by Johnny Craig, taken from his story, "Werewolf Concerto".

Evans drew himself in as neighbor Bert throughout the story.

Funereal Disease! (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! So it's wind-up time in V.K.'s mag again...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Jasper Milliken (gardener, death); Niles Fairchild (villain, Jasper's employer, death); Tom Kelton (villain, Jasper's accountant)

Synopsis

Jasper went to his cottage on the Fairchild Estate and counted up the $4,970 he had been saving and knew as soon as Mr. Fairchild paid him the last $30 he owed him, he'd be set: set to have the funeral that was denied to his parents. Unfortunately, Niles Fairchild was bankrupt, and desperately needed $5,000 to get him out of the trouble he was in. When Jasper refused to lend him the money, Fairchild and his accountant murdered Jasper and took the money. Jasper's corpse killed Fairchild, removed him from the man's coffin and took his place, and got the funeral he wanted.

Reprints

• in The Vault of Horror (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #4 (1982)
• in The Vault of Horror (Gladstone, 1990 series) #6 (June 1991)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #2/1993 (uke 15 1993)
• in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #21 (October 1997)
• 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, 2014 series) #4
• in The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (Dark Horse, 2021 series) #4

Keywords

Fairchild Estate

Indexer Notes

Title correction, script and letterer credits by Craig Delich.

Some of the story is told in flashback.