The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear Volume 2

The EC Archives

by Al Feldstein, Various

Fright fans beware! This hotly anticipated second volume--collecting EC Comics classic The Haunt of Fear #7-#12--is sure to chill you to the core! Featuring art from the celebrated talents of Johnny Craig, Graham Ingles, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, George Roussos, Ed Smalle, and Joe Orlando! Includes an introduction by screenplay writer, Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs, 2001 Maniacs, Field of Screams).

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 10, 2015

About the author

Albert Bernard Feldstein was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. After retiring from Mad, Feldstein concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife.

Reviews

[Jenny Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

75-year-old pre-code horror comics are my comfort read. Don't judge me. I realize it's weird.

[Barbara Behring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again a wonderful read. It's a throwback to my childhood.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice collection of the EC horror stories. These were the inspiration of the DC House of Fear and the Marvel Tales of Suspense and other type titles of the 1960s & 70s. Great art and talent. Recommended

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these EC comics, and the Haunt of Feat collection, Volume 2 is one of my favorites. I love the quick short stories with awesome illustrations with some frightening story lines. I am very thankful to Edelweiss, the pubisher and the author for giving me an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Guida · Rating 5 out of 5]

EC comics created some of the best graphic stories ever written and it was nice to find some stories that inspired the amazing Tales from the Crypt tv show.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the other horror titles from the E.C. archives, the quality level is always high, but jumps significantly towards the end of the second volume with a wider variety of artists to help change up the aesthetic and more creative and daring stories. Some favorites from this collection are "Ear Today.. Gone Tomorrow," "The Basket (which story-wise has been repeated, but I never get sick of it)," "The Very Strange Mummy," which is a monster mashup I would love to see adapted for the big screen, and most notably "The Irony of Death," which actually has a setup so outlandish and pleasing that the weak punchline still works great.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead solid collection. EC was firing on all cylinders at this point with their horror titles and while Haunt doesn't seem to get as much praise as Crypt or Vault, Ghastly Graham has a great gothic style all his own that he brings to the Witches stories. If there's a complaint to this one is that they actually get better.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quelques très bonnes histoires dans ce deuxième recueil, mes préférées étant celles dessinées par Jack Davis, The basket, The irony of death, Bum Steer, What's cooking ? J'aime beaucoup aussi On a dead man's chest par Johnny Craig, avec une magnifique idée fantastique. Le côté tongue-in-cheek de l'horreur à la EC Comics est de mieux en mieux maîtrisé je trouve.

[Terry Meeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do enjoy reading these cheesy and sometimes predictable stories. And the art/panels are well done. If you enjoy all types of horror, then you'd probably enjoy these stories just as much as the former tv series.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

More classic fear fables from the awful artisans of EC Comics. This collection of the Old Witch's "home base" title contains some great horror comics by some the best in the business.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fearful.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these old horror stories. EC comics were some of the best horror stories. Stories and art was good. These stories were where Tales from the Crypt came from.

[EC Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ingels on fire! Seriously, every story of his is a highlight visually and, usually, narratively. "Ooze In the Cellar?", "Room For One More", and "Warts So Horrible?" are all absolutely gorgeous examples of 'Ghastly's' genius, especially for swamps, graveyards, period settings and zombies.
Just as great, "Horror In the School Room", is a gem in Jack Kamen's classic cycle of stories about children's deliverance from evil caretakers. This story is especially powerful for having been published at a time when this punishment was widely accepted in schools (it still happens). "The Acid Test" and "Age Old Story" are decent love gone bad stories from the "Shock" mold of Kamen's canon.
Davis starts off with "The Basket", a favorite that surprises even if you see the twist. After that, he turns in consistently pretty-good-not-great stories that get better as they go, the best of which, "What's Cooking?", ends this volume on a strong note.
There's some one off's by part time contributors, a couple winners from Joe Orlando, "Forbidden Fruit" winning with funny, sexy, then gross and creepy. Johnny Craig has a few, "Dead Man's Chest", about a fateful tattoo, being the most memorable. Everybody hard at work in the EC genius factory.

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much the same as the other "Haunt of Fear", "Tales from the Crypt" and "Vault of Horror" reprint collections. I've enjoyed them all, but after 11 volumes they're feeling pretty repetitive. I don't know how many more volumes Dark Horse will produce, but based on issue counts from Wikipedia, there can't be more than about 3 or 4 more volumes of horror material available.

Personally I'd prefer it if they emphasized the Fantasy / Science Fiction titles instead. But there too, it looks like there's only about 3 or 4 more volumes of material available.

I'll continue to get the Weird Science and Fantasy volumes, but I think I'm done with the horror titles.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was a little above average, it contained classics like "What's cookin" but other stories were a little too dull.