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The EC Archives
The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear Volume 4
Delight in fright! This fourth volume of the EC Comics horror classic The Haunt of Fear collects a gruesome medly of unforgettable frights! Featuring art from the legendary talents of Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, Graham Ingels, George Evans, Jack Kamen, Jack Davis, and Reed Crandall, this volume collects The Haunt of Fear #19-#24 and includes a foreword by Rob Zombie.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published April 25, 2017
18 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Al Feldstein
368 books48 followersAlbert 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.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 13, 2024
75-year-old pre-code horror comics are my comfort read. Don't judge me. I realize it's weird.
April 12, 2018
*Review originally published in the New York Journal Of Books: https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...
Welcome to this fourth collection of spine-tingling stories, an assortment appalling acts, some truly terrible tales told by the awful occupants of the hideous haunt!
Who remembers their first encounter with The Haunt of Fear? At some point almost everyone has stumbled over these old penny dreadfuls raised to the price of a dime. Despite being created in the 1950s, these creepy comics have skulked around for decades, discovered and rediscovered at garage sales and flea markets, presented in bookstores as reissues, beckoning young readers to experience a darker side of comic books away from costumed superheroes and run-of-the-mill villains.
Three decrepit hosts would lure young readers through an assortment of short stories drawn with skills that set the bar high. The Old Witch, the Vault-Keeper, and the Crypt-Keeper acted as guides for a great many youngsters into a world of maniacs and monsters spilling blood and guts.
The Haunt of Fear earned its rightful place in the pantheon of horror, as recognizable a name as The Twilight Zone and Stephen King. The effect it had on entertainment and culture cannot be overstated. The horror genre was new ground for comics at the time of its inception, and the influence of these stories carries on today. A great many books, films, and TV series were built on the foundations laid by The Haunt of Fear, as well as plenty of spin-offs and imitators on the comic book front. From thrilling short story collections by innumerable authors, to movies like Creepshow and Tales from the Dark Side, to television such as Tales from the Crypt and Black Mirror, almost every short-form design can trace its roots back to the style and substance of this classic horror comic.
Kicking off the book is an introduction by Grant Geissman that is as interesting as it is informative, supplying us with the story of the comic’s creation and subsequent rise to fame. Of equal intrigue is the foreword by Rob Zombie, who recounts his first discovery of The Haunt of Fear as a young boy. He describes the powerful and almost forbidden magnetism of the art and stories, something that greatly influenced him to become the music/filmmaker he is today.
Making up the collection are issues #19–24 of The Haunt of Fear, presented in digitally remastered color. Each issue features five tales told in comic form, plus a short story, and finally a column featuring letters written by fans and answered by The Old Witch.
You get 24 scary stories with some additional content, not a bad deal for a trip down memory lane! As nostalgic as it all is, however, the collection also proves how bad the material could be too at times (occasionally laughably so). The three old crones’ groan-worthy puns, atrocious alliteration, and cheesy jokes littering the intros and outros are one thing, but the stories themselves sometimes leave a lot to be desired.
Readers are led by the hand all too often, characters’ dialogue leaving little to the imagination. Most endings can be guessed long before anyone reaches the halfway point. In contrast, sometimes plot developments or revelations come out of nowhere with no setup or logic, leaving readers with a raised eyebrow or creased forehead.
A good number of stories rely heavily (often directly) on the standard-setting predecessors of long ago. Attempts to put new spins on old stories are frequent; Jekyll & Hyde, Bluebeard, Grimm’s fairy tales, the works of Edgar Allen Poe, as well an assortment of vampire and werewolf lore. There is no question how outdated it all is, and many of these tales don’t hold up today. It’s something nobody probably noticed when they were young and impressionable, but we become painfully aware of it now as adults looking back.
But The Haunt of Fear had its place and time, making a hell of an impact when it was fresh and unsettling. Best to remember it that way and enjoy these old offerings as a time capsule filled with the stuff of 1950s nightmares, the kind of comics that kept the nightlights on and made children check under their beds.
Welcome to this fourth collection of spine-tingling stories, an assortment appalling acts, some truly terrible tales told by the awful occupants of the hideous haunt!
Who remembers their first encounter with The Haunt of Fear? At some point almost everyone has stumbled over these old penny dreadfuls raised to the price of a dime. Despite being created in the 1950s, these creepy comics have skulked around for decades, discovered and rediscovered at garage sales and flea markets, presented in bookstores as reissues, beckoning young readers to experience a darker side of comic books away from costumed superheroes and run-of-the-mill villains.
Three decrepit hosts would lure young readers through an assortment of short stories drawn with skills that set the bar high. The Old Witch, the Vault-Keeper, and the Crypt-Keeper acted as guides for a great many youngsters into a world of maniacs and monsters spilling blood and guts.
The Haunt of Fear earned its rightful place in the pantheon of horror, as recognizable a name as The Twilight Zone and Stephen King. The effect it had on entertainment and culture cannot be overstated. The horror genre was new ground for comics at the time of its inception, and the influence of these stories carries on today. A great many books, films, and TV series were built on the foundations laid by The Haunt of Fear, as well as plenty of spin-offs and imitators on the comic book front. From thrilling short story collections by innumerable authors, to movies like Creepshow and Tales from the Dark Side, to television such as Tales from the Crypt and Black Mirror, almost every short-form design can trace its roots back to the style and substance of this classic horror comic.
Kicking off the book is an introduction by Grant Geissman that is as interesting as it is informative, supplying us with the story of the comic’s creation and subsequent rise to fame. Of equal intrigue is the foreword by Rob Zombie, who recounts his first discovery of The Haunt of Fear as a young boy. He describes the powerful and almost forbidden magnetism of the art and stories, something that greatly influenced him to become the music/filmmaker he is today.
Making up the collection are issues #19–24 of The Haunt of Fear, presented in digitally remastered color. Each issue features five tales told in comic form, plus a short story, and finally a column featuring letters written by fans and answered by The Old Witch.
You get 24 scary stories with some additional content, not a bad deal for a trip down memory lane! As nostalgic as it all is, however, the collection also proves how bad the material could be too at times (occasionally laughably so). The three old crones’ groan-worthy puns, atrocious alliteration, and cheesy jokes littering the intros and outros are one thing, but the stories themselves sometimes leave a lot to be desired.
Readers are led by the hand all too often, characters’ dialogue leaving little to the imagination. Most endings can be guessed long before anyone reaches the halfway point. In contrast, sometimes plot developments or revelations come out of nowhere with no setup or logic, leaving readers with a raised eyebrow or creased forehead.
A good number of stories rely heavily (often directly) on the standard-setting predecessors of long ago. Attempts to put new spins on old stories are frequent; Jekyll & Hyde, Bluebeard, Grimm’s fairy tales, the works of Edgar Allen Poe, as well an assortment of vampire and werewolf lore. There is no question how outdated it all is, and many of these tales don’t hold up today. It’s something nobody probably noticed when they were young and impressionable, but we become painfully aware of it now as adults looking back.
But The Haunt of Fear had its place and time, making a hell of an impact when it was fresh and unsettling. Best to remember it that way and enjoy these old offerings as a time capsule filled with the stuff of 1950s nightmares, the kind of comics that kept the nightlights on and made children check under their beds.
July 31, 2020
Great art, great writing. You never go wrong when you pick up an EC archive to enjoy. Recommended
Read
July 20, 2020My library has several random EC collections and I plan to read them all. First up is The Haunt of Fear Vol. 4. It collects issues 19-24 of the series, featuring stories written by Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Jack Davis, Otto Binder, and Carl Wessler, and illustrated by Graham Ingles, George Evans, Jack Kamen, Bill Elder, Reed Crandall, Davis, and Feldstein. This is a really solid collection of stories. I love the formula for EC horror stuff, and while some stories are definitely better than others, all are entertaining in some way. We get a few adaptations here, including two goofy Grimm fairy tales, Jekyll and Hyde, and a Poe short. The latter two aren’t direct adaptations but take elements from the respective stories. Whenever I read pre-Code comics I’m surprised by how violent and racy they can be. For instance, there’s a scene of intestines strewn across a baseball field, and a woman getting run over by a train. Brutal stuff!
My favorites from this book (incidentally all written by Feldstein):
“Lover Come Back to Me,” about a family tradition of ax murdering.
“Terror Train,” about a paranoid wife’s descent into madness.
“Wish You Were Here,” about a wife who uses three wishes rather poorly.
“High Cost of Dying,” about a man who can’t afford to give his dead wife a proper funeral, so he comes up with another way to pay his respects. This was the best story in the book.
My favorites from this book (incidentally all written by Feldstein):
“Lover Come Back to Me,” about a family tradition of ax murdering.
“Terror Train,” about a paranoid wife’s descent into madness.
“Wish You Were Here,” about a wife who uses three wishes rather poorly.
“High Cost of Dying,” about a man who can’t afford to give his dead wife a proper funeral, so he comes up with another way to pay his respects. This was the best story in the book.
December 8, 2025
Otro imprescindible volumen que añadir a la Biblioteca EC. En este brilla con luz propia la archifamosa «Foul play», que todavía hoy en día sigue pareciendo tan asquerosa y repulsiva (en el buen sentido de la palabra) que cuando se publicó por vez primera. Sinceramente, las reacciones viscerales ante semejante historia (y otras, en las que habitualmente triunfaba el mal con una sorna e ironía tan de agradecer como políticamente incorrectas) no solo no sorprenden, sino que hoy en día escandalizarían igual o más en una publicación supuestamente dirigida a críos pequeños, como lo eran todos los tebeos de la época. No voy a ser yo quien defienda a Wertham ni a la censura, pero el catálogo de salvajadas que hoy nos parecen tan geniales y estupendas es lógico que preocupara a las personas decentes de aquellos tiempos. Siendo sinceros, yo no dejaría a mis hijos pequeños acercarse a los cómics de terror EC ni con un palo... pero, vamos, que a Watchmen tampoco. Y es que hay una edad para cada cosa, y los tebeos EC ¿quién los lee hoy en día? Señores mayores.
Pues eso.
Pues eso.
May 8, 2019
Still loving my jaunt through the E.C. horror books, but by this volume I'm getting just the slightest bit tired of Graham Ingels artwork. All due respect. The guy's a titan and his work is easily and obviously part of E.C. horror's DNA, but I gotta admit every Jack Davis or Jack Kamen illustrated tale made my ears perk up that much more. The baseball themed story "Foul Play" is one of the nastiest, and goriest E.C. bit I've read so far. A legitimate highlight.
September 22, 2017
3.5 stars - There are some solid stories, but too many of them are either a bit dull or try too hard to shock the reader resulting in endings that feel too forced and don't make much sense. The "Grim Fairy Tales" are the best. They're served with a heavy dose of humor and read like dark versions of E.C.'s Mad Comics/Magazine.
September 17, 2024
I just love these books....they've inspired generations of artists and filmmakers....
Especially enjoyed the tale "Dig that Cat - He's Real Gone"...which was one of the three episodes from HBO's "Tales from the Crypt".
As always---recommended.
Jeff Mc
Especially enjoyed the tale "Dig that Cat - He's Real Gone"...which was one of the three episodes from HBO's "Tales from the Crypt".
As always---recommended.
Jeff Mc
August 17, 2017
Another decent entry in this series, I loved the Grimm Fairy Tales, especially the Snow White story. A few of the stories were rather bland, but overall quite an enjoyable volume.
September 22, 2020
Haunting and fearful.
November 4, 2021
This is the volume that contains “Foul Play!” If you know, you know.
November 7, 2020
Early 50s horror anthology that inspired many copycats in the decades that followed, but also in its day became the target of critics, leading to the Comics Code and end of the series by the mid-50s. Great nostalgia piece.
June 14, 2023
Ooze gettin' in the mood? Things getting gorier, sloppier, and going pretty much self parody: Jack Davis' "Foul Play" is definitely the most notorious story here, although it's maybe more infamous than it is worthy. His "Country Clubbing" is great looking nonsense, "Model Nephew" is actually a nice little switcheroo, and one of my lesser faves of his.
Lots of variations on familiar tropes: Davis has two Jeckyll and Hyde knock offs, just okay. Ingels gets another monkey's paw rip, another Poe, and another Bluebeard. Most of these are lesser returns.
Jack Kamen, of all people, is on fire with the Grimm Fairy Tales: "Double Header" is delightful, "Snow White" is really a highlight, probably the best of the odd dozen he did, with "Hansel and Gretel" not far behind, although they are definitely more "MAD" like than usual (for my money, actually funnier than most MAD, with far more perennial targets).
Ingels doing his more of his usual great work with "Drink to Me With Only Thine Eyes" and "Creep Course". The front covers are probably his most beautiful, too. "The High Cost of Dying" is a classic from Reed Crandall, and George Evans is in fine form with "Chess Mate" and "The Secret".
"Terror Train" is a reprint from "Vault of Horror" vol. 1, and somewhat speaks to the fact that Al and Bill were sorta burning out around this time and about to get a fresh crop of writers to breathe new life into the rags. There is still quite a lot of variation in these tales, though. If it is a little mixed (like always), its certainly a rich collection. It better be: good luck finding this, plus the arm and leg it will cost you!
Lots of variations on familiar tropes: Davis has two Jeckyll and Hyde knock offs, just okay. Ingels gets another monkey's paw rip, another Poe, and another Bluebeard. Most of these are lesser returns.
Jack Kamen, of all people, is on fire with the Grimm Fairy Tales: "Double Header" is delightful, "Snow White" is really a highlight, probably the best of the odd dozen he did, with "Hansel and Gretel" not far behind, although they are definitely more "MAD" like than usual (for my money, actually funnier than most MAD, with far more perennial targets).
Ingels doing his more of his usual great work with "Drink to Me With Only Thine Eyes" and "Creep Course". The front covers are probably his most beautiful, too. "The High Cost of Dying" is a classic from Reed Crandall, and George Evans is in fine form with "Chess Mate" and "The Secret".
"Terror Train" is a reprint from "Vault of Horror" vol. 1, and somewhat speaks to the fact that Al and Bill were sorta burning out around this time and about to get a fresh crop of writers to breathe new life into the rags. There is still quite a lot of variation in these tales, though. If it is a little mixed (like always), its certainly a rich collection. It better be: good luck finding this, plus the arm and leg it will cost you!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews