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Creepy Archives #3
Creepy Archives, Vol. 3
Reprints Creepy #11-15. Includes brief bios of Joe Orlando and Archie Goodwin.
Fans of horror comics and jaw-dropping artwork, rejoice! Dark Horse Comics continues to showcase its dedication to bringing you the highest quality horror comics ever made with this third bloodcurdling collection of Warren Publishing's groundbreaking horror magazine Creepy. This landmark archive series brings readers, for the first time ever, each and every eerie story from Creepy magazine's original run, featuring work from many of the best artists ever to work in the medium of comics. Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, and Angelo Torres are just a sampling of the artists whose work bring horror to life in startling and gorgeously gruesome detail in this third huge collected volume.
* Features art by Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, Angelo Torres, and others!
* Features the original back and white artwork meticulously restored, with the original covers of each issue reprinted in luscious full color!
"Since the stock is much finer than the authentic newsprint, visually, these pages are better than the originals, with moody, dark blacks that punctuate the shock endings." Publishers Weekly
Fans of horror comics and jaw-dropping artwork, rejoice! Dark Horse Comics continues to showcase its dedication to bringing you the highest quality horror comics ever made with this third bloodcurdling collection of Warren Publishing's groundbreaking horror magazine Creepy. This landmark archive series brings readers, for the first time ever, each and every eerie story from Creepy magazine's original run, featuring work from many of the best artists ever to work in the medium of comics. Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, and Angelo Torres are just a sampling of the artists whose work bring horror to life in startling and gorgeously gruesome detail in this third huge collected volume.
* Features art by Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, Angelo Torres, and others!
* Features the original back and white artwork meticulously restored, with the original covers of each issue reprinted in luscious full color!
"Since the stock is much finer than the authentic newsprint, visually, these pages are better than the originals, with moody, dark blacks that punctuate the shock endings." Publishers Weekly
240 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2009
27 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Archie Goodwin
972 books69 followersArchie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles Creepy and Eerie, and for Marvel he set up the creator-owned Epic Comics as well as adapting Star Wars into both comics and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 2, 2021
En este volumen, las perspectivas y escorzos de Neal Adams o las páginas de Steve Ditko son para enmarcarlas y colgarlas en un museo.
February 13, 2025
The Art of Unease: A Review of Creepy Archives, Volume 3
Horror, real horror—the kind that lingers in the periphery of your thoughts long after the last page has been turned—is not merely about what is seen, but what is suggested. It is the fear of the inevitable, the unshakable realization that fate, if it exists at all, is cruel.
No publication understood this principle better than Creepy Magazine, which, in its finest moments, did not just tell horror stories but perfected the art of unease.
The Creepy Archives, Volume 3, which collects issues #11-15 of Warren Publishing’s landmark horror magazine, represents a crucial turning point in the evolution of the series. What began as a nostalgic resurrection of the pre-Code horror tradition of EC Comics had, by this point, fully matured into a distinct artistic movement, a masterclass in visual storytelling, atmosphere, and existential dread.
If the first two volumes of Creepy were about reclaiming horror comics, Volume 3 is about pushing them to their full potential.
And the result is nothing short of a masterpiece of the macabre.
The State of Horror Comics in 1966: A Genre Reborn
By the time Creepy entered its second year of publication, the cultural landscape was shifting.
Superhero comics were resurging, thanks to the success of DC’s Silver Age relaunch and Marvel’s new wave of more psychologically complex heroes.
Science fiction and fantasy were gaining cultural prestige, with authors like Bradbury and Clarke ushering in a new era of literary respectability for speculative fiction.
Horror, long relegated to B-movies and pulp fiction, was beginning to evolve, shedding the schlocky theatrics of the 1950s and embracing something more cerebral, more psychological—something that Creepy was uniquely positioned to explore.
James Warren, the publisher behind Creepy, understood that horror could be more than just shock and gore. His magazine was not simply a platform for monster stories; it was an artistic movement, bringing together some of the most talented illustrators of the era and allowing them to tell stories that were as visually sophisticated as they were narratively compelling.
This volume is proof of that ambition.
The Art: When Horror Becomes High Art
If horror comics have often been dismissed as a lesser artistic form, Creepy Archives, Volume 3 obliterates that misconception.
The talent assembled in these five issues reads like a hall of fame of comic book illustration, each artist bringing a distinct vision of horror that elevates Creepy beyond its pulp origins.
Frank Frazetta: The Master of the Macabre Cover
No discussion of Creepy can begin without acknowledging the stunning cover art of Frank Frazetta, whose painterly mastery of shadow and menace ensured that each issue was an event before it was even opened.
Frazetta’s covers for this period are operatic in their grandeur, infused with the romanticism of classical painting but the immediacy of pulp storytelling. His creatures do not merely exist—they loom, they threaten, they breathe. His compositions trap the viewer in a world of nightmare logic, demanding attention, daring the reader to turn the page.
And once inside, the horrors only deepen.
Steve Ditko: The Architect of Dread
Those who know Steve Ditko only from his co-creation of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange may be surprised by just how unsettling his work in Creepy could be.
His panel compositions are claustrophobic, compressing space to amplify tension.
His linework, always distinctive, takes on an almost sickly, feverish quality, as though reality itself is beginning to warp.
His use of shadow and negative space suggests that the true horror is always just out of sight, waiting beyond the frame.
Ditko’s contributions to Creepy are a study in psychological terror, proving that horror does not need gore or spectacle—only the suggestion that something is terribly, irreversibly wrong.
Alex Toth: The Minimalist Nightmare
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Ditko’s jagged, paranoid style is Alex Toth, whose work in Creepy is a masterclass in restrained terror.
Toth understood that horror is just as much about what you don’t show as what you do. His stories in this volume are pared down to their essential elements, reducing the visual noise so that when something terrible finally emerges, the impact is devastating.
His compositions are eerily quiet, almost cinematic, drawing the reader in with a false sense of calm before delivering the inevitable blow.
Gray Morrow & Angelo Torres: The Illustrative Purists
Then there are Gray Morrow and Angelo Torres, two artists whose styles are rooted in an almost photorealistic approach to horror illustration.
Their work in this volume is elegant, richly detailed, and unnervingly lifelike, turning every ghost, monster, and corpse into something that feels tangible, real, uncomfortably close.
If Ditko and Toth’s horror is psychological, Morrow and Torres’s horror is visceral—the kind that you can feel crawling on your skin as you turn the page.
The Stories: Morality Plays from the Grave
The best horror stories are not merely about fear—they are about justice, fate, and the cruel ironies of the universe.
The stories in Creepy Archives, Volume 3 follow the tradition of the EC Comics morality tale, but with a sharper, more refined sense of storytelling.
Among the highlights:
“Grave Undertaking” – A brilliantly nasty little tale about greed and the supernatural, featuring an undertaker who thinks he can outwit death—only to discover that death, as always, has the last word.
“The Damned Thing” – A masterful adaptation of Ambrose Bierce’s classic horror story, proving that Creepy was not just about creating new nightmares but also resurrecting old ones.
“The Duel of the Monsters” – A gothic horror epic, in which two creatures of the night engage in a battle that feels more like tragic inevitability than action spectacle.
“Drink Deep” – A cautionary tale with a delightfully grotesque twist, reminding the reader that some hungers should never be satisfied.
These are not mindless gore-fests or cheap jump-scare stories.
These are tight, beautifully structured pieces of horror literature, infused with dark irony, poetic justice, and the kind of slow-burning dread that burrows deep into the reader’s mind.
Why Creepy Still Matters
Some horror comics shock. Some horror comics disturb.
Creepy, at its best, does something far more powerful:
It lingers.
There is a reason why, decades after first discovering the original magazines buried in the back of a comic shop, you felt compelled to race out and buy these restored editions.
Because Creepy is not just a horror comic.
It is a work of art, a publication that redefined what horror comics could be, and one that still feels fresh, vital, and terrifying today.
If you have not yet picked up Creepy Archives, Volume 3, then do so immediately.
Because some stories never die.
They simply wait—in the shadows, in the flickering glow of candlelight, in the whispers at the edge of your consciousness—for the right moment to return.
And when they do, you will never forget them.
As well you shouldn’t.
Horror, real horror—the kind that lingers in the periphery of your thoughts long after the last page has been turned—is not merely about what is seen, but what is suggested. It is the fear of the inevitable, the unshakable realization that fate, if it exists at all, is cruel.
No publication understood this principle better than Creepy Magazine, which, in its finest moments, did not just tell horror stories but perfected the art of unease.
The Creepy Archives, Volume 3, which collects issues #11-15 of Warren Publishing’s landmark horror magazine, represents a crucial turning point in the evolution of the series. What began as a nostalgic resurrection of the pre-Code horror tradition of EC Comics had, by this point, fully matured into a distinct artistic movement, a masterclass in visual storytelling, atmosphere, and existential dread.
If the first two volumes of Creepy were about reclaiming horror comics, Volume 3 is about pushing them to their full potential.
And the result is nothing short of a masterpiece of the macabre.
The State of Horror Comics in 1966: A Genre Reborn
By the time Creepy entered its second year of publication, the cultural landscape was shifting.
Superhero comics were resurging, thanks to the success of DC’s Silver Age relaunch and Marvel’s new wave of more psychologically complex heroes.
Science fiction and fantasy were gaining cultural prestige, with authors like Bradbury and Clarke ushering in a new era of literary respectability for speculative fiction.
Horror, long relegated to B-movies and pulp fiction, was beginning to evolve, shedding the schlocky theatrics of the 1950s and embracing something more cerebral, more psychological—something that Creepy was uniquely positioned to explore.
James Warren, the publisher behind Creepy, understood that horror could be more than just shock and gore. His magazine was not simply a platform for monster stories; it was an artistic movement, bringing together some of the most talented illustrators of the era and allowing them to tell stories that were as visually sophisticated as they were narratively compelling.
This volume is proof of that ambition.
The Art: When Horror Becomes High Art
If horror comics have often been dismissed as a lesser artistic form, Creepy Archives, Volume 3 obliterates that misconception.
The talent assembled in these five issues reads like a hall of fame of comic book illustration, each artist bringing a distinct vision of horror that elevates Creepy beyond its pulp origins.
Frank Frazetta: The Master of the Macabre Cover
No discussion of Creepy can begin without acknowledging the stunning cover art of Frank Frazetta, whose painterly mastery of shadow and menace ensured that each issue was an event before it was even opened.
Frazetta’s covers for this period are operatic in their grandeur, infused with the romanticism of classical painting but the immediacy of pulp storytelling. His creatures do not merely exist—they loom, they threaten, they breathe. His compositions trap the viewer in a world of nightmare logic, demanding attention, daring the reader to turn the page.
And once inside, the horrors only deepen.
Steve Ditko: The Architect of Dread
Those who know Steve Ditko only from his co-creation of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange may be surprised by just how unsettling his work in Creepy could be.
His panel compositions are claustrophobic, compressing space to amplify tension.
His linework, always distinctive, takes on an almost sickly, feverish quality, as though reality itself is beginning to warp.
His use of shadow and negative space suggests that the true horror is always just out of sight, waiting beyond the frame.
Ditko’s contributions to Creepy are a study in psychological terror, proving that horror does not need gore or spectacle—only the suggestion that something is terribly, irreversibly wrong.
Alex Toth: The Minimalist Nightmare
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Ditko’s jagged, paranoid style is Alex Toth, whose work in Creepy is a masterclass in restrained terror.
Toth understood that horror is just as much about what you don’t show as what you do. His stories in this volume are pared down to their essential elements, reducing the visual noise so that when something terrible finally emerges, the impact is devastating.
His compositions are eerily quiet, almost cinematic, drawing the reader in with a false sense of calm before delivering the inevitable blow.
Gray Morrow & Angelo Torres: The Illustrative Purists
Then there are Gray Morrow and Angelo Torres, two artists whose styles are rooted in an almost photorealistic approach to horror illustration.
Their work in this volume is elegant, richly detailed, and unnervingly lifelike, turning every ghost, monster, and corpse into something that feels tangible, real, uncomfortably close.
If Ditko and Toth’s horror is psychological, Morrow and Torres’s horror is visceral—the kind that you can feel crawling on your skin as you turn the page.
The Stories: Morality Plays from the Grave
The best horror stories are not merely about fear—they are about justice, fate, and the cruel ironies of the universe.
The stories in Creepy Archives, Volume 3 follow the tradition of the EC Comics morality tale, but with a sharper, more refined sense of storytelling.
Among the highlights:
“Grave Undertaking” – A brilliantly nasty little tale about greed and the supernatural, featuring an undertaker who thinks he can outwit death—only to discover that death, as always, has the last word.
“The Damned Thing” – A masterful adaptation of Ambrose Bierce’s classic horror story, proving that Creepy was not just about creating new nightmares but also resurrecting old ones.
“The Duel of the Monsters” – A gothic horror epic, in which two creatures of the night engage in a battle that feels more like tragic inevitability than action spectacle.
“Drink Deep” – A cautionary tale with a delightfully grotesque twist, reminding the reader that some hungers should never be satisfied.
These are not mindless gore-fests or cheap jump-scare stories.
These are tight, beautifully structured pieces of horror literature, infused with dark irony, poetic justice, and the kind of slow-burning dread that burrows deep into the reader’s mind.
Why Creepy Still Matters
Some horror comics shock. Some horror comics disturb.
Creepy, at its best, does something far more powerful:
It lingers.
There is a reason why, decades after first discovering the original magazines buried in the back of a comic shop, you felt compelled to race out and buy these restored editions.
Because Creepy is not just a horror comic.
It is a work of art, a publication that redefined what horror comics could be, and one that still feels fresh, vital, and terrifying today.
If you have not yet picked up Creepy Archives, Volume 3, then do so immediately.
Because some stories never die.
They simply wait—in the shadows, in the flickering glow of candlelight, in the whispers at the edge of your consciousness—for the right moment to return.
And when they do, you will never forget them.
As well you shouldn’t.
February 15, 2019
So there's Creepy while Archie Goodwin was at Warren Publishing and Creepy after he left. This volume, fortunately, falls under the former category and as such the stories contained therein are of a higher quality than they were after Goodwin's departure to Marvel in 1968. This is not Goodwin's best work for Warren--that would be Blazing Combat, which he is at his inspired best, but his work as a writer and editor for Creepy, bringing along other established writers like Otto Binder (on the "Adam Link" stories that really aren't "horror" comics, unless you are talking about existential horror of course--the sort of thing Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation would lose sleep over, if he slept!), thus lending to the overall quality of the book. If you saw my review of Eerie vol. 3 you know that the halcyon days of Warren were soon to be over, as the lack Goodwin's editorial presence and stories make everything go to shit (unless of course they were running reprints of Goodwin's earlier stuff.)
Of course, before the cost cutting measures that lead Goodwin to go elsewhere, Warren also was employing some of the best artists as well. Here you see the legendary Neal Adams, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood and Gil Kane providing art for some of these stories. I'm especially appreciative of Ditko's work in this volume, as it seems much cleaner than his work on The Amazing Spider-Man. Perhaps the lack of color in the book lends to the more macabre atmosphere that Warren, mainly through the lynch pin of Goodwin, was trying to portray.
These collections are significant from a historical perspective. Horror comics (and Conan while were at it) were published in magazine and not comic book format so as to not run afoul of the Comics Code Authority. Warren tried to set themselves up as the spiritual successor to E.C. Comics Tales From the Crypt and so long as Goodwin was running the show, actually reading the works contained therein is a joy to behold.
Of course, before the cost cutting measures that lead Goodwin to go elsewhere, Warren also was employing some of the best artists as well. Here you see the legendary Neal Adams, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood and Gil Kane providing art for some of these stories. I'm especially appreciative of Ditko's work in this volume, as it seems much cleaner than his work on The Amazing Spider-Man. Perhaps the lack of color in the book lends to the more macabre atmosphere that Warren, mainly through the lynch pin of Goodwin, was trying to portray.
These collections are significant from a historical perspective. Horror comics (and Conan while were at it) were published in magazine and not comic book format so as to not run afoul of the Comics Code Authority. Warren tried to set themselves up as the spiritual successor to E.C. Comics Tales From the Crypt and so long as Goodwin was running the show, actually reading the works contained therein is a joy to behold.
Read
July 2, 2025It's a pretty fun exercise to blitz through these stories and enjoy the incredible art while reckoning with the writing that makes so many of them feel incomplete/unoriginal
take a shot when a story ends with 'and the narrator and/or person they were interacting with was DEAD! the whole time!!! wow!!!!!', take a shot when the story ends with a character being revealed as a vampire/werewolf/witch/ghoul/character from greek mythology, take a shot when a wise-and-old or young-and-hot character introduced by page two ends up being a turncoat, etc etc etc etc etc
the art is still really scrumptious though
take a shot when a story ends with 'and the narrator and/or person they were interacting with was DEAD! the whole time!!! wow!!!!!', take a shot when the story ends with a character being revealed as a vampire/werewolf/witch/ghoul/character from greek mythology, take a shot when a wise-and-old or young-and-hot character introduced by page two ends up being a turncoat, etc etc etc etc etc
the art is still really scrumptious though
December 6, 2018
The best and most consistent artists in this volume are Joe Orlando and Steve Ditko. And, for the record, this is the best Ditko work you will find anywhere. My favorite stories in recent volumes have been the dark fantasy stuff. Usually involves evil wizards and muscle-bound warriors fighting demons and resisting magic spells, it's so dumb and so fun. Also, there are a few contributions by Jerry Grandenetti, buy only one from the great Neal Adams; and although he is not my favorite, Reed Crandall turns in a couple of great stories.
July 3, 2022
A giant mixed bag
I don't know if this collection was weaker than the last or if man simply wasn't meant to read 3 consecutive omnibuses of old timey horror junk food. Some good stuff, some dumb stuff, lots of gorgeous art. I had a good time with CREEPY but I think it is time for me to move on.
I don't know if this collection was weaker than the last or if man simply wasn't meant to read 3 consecutive omnibuses of old timey horror junk food. Some good stuff, some dumb stuff, lots of gorgeous art. I had a good time with CREEPY but I think it is time for me to move on.
January 1, 2023
Creepy gets better and better…
Many different styles, different artists, and different stories, with sword and sorceries thrown in for good measure. Always a fun read that gets darker and darker. There are few survivors, but still recommended.
Many different styles, different artists, and different stories, with sword and sorceries thrown in for good measure. Always a fun read that gets darker and darker. There are few survivors, but still recommended.
September 26, 2017
Favourite story adapted from Washington Irving about a german student and a guillotine
November 23, 2018
Neal Adams has a couple stories in this 3rd volume.
October 13, 2019
Gave this a skim — none of the stories really jumped out at me.
July 7, 2020
While better than Creepy Archives #2, only a couple of the stories are great and many are terrible. Overall, the art is excellent and better than the writing.
March 13, 2021
Another collection of entertaining horror and science fiction stories, with exquisite art.
May 23, 2022
Kokoelma kauhusarjakuvaa joka ei ole erityisen kauhistuttavaa, eräänlaista makaabereilla aineksilla hassuttelua ja leikittelyä.
December 16, 2023
Some fun art and plots, but ultimately inferior to the EC books (Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt). Decent enough.
September 14, 2025
This is a fun anthology. In a lot of ways I prefer it to the EC “Tales from the Crypt” comics, because they are made scary by what is not shown. Even though “Tales from the Crypt” holds back, there is still some gore (despite the comics code of the time).
I highly recommend.
I highly recommend.
October 15, 2015
Shokki-kirjasarjan kolmas osa jatkaa edeltäjiensä viitoittamalla kalmanhajuisella tiellä, eli tarjoaa parin sadan sivun verran kauhusarjakuvaa käsittääkseni 1960-luvun loppupuolelta. Sarjat ovat lyhyitä, usein mustan huumorin sävyttämiä tarinoita, joiden juontajana toimii legendaarinen Slemmy-hahmo.
Perinteisten vampyyri- ja ihmissusi tarinoiden lisäksi mukana on myös pari miekka ja magia -henkistä fantasiapläjäystä sekä pitempi ja tyhmemmänpuoleinen jatkotarina robottietsivästä. Yleensä Archie Goodwinin laatimat käsikirjoitukset eivät ole parhaimmillaankaan kuin pikkunäppäriä (kiinnostavana yksityiskohtana voi mainita, että mukana on pari sarjakuvasovitusta Bram Stokerin ja Edgar Allan Poen kaltaisilta kirjailijoilta), mutta taide on läpikotaisin tyylikästä - ja miksipä ei olisi kun tekijäkaartista löytyy Neal Adamsia, Steve Ditkoa, Gene Colania, Joe Orlandoa ja muita vastaavia nimiä.
Viihdyttävää lukemista nostalgiannälkäiselle tämä tarjoaa etenkin pienemmissä palasissa; yhdeltä istumalta kokonainen albumi saattaa olla vähän turhan puuduttava paketti.
Perinteisten vampyyri- ja ihmissusi tarinoiden lisäksi mukana on myös pari miekka ja magia -henkistä fantasiapläjäystä sekä pitempi ja tyhmemmänpuoleinen jatkotarina robottietsivästä. Yleensä Archie Goodwinin laatimat käsikirjoitukset eivät ole parhaimmillaankaan kuin pikkunäppäriä (kiinnostavana yksityiskohtana voi mainita, että mukana on pari sarjakuvasovitusta Bram Stokerin ja Edgar Allan Poen kaltaisilta kirjailijoilta), mutta taide on läpikotaisin tyylikästä - ja miksipä ei olisi kun tekijäkaartista löytyy Neal Adamsia, Steve Ditkoa, Gene Colania, Joe Orlandoa ja muita vastaavia nimiä.
Viihdyttävää lukemista nostalgiannälkäiselle tämä tarjoaa etenkin pienemmissä palasissa; yhdeltä istumalta kokonainen albumi saattaa olla vähän turhan puuduttava paketti.
January 21, 2016
I was lucky and collected a full set of these magazines and got a chance to read the fantastic stories and enjoy the incredible art from many of the greats, many of who got their start here, from the comic world. If you like offbeat horror, supernatural, SiFi and just plan different stories then these are the magazines for you. Very recommended
September 12, 2011
Ei näistä kauhun tunne tule, mutta viihdyttävää luettavaa kauniilla kuvilla.
Parasta kuitenkin lieni ne piirtäjäesittelyt. Hauskoja.
Parasta kuitenkin lieni ne piirtäjäesittelyt. Hauskoja.
October 11, 2014
I am now done with this series. Too boring and not enough creativity. The stories have way to much exposition and it is pointless. The art is so good, these descriptors are not necessary.
July 30, 2013
De la très belle ouvrage comme d'habitude... et quelle couverture !
March 5, 2014
Some great Neal Adams and Steve Ditko artwork (and a Frank Brunner fan piece)are the standouts of this volume.
July 7, 2024
All of the usual EC greats contribute to this series, but Steve Ditko's black and white artwork really shines here.
October 31, 2018
Four years and $75 later, it's finally mine! (Yo, EC, stop letting your shit go out of print.)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews