Tales from the Crypt Tome 4

The EC Archives

by Al Feldstein

Anthologie de récits d’horreur, Tales from the crypt (anciennement The Crypt of Terror) était un bi-mensuel publié par EC Comics, le label indépendant américain de William Gaines, de
1950 à 1955. Trente numéros seront diffusés sur cette période.
Dans ce quatrième volume, qui regroupe les numéros 35 à 40, on retrouve les travaux d’auteurs devenus cultes tels que Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Graham Ingels, Bill Elder, Wally Wood, Johnny Craig ou Jack Kamen.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy

178 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 2013

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

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historias bastante satisfactorias, sobre todo desde el punto de vista gráfico y, en varios casos, desde el guión. Por ejemplo una de Feldstein e Ingles en la cual la competencia por una esquina desde la cual se vende prensa se soluciona a través de un asesinato contado a través de las sombras de los personajes. Visualmente potente y con un subtexto elocuente. Quizás lo menos satisfactorio sea el uso de demasiados lugares comunes (la licantropía, los clubes de criaturas que engatusan a sus víctimas para alimentarse de ellas...), aunque también tienen sus momentos (guiños autorreferenciales, humor)...

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice collection of the classic horror comics. great art and writing. Recommended

[Nate]

At first I figured these stories to be standard EC horror. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, mummies, the occasional crazed lover. But the later stories are very imaginative, with unique points of view and unpredictable twists. “The Craving Grave” is a prime example - it’s narrated by a lonely uninhabited grave who finally gets a corpse. This is a fantastic story that I won’t soon forget.

As always when reading EC horror, I love how perverse these stories are. Theses guys make no apologies for showing ripped off faces, decapitated heads, and cauldrons of blood. It’s clear from reading these collections how much creative freedom EC creators had, and how in control of their craft they were. They did exactly what they wanted to do.

[Gothica Noctua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really interesting and first-rate collection. The stories have some clever ideas and twists, the artwork is phenomenal, and the GhouLunatics are fantastic horror hosts... even though I keep hearing John Kassir's voice in my head when reading The Crypt Keeper's intros!

My favourite stories included "How Green Was My Alley", "...Only Skin Deep!", the chilling "Last Laugh", and "The Craving Grave", which is told from a very interesting perspective.

Highly recommended to all horror, comic, and "Tales from the Crypt" fans.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 - 365 Days of Horror

Issues #35-40 (not 19-24)

Issue #35: Cover by Jack Davis. "By the Fright of the Silvery Moon!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; After two men are found torn apart on the night of a full moon, the sheriff of a small American farm community seizes a man who has arrived from Hungary with his two sons and has him shot, believing him to be a werewolf. "Midnight Mess!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Joe Orlando; A man visits his sister in a small town where people get off the street and close up shop before sundown due to a recent spate of seventeen vampire killings, but scoffs at the idea as the work of a homicidal maniac as vampires don't exist. "The Rack" text story. "Busted Marriage!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; A man has voodoo dolls made as wedding cake figures in order to get a wealthy woman to marry him. "This Wraps It Up," script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); Three archeologists, one with a bad heart (Munson), uncover the tomb of the 5th Pharoah of Egypt with a large treasure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Issue #36: Cover by Jack Davis. EC Artist of the Month article about George Evans (with photo) by Al Feldstein. "Fare Tonight, Followed By Increasing Clottyness...", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; A cab driver has a dream that he is pursued by a Dr. Mueller into a basement filled with vampire-occupied caskets. "Curiosity Killed...", script by Al Feldstein, art by George Evans; A woman is convinced that her friend down the hall has been murdered by her husband and that he is disposing of her remains bit by bit via carrier pigeon to a local kennel. "Tight Squeeze" text story. "How Green Was My Alley," script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; A bigamist is decapitated by his two athletic wives when they find they've been deceived; The golfer putts with his eyes and the bowler uses his severed head. "The Handler," script by Ray Bradbury and Albert B. Feldstein (adaptation), art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); A mortician avenges himself against perceived slights upon the closed-casket victims of his parlor by violating their bodies until a corpse who isn't quite dead yet overhears his gruesome doings and begs the dead to rise from their graves and stop this horrid man. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Curiosity Killed is a great, twisted, story.)

Issue #37: Cover by Jack Davis. "Dead Right!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; A doctor rigs up an elaborate hoax to convince his heart specialist friend that his theory of awareness immediately after death could be true by pretending to poison him but really only administering an anesthetic. "Pleasant Screams!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Joe Orlando; A high school teacher narrates his experiences as the main character in the dream of a sadistic student. "Solid" text story. "Strop! You're Killing Me!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Bill Elder; When Clem retires as Fire Chief, that leaves old Dan Harper on the job.....until the Mayor appoints a younger man as Chief, and, from the beginning, Dan and Chief Miller never see eye-to-eye about anything. "The Rover Boys!", script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Graham Ingels; A doctor gets his revenge on the five members of the medical board who revoked his license to practice medicine by transferring their brains into the bodies of dogs, and using their reasoning abilities to make money as a novelty act. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Issue #38: Cover by Jack Davis. "Tight Grip!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; This story is narrated by a trunk and concerns the murder of a woman the trunk is fond of; When the murderer attempts to hide in the trunk, he panics and shoots holes through it. "Only Skin Deep!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Reed Crandall; A man marries a woman at Mardi Gras who wears a hag mask. "Big Fish!" text story. "Last Laugh," script by Al Feldstein, art by Will Elder; An obese practical joker with a stomach problem visits a doctor and relates a practical joke involving getting old clothes and bloody butchered chunks of horse flesh to take down to the train yard near where some children regularly play. "Mournin' Mess," script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); The Grateful Hoboes, Outcasts, and Unwanteds' Layaways Society is run by a man who read 'Midnight Mess' in Tales from the Crypt #35, and offers a pleasant burial for the penniless. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Issue #39: Cover by Jack Davis. "Undertaking Palor," script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; Some boys peeping through an undertaker's basement window overhear a plot between the town druggist and undertaker to poison citizens to profit from their funeral costs. "The Craving Grave," script by Al Feldstein, art by Joe Orlando; This story is told by a grave; It speaks of spending lonely years of being laughed at by the other graves, because they have children (corpses) while the narrator remains barren. "Fire!" text story. "The Sleeping Beauty!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Kamen; In this grim fairy tale, the REAL reason sleeping beauty spends all that time sleeping during the daytime hours turns out to be...aw, you guessed it. "Shadow of Death," script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; The shadow of a corner newspaper dealer detaches itself from his body one evening and seizes the shadow of an axe in order to assault an unscrupulous competitor who is attempting to ruin him. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Issue #40: Cover by Jack Davis. "Food For Thought," script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; A woman plots to run away with the circus animal trainer because her husband, even though he can project his thoughts to her which they use as their act, does not love her. "Pearly To Dead," script by Al Feldstein, art by George Evans; Two navy divers discover a pearl bed while placing demo charges and make plans to go back for them after the war ends. "Choice!" text story. "Prairie Schooner," script by Al Feldstein, art by Bernie Krigstein; A madman converts a house into a ship in the middle of a prairie. "Half-Baked!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Graham Ingels; A man who enjoys tormenting lobster ends up in a car crash where the steering column disembowels him and the flames that erupt broil him alive. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Paul Sutter]

Once more Dark Horse rises to the forefront to offer another classic edition from the EC comics archives. These editions never fail to please comic lovers from yesteryear. In the latest edition, issues 35 to 40 are reproduced with enhanced color, making many of the images almost leap from the page. Once more some of the best artists and writers are involved in the comics, including Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Jack Kamen, Bernie Krigstein, Reed Crandall, and many others.
There were many horror comics back at the time that EC was releasing their classic issues. What set EC apart from the competition, was the detail and care they put into these stories. Sure, there are a few stories here that are not as entertaining as others, but for the most part, EC took great pride in making these tales a cut above the rest.
In this issue there are many standouts that make you want to read the story more than once. The very first story By The Fright Of The Silvery Moon, sets the mood big time. A werewolf has come to town and is killing people each time the moon is full. The sheriff of the small town, is looking for suspects, and he immediately seizes upon the fact a family has come from Hungary. That seems where many of the werewolf myths emerged from. Right away he targets the father as the werewolf, waiting for the moon to be full, and his rifle is filled with silver bullets. But things are certainly not as they seem in this town werewolf wise.
How Green Was My Alley, is the story of a man married to two women, and making excuses that he has to leave them for periods at a time, so he can be with the other. The ladies are sports stars and things don’t go well when the ladies end up at the same hotel, realizing their beloved mate has played them for the fool. Revenge is definitely in store for him.
Strop! You’re Killing Me, looks at age discrimination when a younger man takes over as Fire Chief. One of the older men is still on the job and the young upstart wants to work the older man to death, thinking he can’t handle it. But revenge is the name of the game when the fire pole has a nasty surprise for the new chief.
The last story in the book Half-Baked, is the tale of man who makes his living via lobsters. He loves making them suffer in the oven, loving the torment he causes. He steals lobsters from others’ traps and finds that revenge has the last laugh when he turned into a half-baked image of his former self.
This book has some of the best EC tales ever, and is a must-read book to add to your collection.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read over 1,000 pages of EC Comics during the month of October and loved every minute of it. There are two points in this book where the quality dips ever so slightly below EC's unusually high standards. #38's Mournin' Mess, where it is a complete retread of Midnight Mess from #35, and #39's The Crypt-Keeper's Grim Fairy Tale!, with the lame attempt at humor.

Russ Cochran's Foreword is fantastic. Cochran is the torchbearer for EC. If not for him EC may have faded into obscurity, and every fan owes him a debt for his endless work. He was part of the first generation of comic fans and was among the earliest members of organized fandom back in the '60s.

Midnight Mess from #35 is a great twist on the vampire story. #35 runs the gamut for traditional monsters (mummies, werewolves, etc.). EC really upped the ante at this point in terms of gore and violence while maintaining the class and quality of earlier issues. Ghastly Graham Ingels in particular was at his peak here, with each issue seeming better than the one before it. Shadow Of Death in #39 is one of his creepy crawliest best.

#36's Curiosity Killed... is pure George Evans genius. He is such an underrated artist. The story is fantastic, total Hitchcock vibe. That same issue's How Green Was My Alley takes an unsavory subject (adultery) and provides a great twist ending. Jack Kamen's beautiful artwork doesn't hurt, either.

EC Comics remain the gold standard for Horror comics and their importance cannot be stated enough. The writing is superior to modern comics by far. I love the narrative, as it paints a complete picture. Many modern comic fans prefer to “let the pictures do the heavy lifting”, but there are things that words in a caption can describe more effectively than a word-free panel.

The linework is superb, taken from the original artwork. The color is the killer for me. While based on Marie Severin's original colors, there are too many liberties taken with it in terms of gradient shades and other Photoshop effects for my taste. Your mileage may vary.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When people talk about their memories of EC horror comics, a few stories always stand out from the mix, and one of them is "The Craving Grave," where a sentient grave waxes rhapsodic about its desire for a body to incubate. That story is exemplary of the sea-change here: less MAD and more Bradbury, less kiddie and more gothic.

The EC house style shifted a little over the years, and this is where it hit its stride, adopting a more purple, extravagant gothic sensibility. They're not playing to the cheap seats or the soda-shop audience as much as before here; it's far from what you'd call literary, but it's more hardcore pulp than anything else. At times, it even rivals Marvel's brief "Menace" for the title of best and weirdest horror rag.

[Joaquin del Villar · Rating 3 out of 5]

De este volumen destacaría "Shadow of death", con un dibujo muy característico de Graham Ingels, es una historia de un vendedor de periódicos callejero que es desplazado por otro, y lo que con ayuda de una sombra se puede hacer para recuperar la esquina favorita. "The Craving Grave" historia de Gaines y Feldstein con dibujo de Joe Orlando. Es una curiosa historia contada en primera persona por una tumba que está deseando que alguien la ocupe, verdaderamente una idea original. "Last Laugh" una historia dibujada por Bill Elder con guión de Bill Gaines y Al Felstein, trata de un bromista que va a la consulta del doctor, no sabe que esa va a ser su última carcajada, buen giro final, aunque algo previsible.

[Choupi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un tome 4 bien meilleur que le précédent. J’ai trouvé les histoires, en grande partie, plus originales. J’ai trouvé l’humour noir plus piquante, drôle et avec un peu moins de clichés, il en a toujours un peu, mais l’écriture axe plus dans des récits parfois plus surprenant et drôle. Une de mes histoires préférées est celle du coffre pour sa façon de la raconter.

J’ai pris un vrai plaisir à le lire. Il y a une bonne évolution en termes d’écritures et d’idées. Les dessins n’ont toujours pas pris une ride pour ce genre de comics à l’ancienne. Plus qu’à découvrir le dernier tome de cette collection.

[Kevin Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never before read a Tales From The Crypt comic. I'd seen the movies and was familiar with the series.
What an absolute delight these were in their full technicolor, gory, pun-filled, tales of revenge and gore.
I was pleasantly surprised by the writing quality in many of the stories (even Ray Bradbury makes an appearance!), by the clever premises, by the neat twists they all end in.
If you've never delved into the dank depths of the depraved (EC seems to love alliteration!), do yourself a favor and read this under your sheets with a flashlight!

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

EC's GhouLunatics offer up more terror tales by golden age greats like Al Feldstein, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Joe Orlando, Graham Ingels, George Evans, Bill Elder, Reed Crandall, and Bernard Krigstein.
A grisley volume of some of the best horror comic tales ever produced. Perfect Hallowe'en reading.

[Ernesto Juárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Total calidad con estas complicaciones simplemente preciosas, una muestra al pasado con miedos eternos.

[Patrick Selau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were great, some not so much.

[EC Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest volume of "Tales From the Crypt" is still better than almost any other horror comics, but that's what we got here. The coloring is very uneven; some stories look especially airbrushed in this volume, which hurts to look at ("The Craving Grave" really suffers for this: compare the Jack Davis night scenes to Orlando and Ingels).
Davis was doing better work everywhere else at this moment, though "By the Fright of the Silvery Moon" has some heart, one of his classic werewolf stories. Orlando's "Midnight Mess" and Ingel's sequel "Mourning Mess" are not my faves, but they're here.
This is where Al and Bill's writing really started burning out, but Bernie Krigstein sneaks in with "Prairie Schooner", some nice work towards the end. "Shadow of Death" begins Ingels classic final phase, and his "Half Baked" ends the book on a stronger note as we head into the superior stories of volume 5. (Vault of Horror, for the record, has by far the strongest volume 4). For my money, and this is a pricey volume, the most expendable book of EC horror.

[Fernando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nueva entrega de esta mítica colección de historietas de los años cincuenta que recopila Diábolo Ediciones con una calidad inédita en nuestro país. Desgraciadamente, ya no quedan muchos volúmenes en el horizonte más allá de este cuarto que se inclina más por el trasfondo criminal aún dentro de un marco sobrenatural. Hay relatos verdaderamente originales e imaginativos como el narrado por una tumba vacía que ansía su ocupante, en paralelismo con la maternidad. Por otro lado, no falta el desfile acostumbrado de adaptaciones de clásicos del género, seres vengativos, critica social y enormes dosis de humor negrísimo y tragedia del Destino. Todo se acompaña de las portadas y secciones originales, relatos escritos y material moderno como entrevistas. Estos cómics son parte de la historia que nos ha forjado, tanto como amantes o detractores del horror, hacia la concepción presente de la narrativa del XXI. Una edición de lujo a precio imbatible.

[Ruz El · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another dead solid volume. This one is the first put out by Dark Horse, and I think the production values are better than the precious two. Story wise, they're firing on all cylinders so the art is top notch and the plot demented. I can't imagine anyone reading these and not having a big smile planted on their face.

[Erica Gaussa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this "antique" comic ! published in 1990, it was gripping almost the whole way through all eight short stories, due to the cheesy and, in my opinion, dull tale of "The Sleeping Beauty".
every other tale was gripping and engrossing!
this comic may have just sparked my interest in beginning a comic book collection

[Jonathan Weeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

These comics changed the industry and greatly influenced the face of modern horror. The only problem is that after you've read a few stories, you can spot the gruesome twist endings coming a mile away. That doesn't make this particular volume any less appealing.

[Beatlesfan685]

love this classic comic series from the 50's. I want to read it so bad.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art, mostly good-to-strong stories, good reproduction. Definitely worthwhile for any discerning comic reader.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume has got quite a few good stories, but some were rather dreadful to read as usual. I particularly liked the Grim Fairy Tales, they were excellent additions to the overused modern settings.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½