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The EC Archives
The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear Volume 1
The Haunt font overfloweth!
Collecting issues #15-#17 and #4-#6 of the classic horror series, and features gorgeous new digital colors--using Marie Severin's original palette as a guide, this volume includes unforgettable stories drawn by all-star comic artists Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Harry Harrison, Wallace Wood, Graham Ingles, Jack Kamen, and Jack Davis!
Collecting issues #15-#17 and #4-#6 of the classic horror series, and features gorgeous new digital colors--using Marie Severin's original palette as a guide, this volume includes unforgettable stories drawn by all-star comic artists Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Harry Harrison, Wallace Wood, Graham Ingles, Jack Kamen, and Jack Davis!
216 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2015
36 people are currently reading
315 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 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 13, 2024
75-year-old pre-code horror comics are my comfort read. Don't judge me. I realize it's weird.
October 1, 2021
Your standard 1950's tales of people murdering people and then getting what they deserve. When you start reading a lot of these EC comics, they start to all feel the same. In fact one of these stories was actually in one of the other collections I read recently. There's not much variety as they mostly steer away from most of the supernatural other than the occasional vampire or ghost.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss.
September 2, 2018
EC fits into a nice odd niche, neither Golden Age or Silver Age, but a great bridge between the two. Top notch artists and writers make these stories still a good read after all the decades. Recommended
January 26, 2023
2.5 rounded up to 3.
I've enjoyed reading through these old EC horror comics, but after a while they get repetitive. A lot of stories feature the same tropes such as nightmares, "it was all a dream"; murderers getting their comeuppance, etc.
While there were some stories in here that were enjoyable and more unique, I can't see myself branching out further than this first volume.
I've enjoyed reading through these old EC horror comics, but after a while they get repetitive. A lot of stories feature the same tropes such as nightmares, "it was all a dream"; murderers getting their comeuppance, etc.
While there were some stories in here that were enjoyable and more unique, I can't see myself branching out further than this first volume.
November 24, 2021
Another fantastic trip through a childhood favorite.
September 28, 2018
The first volumes of the EC horror comics are interesting to see the quick evolution from unsteady first steps into a full blown iconic achievement. I loved the goofy piece that included Gaines and Feldstein and the three Ghoulunatics, a sort of origin story if you will. Another highlight was "Television Terror" which has a significantly different feel than most of the other stories and would work just fine and dandy nowadays as a segment in one of the V/H/S/ sequels. Finally, "Cheese, That's Horrible!" takes the cake for the trinity of scares, weirdness, and gallows humor.
October 26, 2015
A less than favourable volume of tales that followed the conventions form other anthologies.
January 22, 2013
I picked this up because it was a treat when I was a child to even lay my hands on one of these. Now that they are available in collections, I had to read them again.
The writing is everything you expect from the period this was written is here. The stories, the art, everything blends seamlessly into a bunch of interesting and entertaining stories that capture the imagination. There are one or two stories that were a bit hard to get through, mostly just because the storylines were a little tame to today's standards.
But beyond that, this was a wonderful collection that took me to a place in my childhood and wrapped me in memories. If you were a fan of the old horror comics as a kid, definitely pick up these collections.
The writing is everything you expect from the period this was written is here. The stories, the art, everything blends seamlessly into a bunch of interesting and entertaining stories that capture the imagination. There are one or two stories that were a bit hard to get through, mostly just because the storylines were a little tame to today's standards.
But beyond that, this was a wonderful collection that took me to a place in my childhood and wrapped me in memories. If you were a fan of the old horror comics as a kid, definitely pick up these collections.
March 20, 2022
The stories in this collected volume of one of EC's famous horror comics may be cheesy and trite by today's standards, but I loved them. They're short and to the point, often running 5-7 pages and never outstaying their welcome. Interestingly, each issue also includes a short, two-page tale in prose as well. Most of the stories center on bad people getting their supernatural comeuppance, often from beyond the grave. A few delve into something deeper, like the surreal inevitability of "Nightmare," in which a man keeps dreaming he's being buried alive until he can no longer tell what's real and what's not, to tragic ends; the terror of the unexplained in "House of Horror," in which college pranksters disappear without a trace in a supposedly haunted house until one is found having aged fifty years; and the strangely poetic in "Seeds of Death," in which a murder victim's pocketful of gardenia seeds blossoms to mark where his body has been secretly buried.
Roughly halfway through the collection, the Vault-Keeper from EC's THE VAULT OF HORROR and the Crypt-Keeper from TALES FROM THE CRYPT join THE HAUNT OF FEAR'S Old Witch to guest-host some of the stories, which gives the book a fun, family-reunion feeling. All in all, this volume is a great time for anyone interested in EC's classic and highly influential horror comics.
Roughly halfway through the collection, the Vault-Keeper from EC's THE VAULT OF HORROR and the Crypt-Keeper from TALES FROM THE CRYPT join THE HAUNT OF FEAR'S Old Witch to guest-host some of the stories, which gives the book a fun, family-reunion feeling. All in all, this volume is a great time for anyone interested in EC's classic and highly influential horror comics.
January 8, 2022
I really enjoy these EC archive books. They reflect the style of comics from when my dad was a kid which is a blast for me. I look forward to reading all the versions. Haunt of Fear reminds me of the old Crypt stories I used to watch on Friday nights.
I received an e-ARC of this book from Dark Horse Comics via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
I received an e-ARC of this book from Dark Horse Comics via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
January 23, 2022
I don't know why I love this shit so much, but I do. Vampires, ghouls, mummies, murderers, freaks...it's all here. These stories are post-comics code, so they are bit tame compared to earlier stories, but still a lot of fun.
November 8, 2021
Reprints The Haunt of Fear #15-17 and #3-6 (May 1950-March 1951). The doors to the Haunt of Fear are open and the Old Witch is beckoning you in. Inside the Haunt there are stories of witchcraft, betrayal, mummies, and ghouls. The Haunt of Fear always gets its man and once you enter the Haunt of Fear, you might never escape!
Written by Johnny Craig, Ivan Klapper, Al Feldstein, Gardner F. Fox, Harvey Kurtzman, Bill Gaines, and Ray Bradbury, The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 1 is a Dark Horse Comics reprint collection of the classic EC horror comic book series. The series initially took over Gunfighter (which itself was previously Fat and Slat) and continued the Gunfighter numbering through #17 before back-numbering and starting with issue #3.
Dark Horse has really done a favor by collecting and reprinting the series. Initially a hardbound collection, a paperback, magazine size collection of the classic titles is just what is needed to get the series into the hands of more readers. With a classic series like The Haunt of Fear, there are bound to be some dating, but in a way the dated comics are part of the joy of a series like this.
The stories are all over the place, but having read all of The EC Archives recently, you start to notice some trends in the books. There are obviously thematic storylines that are always followed (like unfaithful wives/husbands, cruel employers, jealousy and rage), but in this collection, you start to see a few stories that appeared in other magazines. It is also interesting to see “Murder by a Dead Man” in Haunt of Fear #16 (July 1950) as a prose piece which is later illustrated and turned into a comic story in Tales from the Crypt #22 (February 1951) as “The Thing from the Grave”. The collection also features a co-written piece by famed science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury in Haunt of Fear #6’s “Strange Undertaking”.
Like many of EC’s signature series, there is a lot of gore and horror. The visuals of the series were really a draw for many readers and The Haunt of Fear doesn’t disappoint in that sense. The gore and murder is rather tame in some ways to current horror magazines, but you can also see how horror magazines evolved from these comics. There is also a very post-modern story featured in Haunt of Fear #17 (September 1950) “Horror Beneath the Streets” with the characters Al (aka Al Feldstein) and Bill (aka Bill Gaines) leaving EC after work, debating horror comics, and being driven into the sewers where they meet the Crypt Keeper and the Vault Keeper and become “contractually obligated” to publish horror comics due to making a deal with them.
The EC Archives are just fun and every volume that comes out has good aspects to it. While I enjoy the other three titles slightly more, I still love what the series are doing, how they are doing it, and the time period in which these horror tales came out. There have been so many attempts to emulate the EC success and few find that right balance…EC forever!!! The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 1 is followed by The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 2.
Written by Johnny Craig, Ivan Klapper, Al Feldstein, Gardner F. Fox, Harvey Kurtzman, Bill Gaines, and Ray Bradbury, The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 1 is a Dark Horse Comics reprint collection of the classic EC horror comic book series. The series initially took over Gunfighter (which itself was previously Fat and Slat) and continued the Gunfighter numbering through #17 before back-numbering and starting with issue #3.
Dark Horse has really done a favor by collecting and reprinting the series. Initially a hardbound collection, a paperback, magazine size collection of the classic titles is just what is needed to get the series into the hands of more readers. With a classic series like The Haunt of Fear, there are bound to be some dating, but in a way the dated comics are part of the joy of a series like this.
The stories are all over the place, but having read all of The EC Archives recently, you start to notice some trends in the books. There are obviously thematic storylines that are always followed (like unfaithful wives/husbands, cruel employers, jealousy and rage), but in this collection, you start to see a few stories that appeared in other magazines. It is also interesting to see “Murder by a Dead Man” in Haunt of Fear #16 (July 1950) as a prose piece which is later illustrated and turned into a comic story in Tales from the Crypt #22 (February 1951) as “The Thing from the Grave”. The collection also features a co-written piece by famed science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury in Haunt of Fear #6’s “Strange Undertaking”.
Like many of EC’s signature series, there is a lot of gore and horror. The visuals of the series were really a draw for many readers and The Haunt of Fear doesn’t disappoint in that sense. The gore and murder is rather tame in some ways to current horror magazines, but you can also see how horror magazines evolved from these comics. There is also a very post-modern story featured in Haunt of Fear #17 (September 1950) “Horror Beneath the Streets” with the characters Al (aka Al Feldstein) and Bill (aka Bill Gaines) leaving EC after work, debating horror comics, and being driven into the sewers where they meet the Crypt Keeper and the Vault Keeper and become “contractually obligated” to publish horror comics due to making a deal with them.
The EC Archives are just fun and every volume that comes out has good aspects to it. While I enjoy the other three titles slightly more, I still love what the series are doing, how they are doing it, and the time period in which these horror tales came out. There have been so many attempts to emulate the EC success and few find that right balance…EC forever!!! The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 1 is followed by The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear—Volume 2.
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March 13, 2022Although I was born in 1954, I sort of wish I had been born a bit earlier so I could have gotten swept up in the hysteria surrounding EC comics. They were graphic and they were controversial, but sometimes controversy is good for a product because it brings people into the fold who might not necessarily have paid attention. EC had a knack for releasing titles that were offensive to many, but they still found themselves in the hands of the die-hard fans who enjoyed this type of entertainment.
We all know the story how a psychologist railed against these comics, and the US Senate Subcommittee got their hooks into the mix and cried that reading these comics led to juvenile delinquency. It caused EC to revamp their titles into more PG type fare with the violent images usually gone, and any real violence was more to the side and we didn’t even see the bloodied and disfigured bodies in the aftermath of the violence.
With THE HAUNT OF FEAR Volume 1, this issue reprints issues 4 to 6 and 15 to 17 of the popular series. Narrated by The Old Witch, The Vault-Keeper and the Crypt-Keeper, they added just the perfect ghoulish low-key narration to the stories. Many of the stories in one way or another focus on revenge against those who deserve it. In The Wall, a man is upset that his wife seems more concerned with her cat and he hates the animal with a passion. It’s all about the cat and when he accidentally kills his wife and buries her behind the wall, he is haunted by the meowing of the cat. He thinks it may be behind the wall he bricked up. Then his arm gets stuck in the small opening he made to get to the cat, and thinks the cat is eating his arm.
House of Horror looks at students who try to pull off a classic prank with a classmate, only to find out how the prank went horribly wrong and there was something horrifying inside that house. Each story has their own charm, from The Mummy’s Return to Vampire, and Television Terror to name a few. If you have never read a classic EC Comics reprint, this is the perfect starting point to find out what all the controversy was about. You will not be disappointed.
We all know the story how a psychologist railed against these comics, and the US Senate Subcommittee got their hooks into the mix and cried that reading these comics led to juvenile delinquency. It caused EC to revamp their titles into more PG type fare with the violent images usually gone, and any real violence was more to the side and we didn’t even see the bloodied and disfigured bodies in the aftermath of the violence.
With THE HAUNT OF FEAR Volume 1, this issue reprints issues 4 to 6 and 15 to 17 of the popular series. Narrated by The Old Witch, The Vault-Keeper and the Crypt-Keeper, they added just the perfect ghoulish low-key narration to the stories. Many of the stories in one way or another focus on revenge against those who deserve it. In The Wall, a man is upset that his wife seems more concerned with her cat and he hates the animal with a passion. It’s all about the cat and when he accidentally kills his wife and buries her behind the wall, he is haunted by the meowing of the cat. He thinks it may be behind the wall he bricked up. Then his arm gets stuck in the small opening he made to get to the cat, and thinks the cat is eating his arm.
House of Horror looks at students who try to pull off a classic prank with a classmate, only to find out how the prank went horribly wrong and there was something horrifying inside that house. Each story has their own charm, from The Mummy’s Return to Vampire, and Television Terror to name a few. If you have never read a classic EC Comics reprint, this is the perfect starting point to find out what all the controversy was about. You will not be disappointed.
October 26, 2023
I used to love these EC Archives back when I wasn't anywhere near as batshit crazy as I am these days my OCD wasn't as refined and the liberties taken with the original color palette didn't phase me. The production values were so high in terms of paper and binding that I was happy to have these in a high quality format.
Let's backtrack a bit in time to late 2012. Fearful that the line would never see completion I ordered every EC Annual from Russ Cochran's site for the material not covered by the Archives. Now I had all “New Trend” EC Comic collected in full color and could sleep at night regardless of the outcome. Move a little further along in time, and I decided I no longer enjoyed reading recolored versions of these classics. I wanted the original color palette. So I set out and first ordered the remaining Annuals that Russ had on his site and then proceeded to hunt down the three that he didn't on eBay. I now have my cake and am eating it at my leisure. I own every single EC Annual except for Panic (I loathe humor comics), I have the Picto-Fiction Library box set, and I don't care about the EC-era of Mad so I am all set.
The stories remain stellar on the reread in spite of the recoloring. I can't wait for the day when someone, anyone, produces EC Comics Archives in full color with the original color palette, including the original cover color palette. Both of these GC Press EC Archives are slightly smaller than the Gemstone versions and have minor spine design alterations if such things matter to you.
Let's backtrack a bit in time to late 2012. Fearful that the line would never see completion I ordered every EC Annual from Russ Cochran's site for the material not covered by the Archives. Now I had all “New Trend” EC Comic collected in full color and could sleep at night regardless of the outcome. Move a little further along in time, and I decided I no longer enjoyed reading recolored versions of these classics. I wanted the original color palette. So I set out and first ordered the remaining Annuals that Russ had on his site and then proceeded to hunt down the three that he didn't on eBay. I now have my cake and am eating it at my leisure. I own every single EC Annual except for Panic (I loathe humor comics), I have the Picto-Fiction Library box set, and I don't care about the EC-era of Mad so I am all set.
The stories remain stellar on the reread in spite of the recoloring. I can't wait for the day when someone, anyone, produces EC Comics Archives in full color with the original color palette, including the original cover color palette. Both of these GC Press EC Archives are slightly smaller than the Gemstone versions and have minor spine design alterations if such things matter to you.
March 1, 2022
It is fun to read these, but as you go through them you realize that the stories get more and more similar. Maybe they were more effective "back in the day" but I am reading them now.
The biggest problem with many of them is they tend to be so short, that there is not much time for them to develop before you get hit with the inevitable twist ending. This is especially true with the text-only stories, but it is still the case with the illustrated tales. It's too bad, because the artwork is often excellent.
Inside this volume you get six issues of the Haunt of Fear, issues 15-17 and 4-6. Not sure why, since this is the first volume, we do not get issues 1-3. A few stories, like "House of Horror" in Issue 15, appear in other EC collections that have been issued. I assume this means that EC originally issued the story in multiple magazines at the time.
Maybe in their day, these were considered hair-raising, but nothing here will keep a modern audience up at night. Read for the artwork and the period flavor, but don't expect these to have the impact they may have had when they were first issued.
The biggest problem with many of them is they tend to be so short, that there is not much time for them to develop before you get hit with the inevitable twist ending. This is especially true with the text-only stories, but it is still the case with the illustrated tales. It's too bad, because the artwork is often excellent.
Inside this volume you get six issues of the Haunt of Fear, issues 15-17 and 4-6. Not sure why, since this is the first volume, we do not get issues 1-3. A few stories, like "House of Horror" in Issue 15, appear in other EC collections that have been issued. I assume this means that EC originally issued the story in multiple magazines at the time.
Maybe in their day, these were considered hair-raising, but nothing here will keep a modern audience up at night. Read for the artwork and the period flavor, but don't expect these to have the impact they may have had when they were first issued.
October 13, 2024
Now, these controversial old comics are clearly not to everyone's taste. EC's horror and crime comic book line-ups were the main cause of the great anti-comics hysteria of the late 1950s and it's not hard to see why moral authorities would find the books objectionable. The stories are filled with immoral acts and gore. That said, there's a certain charm to them for the lover of pulp horror. The art is often crude and simple, but the brevity of the stories is a virtue and there's a strange appeal and nostalgia to them. I wouldn't recommend these for children, but I've seen worse adult fare.
May 10, 2022
I really wanted to love this as a classic of the medium, but it's just badly written. It's not just that it's grotesquely wordy by modern standards (though it is), and it's not just that most of the verbiage is totally unnecessary (though it is), but it's that the actual plotting of the stories is bad, with crucial elements often not incorporated until the last minute.
I finally gave up about 100 pages in. Alas.
I finally gave up about 100 pages in. Alas.
July 23, 2022
-Read for the Summerween Readathon-
I totally get what others are saying that eventually all the stories start to feel the same. I think I prefer a true graphic novel to a comic collect. Fun read though. While I couldn't finish the entirety of this collection due to it all feeling the same, I did enjoy reading all the advertisements and getting to see the general sense of morality being interwoven with each story.
I totally get what others are saying that eventually all the stories start to feel the same. I think I prefer a true graphic novel to a comic collect. Fun read though. While I couldn't finish the entirety of this collection due to it all feeling the same, I did enjoy reading all the advertisements and getting to see the general sense of morality being interwoven with each story.
September 26, 2022
Stories from when comic books didn't care who they offended.
"The Haunt of Fear: Volume 1" takes us back to the beginning, back to when horror comics wanted to do nothing more but scare and gross out their readers.
Don't get confused by the numbering, it's all explained at the end of Issue 4.
The only negative thing I can say about this volume is Robert Englund's forward could have been longer than half a page. Freddy Kruger may be a talker, but Robert Englund isn't.
"The Haunt of Fear: Volume 1" takes us back to the beginning, back to when horror comics wanted to do nothing more but scare and gross out their readers.
Don't get confused by the numbering, it's all explained at the end of Issue 4.
The only negative thing I can say about this volume is Robert Englund's forward could have been longer than half a page. Freddy Kruger may be a talker, but Robert Englund isn't.
February 10, 2025
Ya solo por lo entretenidas que están las historias ya merece la pena. Como en todo conjunto de historias, las hay mejores y peores, con mejor o peor dibujo, pero ninguna aburre. También ayuda lo cortas que son las historias, con 5 o 6 páginas por historia.
La edición es impecable, con un gramaje de página bien gordito y con la reproducción de los anuncios y el correo y todo de la época. Muy recomendable.
La edición es impecable, con un gramaje de página bien gordito y con la reproducción de los anuncios y el correo y todo de la época. Muy recomendable.
November 22, 2016
The creative teams were firing on all cylinders by the time the 3rd horror title came out of the EC offices. There were only a couple clunker stories in the whole collection. Ingels, Kamen, Craig, Davis, et al, kicked out some supremely beautiful nastiness here.
November 7, 2023
A very mediocre collection of stories that range from terrible to OK.
EXCEPT for issue 17, which has four absolute bangers, including Television Terror, which feels so ahead of its time it's basically the prototype for found footage horror.
EXCEPT for issue 17, which has four absolute bangers, including Television Terror, which feels so ahead of its time it's basically the prototype for found footage horror.
October 28, 2025
This will show you why the Comics Code Authority came into being. Although not to overly explicit, there are some hardcore horror themes inside. It was AMAZING! This is what horror in comics are about.
December 26, 2025
Les scénarios, la plupart de Gaines et Feldstein, vont en s'améliorant au fil des numéros. Les dessinateurs, sauf peut-être Johnny Craig qui assure déjà bien, ne sont pas encore au top de leur talent. C'est vrai notamment de mes préférés, Wally Wood et Jack Davis.
November 6, 2022
Once again, another classic from EC Comics. Fun, old horror story's with incredible art work. Slowly building my EC Comic collection.
May 18, 2023
I never got a chance to read these old school horror comics. Just good old almost clean fun.
September 9, 2024
Some surprisingly graphic stuff for its time.
March 2, 2025
Love these old magazines!
These are so.cool to read and the illustrations look great restored! Can't wait to read the next one great issue!
These are so.cool to read and the illustrations look great restored! Can't wait to read the next one great issue!
December 31, 2025
there were a good amount of good stories in this book compilation
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews