| The Haunt of Fear |
|
| Publication information |
| Publisher | EC Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Anthology |
| Publication date | May/June, 1950 - November/December 1954 |
| Number of issues | 28 |
| Main character(s) | Crypt Keeper
Old Witch
Vault Keeper |
| Creative team |
| Creator(s) | William Gaines
Al Feldstein |
The Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror are three bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The Haunt of Fear hit newsstands with its May/June 1950 issue and ceased publication with its November/December 1954 issue, producing a total of 28 issues. The title was popular, but, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, teachers and others who believed the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized Congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, EC Comics publisher William Gaines canceled The Haunt of Fear and its two companion titles in September 1954. All three titles have been reprinted at various times since their demise and have been adapted for television and film.
[edit] Origin
Horror comics emerged as a distinct comic book genre after World War II when young adult males lost interest in caped crimebusters and returning GIs wanted titillating sex and violence in their reading. One-shot Eerie Comics (1947) is generally considered the first true horror comic with its cover depicting a dagger-wielding, red eyed ghoul threatening a rope-bound, scantily clad, voluptuous young woman beneath a full moon. In 1948, Adventures Into the Unknown became the first regularly published horror title, enjoying a nearly two decade life-span.
In 1950, publisher Gaines and his editor, Al Feldstein, discovered they shared similar tastes in horror and began experimenting with horror tales as features in their existing titles such as Crime Patrol. The first issue of Haunt of Fear was a title change from an EC Western comic book series, Gunfighter and was numbered where Gunfighter dropped off, #15. In the early 1950s, comic book publishers, seeking to save money on second-class postage permits, would frequently change titles of their comics rather than start new ones. The numbering was reset after issue 17, which was explained in the letter column of issue 4: "After publishing issues 15, 16, and 17, the United States Post Office requested that the fourth issue actually be numbered No. 4 rather than No. 18... Well, 'ya can't fight City Hall!'" The EC war comic Two-Fisted Tales took over the numbering, starting with issue 18, and never ended up resetting its numbering.
[edit] Artists and writers
Artist Graham Ingels took over the art duties of the Haunt of Fear starting with issue #4, and became the Old Witch's primary artist for the remainder of the comic's run. Ingels would take over the cover duty with issue #11 in February 1952. Other artists who contributed to the title were Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, George Roussos, Harry Harrison, Joe Orlando, Sid Check, George Evans, Reed Crandall, Will Elder and Bernard Krigstein.
Gaines and Feldstein were responsible for writing all of the stories until the end of 1953. An unauthorized adaptation of Ray Bradbury in another one of EC's comics eventually led to authorized Bradbury adaptations, which included two stories in this title, "The Coffin" (#16) and "The Black Ferris" (#18). Features included "Grim Fairy Tales", horror based parodies of well known fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel, which first began appearing in issue #15 in 1952.
The title's most controversial story was "Foul Play" (#19, 1953). The story, written by Feldstein and drawn by Davis, featured a crooked baseball player being dismembered, with his body parts used to play baseball by his murderers. The story was singled out by Robert Warshaw in his essay "Paul, the Horror Comics, and Dr. Wertham" who described it as "the outer limits of ... 'good taste'." It was also one of many examples used by Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent.[1] Author Grant Geissman used the title of the story for his book on EC artists, Foul Play (2005).
[edit] The Old Witch
The host of The Haunt of Fear was the Old Witch, one of EC's three GhouLunatics along with the Vault-Keeper and the Crypt-Keeper. The character of The Old Witch was inspired by Old Nancy, the witch of Salem, host of Alonzo Deen Cole's radio series, The Witch's Tale, which aired from 1931 to 1938 on WOR and Mutual and in syndication.
The first issue of The Haunt of Fear had no host introducing the stories. However, it did contain a cover character that vaguely resembled the Vault Keeper beckoning the reader to enter. The second issue debuted The Witch's Cauldron feature, with The Old Witch introducing herself in a story drawn by artist Jack Kamen. The third issue featured a Craig cover with all three GhouLunatics stepping out of doorways, and it launched a letter column, "The Old Witch's Niche". The final story of the issue, "Horror Beneath the Streets," written and drawn by Feldstein, tells how Gaines and Feldstein left the EC offices one night, encountered the Ghoulunatics in the sewer and were forced to sign contracts agreeing to publish the trio's stories.
The Old Witch introduced the lead story of the remaining issues, as well as one additional story per issue. The Crypt Keeper and Vault Keeper introduced the other two stories in each issue. The Old Witch also appeared in every issue of Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror, introducing a story in each. She also appeared in the final story of Crime SuspenStories from issue #3 through #16. The Old Witch's origin was explained in issue #14's "A Little Stranger!" which revealed that she was the daughter of a dead werewolf father and a dead vampire mother.
[edit] Demise
In 1954, Gaines and Feldstein intended to add a fourth book to their horror publications by reactivating an earlier title, The Crypt of Terror. They were stopped dead in their tracks, however. Horror and other violent comics had come under scrutiny by parents, schoolteachers, clergymen, psychologists and others who viewed the material as dangerous to the well-being of children and a significant contributor to the juvenile delinquency crisis in America. Matters came to a head in April and June 1954 with a highly publicized Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Hearings targeted violent comic books — which fared poorly in the proceedings. While the committee stopped short of blaming the comics industry for juvenile delinquency, they did suggest it tone down the product. Publishers were left reeling.
The industry deftly avoided outside censorship by creating the self-regulatory Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and a Comics Code Authority (CCA) that placed severe restrictions on violent comic book genres. Publishers were forbidden from using the words "terror" and "horror" in titles, for example, and forbidden from depicting zombies, werewolves, gruesome characters and outrè horror fiction trappings. Gaines was fed up; he believed his titles were being specifically targeted and realized they were doomed to future failure. He threw in the towel, canceling The Haunt of Fear and its companion titles in September 1954. The last issue of Haunt was #28, November/December 1954. Since an issue of The Crypt of Terror had already been produced, it was published as the final issue of Tales from the Crypt, February/March, 1955.
[edit] Reprints
The Haunt of Fear has been partially reprinted on numerous occasions. Russ Cochran (in association with Gladstone Publishing and solo) reprinted a handful of the single issues in 1990/91. Between November 1992 and August 1998, Cochran and Gemstone Publishing reprinted the full 28 individual issues.
In 1985, it formed part of Cochran's Complete EC Library, published (in black and white) as a five-volume slipcased hardcover set, while two 1995 paperback volumes began reprinting the series in color, but did not complete it.[2] Cochran and Gemstone Publishing are republishing hardcover, re-colored volumes of The Haunt of Fear as part of the EC Archives series. The scheduled release date for Volume 1 is August 30, 2008.[3]
[edit] Media adaptations
Stories from The Haunt of Fear were adapted for the movie version of Tales From the Crypt as well as the TV series.
Bill Gaines owned one of sculptor Steve Fiorilla's latex masks of the Old Witch. In the second season of HBO's Tales from the Crypt anthology television series, a photo of this Old Witch mask was a prop in the June 26, 1990 "Korman's Kalamity" episode, adapted from the EC story "Kamen's Kalamity." Illustrated by Jack Kamen, the original self-satirical story is set in EC's offices where the EC editors have a meeting with Kamen about his artwork.
The Old Witch appeared in animated form on Tales from the Cryptkeeper and was voiced by Elizabeth Hanna.
[edit] Issue guide
| # | Date | Cover Artist | Story | Story Artist | Story Host |
| 15(1) | May/June 1950 | Johnny Craig | The Wall | Johnny Craig | None A man finds his wife's love for her cat Snooky unbearable, and finally decides to take care of the problem once and for all, but soon finds he's slowly slipping into insanity when his imagination gets the best of him... |
| | | House of Horror | Harvey Kurtzman | None A fraternity initiation goes eerily wrong, when the initiates are told to walk through a supposed haunted house...but never come out..... |
| | | The Mad Magician | Wally Wood & Harry Harrison | None Boris Petaja, a skilled magician, begins to kidnap innocent townspeople to use in his experiments with a real "saw a man in two" trick, but finally meets his match after he kidnaps a young couple. |
| | | The Thing in the Swamp! | Al Feldstein | Old Witch A swamp hermit relates a tale of a group of scientists that freed an amoeba that ate everything in its path to two boaters, but that's just a myth...right? |
| 16(2) | July/Aug 1950 | Johnny Craig | Vampire! | Johnny Craig | None A doctor insists that the body he examined was killed by a vampire, but no one in town will believe him, so he goes to the mansion, the body came from and finds that there really is a vampire, but who's really the vampire...? |
| | | Horror-Ahead! | Wally Wood | None A shopkeeper relates a story to a customer about his quest with his business assistant to Africa to collect some real shrunken heads from a native tribe, but when they are caught stealing, they learn the true punishment... |
| | | The Killer in the Coffin! | Graham Ingels | None Ernest Parker grows tired of his nagging wife Nan, and meets a young dame named Faye, together they plan going off and getting married, but they have to get Nan out of the picture, so Ernest coughs up a plan to pretend to die, but not everything goes as planned... |
| | | The Mummy's Return! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch Over a thousand years ago, a jealous pharaoh king had one of his servants mummified after the girl he loved, fell in love with the servant, but the girl found out and tried to revive him with a scribe, only to be offed by the king. In the present, three friends stumble upon the crypt, and find that history has a nasty way of repeating itself! |
| 17(3) | Sept/Oct 1950 | Johnny Craig | Nightmare! | Johnny Craig | None |
| | | Television Terror! | Harvey Kurtzman | None |
| | | Monster Maker! | Graham Ingels | None |
| | | Horror Beneath the Streets! | Al Feldstein | Old Witch |
| 4 | Nov/Dec 1950 | Al Feldstein | The Hunchback! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch Roger Compton goes to a small town to visit his old college friend, Peter, but finds that his old pal in now the most feared recluse with a peculiar hump on his back, and an even more peculiar taste for human flesh... |
| | | The Tunnel of Terror! | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper A young woman takes her alcoholic, partying brother to Mexico for a relaxing vacation, but when he disappears into an underground club named The Tunnel, and numerous bodies are found partially eaten, she decides to find him on her own. |
| | | The Living Mummy | Jack Davis | Old Witch A group of scientists working on an experiment to raise a mummy back to life, actually revive it, only to learn the true horror of the pharaoh's curse! |
| | | Man from the Grave! | Wally Wood | Crypt Keeper Jon Wayland, a painter, returns from the grave to keep on painting, for all of eternity after committing a crime against his friend. |
| 5 | Jan/Feb 1951 | Johnny Craig | A Biting Finish! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch A jealous man murders a young man over a girl, and buries him in an old graveyard. But soon his little secret comes out, and he's forced to hide in an old civil war tunnel, a tunnel that leads him straight to a "biting finish"... |
| | | Horror in the Freak Tent! | Wally Wood | Crypt Keeper A crude, malicious circus owner mistreats and sabotages his circus freaks and employees, all until he blinds one of his famed employees, then the tables are turned... |
| | | A Tasty Morsel! | Jack Davis | Old Witch Your the main character story in which you seek shelter in a giant inn owned by an old, ugly man, and find out he has a little secret that's just DYING to come out! |
| | | Seeds of Death! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper A hobo finds a hand in the garbage at a city dump, a hand that belonged to a ruthless abusive man who murdered his wife's hired farmhand... |
| 6 | March/April 1951 | Johnny Craig | A Strange Undertaking... | Graham Ingels | Old Witch Ezra, a vengeful caretaker decides to get back at his enemies when they die and are brought to his cemetery, by desecrating their bodies and refusing to bury them till spring, but not if the dead have anything to say about it! |
| | | So They Finally Pinned You Down! | Wally Wood | Vault Keeper A man meets a beautiful girl after he arrives to a new town and moves in with her, but after being "drugged" by her, and having severe blackouts, he sets out to get revenge, problem is whenever he blackouts, a woman ends up dead... |
| | | A Grave Gag! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch Jonah Westlake, the black sheep of the Westlake family, gets his kicks by playing practical jokes on his own kin, especially at funerals, but his latest joke may be his last... |
| | | Cheese, That's Horrible! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper Bradbury Prince assists for Henrick Villhem, the head owner of a cheese company, but when he won't tell Bradbury the secret ingredient, he decides to do away with Henrick, but something smells rotten... |
| 7 | May/June 1951 | Johnny Craig | Room For One More! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch Rodney Whitman was just a young boy when his parents died and he was sent to live with his uncaring aunt and uncle, and their two mean sons. The only thing that kept him going was the thought of being buried with his family in the Whitman mausoleum, a mausoleum with just one more coffin, which Rodney is saving for himself at any cost... |
| | | The Basket! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper A town full of curiosity at a strange man who always carries a basket on his shoulder, get the answers they've been searching for when they break into his house. |
| | | Horror in the Schoolroom | Jack Kamen | Old Witch A young boy's teacher doesn't believe the stories the kid comes up with about traveling with an imaginary monster named Magog, even when the boy tells him Magog will gobble him up for whipping him. The teacher should have heeded the warning... |
| | | The Howling Banshee! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper A retired mob member marries into a superstitious Irish family who are convinced that a banshee wails when one of their kin will die soon, but that's just an old legend...right? |
| 8 | July/Aug 1951 | Al Feldstein | Hounded to Death! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch A jealous husband keeps his wife locked up in their mansion like one of the numerous hounds he uses to hunt foxes with, but when she falls for another man, the husband decides to take care of the problem, only to find he's barking up the wrong tree.. |
| | | A Very Strange Mummy! | George Roussos | Vault Keeper Three expeditors travel to an acursed crypt rumored to hold an evil being, but when they venture inside they find a perfectly preserved mummy, and soon find that he's not the only monster lurking about... |
| | | Diminishing Returns! | Unknown | Old Witch Vincent Beardsley, a greedy New Yorker, seeking the fourth tribal diamond for his collection, takes his friend to Equador to claim the jem, but when they're caught by the tribe themselves, he gives up his "friend" to the vengeful tribalmen, only to find he must face the ultimate consequence! |
| | | The Irony of Death! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper Jeff Slag, a conniving young man working at an iron mill, marries his boss's daughter, in order to become the head owner and boss of the mill, and murders his boss, only to find that there really is irony in death! |
| 9 | Sept/Oct 1951 | Al Feldstein | Warts So Horrible? | Johnny Craig | Old Witch |
| | | Forbidden Fruit | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper |
| | | The Age-Old Story! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | The Gorilla's Paw! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 10 | Nov/Dec 1951 | Al Feldstein | Grave Business! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | The Vamp! | Jack Davis & Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper |
| | | My Uncle Ekar! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Bum Steer! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 11 | Jan/Feb 1952 | Graham Ingels | Ooze in the Cellar? | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | The Acid Test! | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper |
| | | Extermination | George Roussos | Old Witch |
| | | Ear Today... Gone Tomorrow! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 12 | March/April 1952 | Graham Ingels | Poetic Justice! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | ...On A Dead Man's Chest! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper |
| | | Till Death Do We Part! | Joe Orlando | Old Witch |
| | | What's Cookin'? | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 13 | May/June 1952 | Graham Ingels | For the Love of Death! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Fed Up! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper |
| | | Minor Error! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Wolf Bait! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 14 | July/Aug 1952 | Graham Ingels | A Little Stranger! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Take Your Pick! | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper |
| | | Ship-Shape! | Sid Check | Old Witch |
| | | This Little Piggy... | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 15 | Sept/Oct 1952 | Graham Ingels | Chatter-Boxed! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | All Washed Up! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Marriage Vows! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Death of Some Salesman! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 16 | Nov/Dec 1952 | Graham Ingels | Nobody There! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | A Creep in the Deep! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | ...From Hunger! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | The Coffin! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 17 | Jan/Feb 1953 | Graham Ingels | Horror We? How's Bayou? | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Gorilla My Dreams! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | A Likely Story! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Garden Party! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 18 | March/April 1953 | Graham Ingels | Pipe Down! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Bedtime Gory! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Pot-Shot! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | The Black Ferris! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 19 | May/June 1953 | Graham Ingels | Sucker Bait! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Lover, Come Hack to Me! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Double-Header! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Foul Play! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 20 | July/Aug 1953 | Graham Ingels | Thump Fun! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Terror Train | Al Feldstein | Vault Keeper |
| | | Bloody Sure | Reed Crandall | Old Witch |
| | | Hyde and Go Shriek! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 21 | Sept/Oct 1953 | Graham Ingels | An Off-Color Heir | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| | | Corker! | Jack Kamen & Bill Elder | Old Witch |
| | | The High Cost of Dying! | Reed Crandall | Vault Keeper |
| 22 | Nov/Dec 1953 | Graham Ingels | Wish You Were Here | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Chess-Mate | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Model Nephew | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 23 | Jan/Feb 1954 | Graham Ingels | Creep Course | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | No Silver Atoll! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Hansel and Gretel! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Country Clubbing! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 24 | March/April 1954 | Graham Ingels | Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes... | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | ...Only Sin Deep | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper |
| | | The Secret | George Evans | Old Witch |
| | | Head-Room! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 25 | May/June 1954 | Graham Ingels | The New Arrival | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Indisposed! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | Out Cold | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | The Light in His Life! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 26 | July/Aug 1954 | Graham Ingels | Marriage Vow | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | The Shadow Knows | Reed Crandall | Vault Keeper |
| | | Spoiled | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Comes the Dawn! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| 27 | Sept/Oct 1954 | Graham Ingels | About Face | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Game Washed Out! | George Evans | Vault Keeper |
| | | The Silent Treatment | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | Swamped | Reed Crandall | Crypt Keeper |
| 28 | Nov/Dec 1954 | Graham Ingels | The Prude | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
| | | Numbskull | Bernard Krigstein | Vault Keeper |
| | | Audition | Jack Kamen | Old Witch |
| | | A Work of Art! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
[edit] References
- Goulart, Ron. Great American Comic Books. Publications International, Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-7853-5590-1.
- Overstreet, Robert M. Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. House of Collectibles, 2004.
- ^ The Complete EC Library: The Haunt of Fear Volume 4. Russ Cochran. 1985.
- ^ MyComicShop.com Information Accessed March 12, 2008
- ^ Gemstone EC Comics website Accessed Jun 20, 2008
[edit] External links
| Tales from the Crypt | | | Comics | | | | Television | | | | Spin-Off Films | | | | Amicus Films | | |
