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Issue: Tales from the Crypt #4
Publication Date: January 1979
 
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Variant: unnamed
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Publisher: FlagRuss Cochran
Brand: object(PgSql\Result)#3 (0) { }
Indicia Publisher: Russ Cochran, Publisher
On Sale Date: (not set)
Volume: 4
Pages: 212
ISBN:
UPC/EAN:
Price: none entered
Indicia Frequency:
Content Items: 46 (30 stories, 1 cover)
Editor(s):  
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Publication Type: Comic Book
Color: Color cover; mostly black & white interior
Dimensions: 10" x 13"
Paper Stock:  
Binding: Hardcover
Publishing Format: Collected Edition
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Cover, Front
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
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[untitled]

Illustration  on  Cover, Front
Credits
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Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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By the Fright of the Silvery Moon!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Alec Gedra (farmer, death); Peter Gedra (Alec's son); Sheriff Hudson; Herb (worker in Sheriff's office); Miss Purdley (librarian); Edward Gedra (villain, Alec's son, a werewolf, death)
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. The son's know better and believe the Sheriff is the creature, so they make plans to trap and expose him for what he is.
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Miscellaneous
8
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Midnight Mess!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
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. He is hungry since the restaurant he was in earlier closed down before he could order something to eat and so he goes for a walk after dinner. He comes upon the same restaurant that he was in earlier and it is open now. He enters the place to get something to eat, but ends up on the menu himself, for it serves as an after-hours eatery to the local vampires.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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The Rack

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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typeset
Subject Matter
horror
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Miscellaneous
1
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Busted Marriage!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host)
A man has voodoo dolls made as wedding cake figures in order to get a wealthy woman to marry him. He meets a younger woman, and so to remarry, places his wife's doll under glass so that she suffocates from lack of air. He keeps both dolls until the second wedding as he plans to use them on the cake, but the wife figurine is rotting since it now resembles the woman lying in the grave. The man throws it away, and settles into bed with his new bride, but it gets out of the trash and hauls itself up to the shelf where his doll is kept to push it off, breaking it into a thousand piece, while in the bedroom the new bride screams in terror.
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Miscellaneous
6
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This Wraps It Up

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host); Dr. Arnold Munson (archaeologist, death); Professor Thomas Steele (villain, archaeologist, death); Dr. Jerome Grabel (villain, archaeologist, death); mummy of Pharaoh Ikah-Mu-Kahma (villain)
Three archeologists, one with a bad heart (Munson), uncover the tomb of the 5th Pharaoh of Egypt with a large treasure. Two of them hatch a plot involving the Pharaoh's mummy in order to get the other's heart to give out, because they know that he will insist on turning over the treasure to the museum. The third man does indeed drop dead from fright from the Pharaoh's mummy, but the schemer pulls out a pistol and empties it into the mummy as he wishes to keep all the treasure for himself, but he can't understand why the mummy doesn't drop.
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Miscellaneous
7
Revised script credit by Craig Delich, formerly Albert B. Feldstein.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Notes

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
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typeset
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Miscellaneous
1
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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George Evans

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Subject Matter
biography, non-fiction
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Miscellaneous
1
EC Artist of the Month
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Fare Tonight, Followed by Increasing Clottyness...

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); un-named newsstand operator; Dr. Eggbert Muller (mythologist, death); un-named taxi driver (villain, a vampire)
A cab driver has a dream that he is pursued by a Dr. Mueller into a basement filled with vampire-occupied caskets. When he wakes, and Dr. Mueller actually shows up at his cab, he recognizes the dream as a subconscious warning the doctor may be dangerous to him, so he takes the doctor to the basement he dreamed of and then drains his blood. Afterwards, the vampire cabbie returns to the earthen sod in his trunk to pass the coming day.
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Miscellaneous
8
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Curiosity Killed...

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
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. It turns out that her husband is in on the deal too, and he comes for her sooner than he anticipated since she has found out.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Tight Squeeze

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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typeset
Subject Matter
horror
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Miscellaneous
1
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How Green Was My Alley

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host)
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.
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Miscellaneous
6
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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The Handler

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host); Mr. Rodgers (druggist); Mr. Stuyvesant (a contractor); Mr. Flinger (delicatessen man); various corpses [Mr. Smith; Mr. Andrews; Mrs. Walters; Miss Brown; Mrs. Shellmund; Mr. Wren (a racist); Edmund Worth; three unnamed gossips; unnamed lawyer; rest unnamed]; Merriwell Blythe (death); Mr. Benedict (villain, mortician, death)
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. This they do, and bury parts of Mr. Benedict under a dozen gravestones.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

The splash panel displays the latter part of Bradbury's name.
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[untitled]

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Subject Matter
Tales from the Crypt
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Miscellaneous
1
Advertisement for collection of all the Tales from the Crypt covers.
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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Subject Matter
horror
Tales From the Crypt
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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Dead Right!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Carl (heart specialist, death); Ben Norton (funeral parlor undertaker); Dr. Joseph Fairbanks (villain, surgeon)
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. When the heart specialist fails to come out from it, they realize he truly is dead, and since the story is told in first person, it confirms the doctor's theory of awareness beyond death since the end of the story reveals that the heart specialist died of a heart attack upon ingesting the supposed poisoned brandy and subsequently relates everything he perceives.
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Miscellaneous
8
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Pleasant Screams!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host); Felix Purdy (high school teacher); student of Mr. Purdy; a werewolf (villain); a vampire (villain); rotting corpse (villain); little monsters (villains)
A high school teacher narrates his experiences as the main character in the dream of a sadistic student. When he realizes the child is waking up, he is terrified at the true end of his existence.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Solid

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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typeset
Subject Matter
adventure
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Miscellaneous
1
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Strop! You're Killing Me!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Mayor Witter; Dan Harper; Clem Dunlop (old Fire Chief, mention only); Frank Miller (villain, Fire Chief, death)
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. One night, a fire breaks out at Dan's home, and the new Chief purposely delays his response to that call, hoping that Dan will die in it.....which he does. Soon after, Chief Miller gets a ghostly call that his own house is on fire, and he rushes to the descent pole, which, somehow, has been replaced with a steel strip, sharpened to a keen razor-edge!
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Miscellaneous
6
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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The Rover Boys!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host); State Medical Board [Dr. Hale; Dr. Simpson; other three un-named] (all die); Captain John Smythe; unnamed theatrical agent; unnamed milkman; Dr. Sheldon Remsen [aka Sheldon] (villain, death)
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. However, they get their revenge upon him by transferring his brain into the body of a horse and chasing him around the town streets.
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Miscellaneous
7
Script revision by Craig Delich, formerly Al Feldstein.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Coming Soon!

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
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Miscellaneous
1
Advertisement for the complete Two-Fisted Tales.
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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?
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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Tight Grip!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Wilma (death); Jeeves (Wilma's butler); un-named Justice of the Peace; un-named bellboy; Willy (villain); Carl Roswell (villain, Wilma's fiance, death)
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, whereupon the trunk contracts itself turning the killer into flesh spaghetti and concentrated bone.
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Miscellaneous
8
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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... Only Skin Deep!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
A man marries a woman at Mardi Gras who wears a hag mask. She continually puts off his requests to remove her mask until he becomes agitated enough to bodily pull the mask off of her head, whereupon he realizes she wasn't wearing a mask.
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Miscellaneous
7
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Big Fish!

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
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typeset
Subject Matter
horror
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Miscellaneous
1
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[untitled]

Letters Page  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Subject Matter
The Crypt-Keeper's Corner
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Miscellaneous
1
Letters from: Nelson Bridwell (future DC employee), Milton Hughes, Dick Baumann, Patrick McKernam, Emanuel Peluso, Richard Renner, Otis Barton, Roger Todahl, Ira Bankoff, Lynn Weber, J. Farmisano, Judy Albarado, Hepster Jim Moran, Bob West, Ronald Frager, Jack Laws, Danny Simons.
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Last Laugh

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); practical joker; a doctor (v illain)
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 trainyard near where some children regularly play. When the train rolls through, he lets out a scream after dropping the gory mess on the rails, and finds the ensuing panic tearfully funny. Unfortunately, the doctor's son died from that prank, so gets his revenge by giving him some capsules that contained fish hooks and he straps the obese man to a table and tickles him so that he will literally 'die laughing'.
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Miscellaneous
6
This story was actually based on an event Bill Elder was involved with as a kid.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
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Mournin' Mess

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host); Mayor Merk; Sweeney (reporter, death); Sweeney's boss; Felix J. Copehard (villain, a ghoul, representative of the Grateful Hoboes Society)
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. A local reporter thinks their setup odd, and when his boss later tells him that they have buried their 1000th derelict, he is sure something stinks because their cemetery does not have enough area for 1000 graves. He discovers the truth: that the 20-30 members of the society are ghouls!
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Miscellaneous
7
Script revision by Craig Delich, formerly Al Feldstein.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Much of the story is told in flashback.
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E.C. Fans!

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
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Miscellaneous
1
Advertisement for the complete Weird Science.
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
?
?
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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Undertaking Palor

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Chubby; Pete; Billy; Percy Vandam, Jr.; Percy Vandam, Sr. (Percy's father, death); Averill Esprock (villain, undertaker, death); Mort Grudny (villain, druggist, death)
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. When Percy's father becomes a victim, they resolve to take matters into their own hands!
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Miscellaneous
8
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The Craving Grave

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault-Keeper (host); Cynthia (death)
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. Finally a casket is brought to the craving grave, but the body of Cynthia does not rest in peace. Her no-good nephew, who once robbed her, returns with his wife and begs forgiveness. Cynthia takes the two of them in, only to be murdered for her money.
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Miscellaneous
7
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Fire!

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
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typeset
Subject Matter
horror
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Miscellaneous
1
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The Sleeping Beauty!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper's Grim Fairy Tale!
The Crypt-Keeper (host)
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.
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Miscellaneous
6
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Shadow of Death

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host)
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. When they find the corpse of his victim, they are astounded that the corpse casts no shadow.
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Miscellaneous
7
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E.C. Fans!

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
typeset
Reprinting
 
Miscellaneous
1
Advertisement for the complete Weird Fantasy.
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[untitled]

Cover Reprint (on Interior Page)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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?
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset)
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Miscellaneous
1
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Food for Thought

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt of Terror
The Crypt-Keeper (host); Eric (Marta's lover, animal trainer, death); Marta (Carl's wife, circus mind reader); Carl (villain, Marta's husband, thought projector, death); a ghoul (villain)
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. The husband tumbles to the plot and forces the animal trainer at gunpoint into the lion's cage where he is torn apart. The wife suspects him but has no proof and so when the husband is accidentally paralyzed when a beam lands upon him while the circus packs up, she ignores his thoughts for help and coldly advises them not to embalm him so that he is buried alive.
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Miscellaneous
8
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Pearly to Dead

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Vault of Horror!
The Vault-Keeper (host)
Two Navy divers discover a pearl bed while placing demo charges and make plans to go back for them after the war ends. One gets greedy and murders the other one, whose corpse then surprises him while he is attempting to acquire the pearls.
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Miscellaneous
7
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Choice!

Text Story  on  Interior Page(s)
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typeset
Subject Matter
horror
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Miscellaneous
1
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Prairie Schooner

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (host)
A story about a madman who converts a house into a ship in the middle of a prairie.
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Miscellaneous
6
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Half-Baked!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Subject Matter
horror
The Witch's Cauldron!
The Old Witch (host)
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.
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Miscellaneous
7
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Russ Cochran Presents the Complete EC Library

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
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typeset
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Miscellaneous
1
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[untitled]

Illustration  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
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?
Subject Matter
horror
The Crypt-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Vault-Keeper (inset)
Reprinting
 
Miscellaneous
1
On back cover.

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