Dates
- Cover date
- June-July 1950
- On sale
- March 9, 1950
- Pages
- 36
Editions and covers
- Original editionSource ↗
Creators
Stories
- The Dead Will Return! · The Vault of Horror · 8 pages
Florence and Bert had just finshed dumping her husband's body in the ocean and made their way back to the lighthouse on the beach. She knew that her husband had a large sum of money somewhere around the house or on the property, and while she was searching outside for it, Bert heard a scream. Rushing to the beach, he saw that the body of Flo's husband has just washed ashore, so he took it and dumped it off the highest cliff in the area.....only to wash ashore again a few days later. Bert decided to take the body this time far up the coast, dump it and return. But Flo was worried and asked him to go back up the coast to make sure the body didn't wash ashore there. While he was gone, Flo remained in the lighthouse....then she saw water seeping under the door, figured it was her dead husband and began climbing the stairs to the top to get away from him. Just as Bert drove up, he heard a horrific scream from the top and the light go out on the lighthouse. He entered the structure, and saw a trail of water leading up the stairs, followed it, and then we hear a scream again. The next day, as government inspectors came to the lighthouse to investigate why the light was out, they found both bodies, covered in seaweed...then they notice a rotted corpse lying on the beach!
- The Curse of Harkley Heath · The Vault of Horror · 7 pages
Clayton Harkley had died from a mortal wound inflicted by his brother and left a dying man's curse upon the money he will inherit. The last members of the Harkley clan gather in the house to celebrate their newfound wealth, until their late uncle's lawyer informs the three that his money goes to Miss Sybil, a cousin....not to the brother! The two males decide to kill Miss Sybil with the same morphine that Uncle Harkley had once used, and succeed in a roundabout way. But she returns from the dead to seek revenge.
- The Diamond of Death! · 1 pages
Crandall was holding a huge diamond in his hand when the door behind him swung open and Silas Morgan entered, his eyes focusing on the bright gem, and he warned Crandall to put it away before danger befell him, just as it had for every previous owner....owners who simply vanished off the face of the earth! As Morgan leaped at Crandall, Crandall dodged and grabbed the cane from Morgan and killed him with it. Crandall took Morgan's body down to the furnace room and threw the body in the furnace, then went into rare tropical plant room to look around. Suddenly, something rubbery grabbed Crandall's neck and he turned to see the "Man-Eater" plant pulling him toward its gaping mouth and enveloping him. As the screams stopped, a shiny object fell to the floor at the plant's feet: the diamond of death!
- Doctor of Horror · The Vault of Horror · 6 pages
At the Hampshire Surgeon School, Professor LeMonet is told that attendance in his classes must increase if he is to remain as a teacher there, so he digs up cadavers for use in his anatomy classes, and enrollment suddenly blossoms, to the Dean's delight. LeMonet decides to kill his competition to get the Dean's job, then sees an opportunity to become Governor as well. LeMonet hires men to go out and kill people along the waterfront area, and bring their cadavers to the school to impress the royal surgeon, but the men make a grievous error, for LeMonet's body is among the other corpses!
- Island of Death · The Vault of Horror · 7 pages
Steve Crane, along with his partner Alec, are flying over a small island, when the plane develops engine trouble and crash-lands. Crane drags himself out of the water, spots a huge castle atop a mountain and manages to crawl up and knock on the door before he passes out. When he awakens several days later, he meets his benefactor, Count Cabeza, who provides a delicious meal before taking him into his trophy room. The Count shows him his animal trophy heads, but notes that he has yet to match wits with another type of animal: man! And Steve Crane is to be that man.
Reprinted in
The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (2021), The Vault of Horror (1982), The Vault of Horror (1990), Vault of Horror (1992), EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (2007), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (2012), Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (2019)