Dates
- Cover date
- February-March 1953
- On sale
- 1952
- Pages
- 36
Editions and covers
- Original editionSource ↗
Creators
Stories
- The Mausoleum! · The Vault of Horror! · 8 pages
When Howard Martin made an offer to buy the castle from its owner, Mr. Weatherby, then dismantle it and reassemble it back in the states, the owner wouldn't sell and Martin left. But Weatherby's nephew Nathan saw a chance to get some money, so he murdered his uncle, carried him out to the family mausoleum and buried him, then notified the authorities that his uncle had stepped into a quicksand bog on the property and died. Martin was then allowed to buy the property, but strange things began to happen and the castle soon became a tourist attraction.
- Let's Play Poison! · The Crypt of Terror · 7 pages
Mr. Howard returned to his classroom in time to see some of his students corner a young boy, who then fell out of a window to his death. Stunned, Howard resigned his position because he secretly now hated all children because of what happened. Seven years later, he resumed teaching after a fellow teacher friend of his died. He called his charges less than human....and they resented it. One day he came across some the kids "playing poison".....on sidewalks with names on them that they took for gravestones. From then on, Howard screamed at any kid even playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. One night, as he sat in his home, he saw a skull appear outside his window.....and he continued seeing it, night after night. One evening, he ran outside after the kids responsible, and fell into an excavation ditch. The kids covered him with dirt. In the days that followed, no adult paid much attention to the sidewalk square with the name "M. Howard R.I.P." on it......as the kids continued to play their game of poison!
- Last Assignment · 2 pages
A fellow came into the newspaper office, looking for Brian Conrad, and was told he didn't work there anymore, as he left on an assignment, camera in hand, over 5 months earlier and never returned. Conrad's sensational journalistic pictures of crime scenes had increased the paper's readership, and whenever he was snapping such pics, he was doting on Society Editor, Erica Williams. The last time the fellow had seen Conrad was after Conrad had taken pictures of a boy who jumped off a building ledge, and as they sat in the pressroom sipping coffee, in walked Erica. Conrad walked her out to her car, then came back in...until they got a Police call saying there had been a bad accident. Conrad grabbed his camera and left with his friend to visit the crime scene, where they discovered a body, whose chin was impaled on an iron spike on a pole it had been hurled onto by the crash. As Conrad raised his camera.....he stared for a minute and lowered it again....the victim was Erica!
- A Sock for Christmas · The Vault-Keeper's Grim Fairy Tale! · 6 pages
Long ago in a huge castle lived a King [Irving], his Queen [Matilda] and their only son, Tarby, who was a real brat! The King decides to go into the village and forcibly take another young lad to be the Prince's companion, hoping that would straighten him out. It didn't, but the King gave the Royal order that if Tarby acted up, the other young boy would be whipped instead....and he became the official "whipping boy" at court. With Christmas coming on, the whipping boy was looking forward to what Santa would bring him....but Tarby told him that "bad boys" as he wouldn't get anything from Santa. On the day before Christmas, the whipping boy was returned to his own parents for 24 hours, and he spent time telling them that he was whipped for the bad things that Tarby did. He wanted to know if Santa would still bring him something for Christmas, and his Dad assured him that he would, then went to see the King to beg him to do just that. The King laughed at the man....but the next morning, as the whipping boy woke up and checked out his sock, he saw a presents in his stocking....and the boy's father saw his stocking filled also: with the bloody corpse of the King!
- Pickled Pints! · 7 pages
Cal and Warren offer bowery derelicts $10 a pop if they would be willing to donate a pint of blood, then then the two sell it to a legitimate blood bank for $30, thus making a very nice living. However, when one of the bums die, prospects for more donations dry up, so the pair decide to take matters into their own hands. However, one night, they bring in a rather heavy guy, lay him on a table and prepare to take the blood, when the man opens his red, fiery eyes and attacks them both. How could they have known this guy was a vampire?!?
Characters
Reprinted in
The Vault of Horror (1982), Vault of Horror (1994), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (2012), The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (2021), The Autumn People (1965), EC Portfolio (1971), Home to Stay! The Complete EC Ray Bradbury Stories (2022)