Dates
- Cover date
- October-November 1953
- Pages
- 36
Editions and covers
- Original editionSource ↗
Creators
Stories
- Together They Lie! · The Vault of Horror! · 8 pages
Agnes and her boss's attorney decided to create a major hoax on her employer, Mr. Horton, as she implied to him that his wife was having an affair with his attorney. Distraut, Horton went to his attorney, had his will changed making Agnes the heir instead of his wife, and then committed suicide. As Agnes and Alex Fairfield celebrated the success of their hoax, the pair were suddenly interrupted by the corpse of Horton crashing in. The next morning, the dead bodies of Alex and Agnes were found on top of the Horton grave, and his tombstone carefully restored to what it had been!
- Let the Punishment Fit the Crime! · The Crypt of Terror · 7 pages
Children in town had questioned people about various things regarding death and funerals, and were fascinated about a man dying in the electric chair. But they really wanted to know what the punishment for robbery and kidnapping would be, and a lawyer informed them it wouldn't be death. As the kids came down the street carrying a coffin, a mother came up screaming to townsfolk, telling them that her son was missing and that he had stolen another child's doll and had refused to give it back. Then they all looked in horror as they gazed over at the kids, who had just finished burying the coffin!
- Wrecker! · 2 pages
Carlson was at the controls of a wrecker-crane after working over a troublesome wall, and he watched Jaffery working on that partially demolished wall. All Carlson could think of was to bring down that wall with Jaffery still clinging to it......Jaffery would be dead and Carlson would claim the derrick got away from his control. Carlson swung the ball closer and brought down the wall, and he could hear Jaffery's screams. He jumped out of the cab and peered down at the wreckage, unaware that the derrick was still in operation, and he didn't see the steel cable come at hom until it was too late. Later, Carlson's co-workers stood over his body, remarking that they had never seen anyone beheaded so quickly before!
- A Slight Case of Murder! · The Vault of Horror! · 6 pages
Doc Swanson gazed up at the abandoned mansion on the hill and knew it was the answer to all of the killings, and told the Sheriff who he thought responsible for the crimes, but the Sheriff said the murders had to have been committed by something inhuman, and explained how each of the bodies were found, throats slashed, and door locked. Sam figured that a woman's deformed baby born in the mansion was the murderer. The Sheriff suddenly lunged at Doc, wanting to kill him, but the townsfolk entered and took care of the Sheriff, whose body was an artificial framework housing that deformed child!
- Strung Along! · The Witch's Cauldron! · 7 pages
Tony once was a famed puppeteer, performing shows all over and becoming quite wealthy. Although he loved his puppets, he needed a human love interest and that was Nora, whom he married. Soon Tony was diagnosed with a bad heart condition, forcing him to retire. It was then that money troubles began and his wife finally told him that she married him for his money. He gave her once last kiss before he died, and the next day, they found their bodies, side-by-side.......but Nora's had been dismembered and reconnected by strings.....strings tied to the marionettes' hands!
Reprinted in
The Vault of Horror (1982), Vault of Horror (1991), Vault of Horror (1994), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (2012), The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (2014), The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror (2021), Tales from the Crypt (1964), Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (2019)