Vault of Horror #16

Vault of Horror #16

  

Hello and welcome back to the 5th comic in the Vault of Horror Series! Next week I will begin looking at the Tales from the Crypt/Crypt of Terror series.

Werewolf Concerto
The first story in this comic would later be adapted into one of my favorite Tales from the crypt episodes of the same name. The story goes like this, Hubert Antone is the manager of a hotel in Hungary whose customers are being murdered by what appears to be a savage animal. The arrival of a strange pianist adds to the mystery, and things start getting hairy.

Spoiler Alert!!! As it turns out Hubert is the Werewolf and when he attempts to attacks the visiting pianst, who is also a celebrity, Hubery discovers a terrifying truth. The pianist is a Vampire!!! And she is hugry.


Overall I like this story alot, there is enough horror and a good twist at the end to keep you entertained. The only thing I do not like is that the story paints a picture of vampires being superior to werewolves, with is bullshit.

From the Tales From the Crypt Episode

Fitting Punishment
This story is an adaptation of the H.P Lovercrafts short story "In the Vault", later this would be a Tales from the Crypt (HBO) episode. To sum up the story, Stanley is an orphan who goes to the home of his miserly Uncle Ezra and assists him in his undertaking business. Ezra is a fanatic penny pincher and decides to kill his nephew in order to fill an unwanted coffin. He's a bit too tall for it though.

Spoiler Alert!!! Stanley mistakenly orders the wrong type of coffin to be made and in a fit of rage Ezra hits Stanley in the back of the head paralying the poor boy. Now confined to crutches Ezra see's no purpose for his nephew and decides to finish the job by pushing him down the steps. A few weeks later Ezra gets a visitor, it is stanley and he is back from the grave!!!

Not a bad story, Ezra is a really messed up character who is entertaining to watch. I think it is another strong entry.

The Grave Wager
Paul, Clyde and Roger attend a carnival where they see Pirro, The Wax Man who has the ability to stay completely still. Paul and Clyde plot to pull a practical joke on Roger by betting him that he could not spend an entire night in a room with a corpse (Pirro in actuality). When Pirro decides to scare Roger, the real horror begins.

Spoiler Alert!!! Roger murders Pirro in his terror with Paul and Clyde terrified as they are now accomplices in the gruesome act.

This is probably the slowest story of this comic and I personally did not care for it, but it's an interesting tale.




Escape!
The last and final story is hosted by the returning Old Witch.Pete Luger is a hardened criminal who serves in the prison's rockyard, lugging bricks back and forth. None of the prisoners know what they are constructing but are all curious. Tired of the back breaking day to day work, he soon hits upon the idea to stow himself away in a coffin and be driven out of prison in the hearse. Once he seals himself up in the casket, the heat is on.

Spoiler Alert!!! The efforts of construction are revealed as the new furnace for recently deceased corpses in an attempt to save money. So, Pete is headed staright to the oven, poetic justice.

Honestly I was not expecting this ending so I was caught off guard with increased this stories value in my eyes.

Overall this is one of the stronger comics in the VOH series and I would highly recommend picking up a copy if you get a chance.

And now I present my favorite panels from each story.

Werewolf Concerto

About to get his kill

Fitting Punishment

That is messed up hitting your nephew with a hammer

The Grave Wager

Reminds me of the scene straight out of Frankenstein (1931)

Escape!

He has it all figured out

Thanks for reading and join me next week for Crypt of Terror #17.

Credits

Cover Artist: Johnny Craig
Story Artists: Johnny Craig (Werewolf Concerto),  Jack Kamen (The Grave Wager), Graham Ingels (Fitting Punishment), Al Feldstein (Escape!)

Vault of Horror #15

Hello and welcome to the fourth post in my challenge as I present Vault of Horror #15. Right off the bat I want to say this is one of my favorite covers yet and it also is the first Vault of Horror to feature both the Vault Keeper and the Old Witch. As a favor to the vault keeper the old witch provides one of her stories of terror!.

Horror House!
Once again we have a story that does not seem to have a direct influence, but you could make the argument that the house on haunted hill (19) had some similarities. A man ( Henry) is at risk of losing his job because he has been late getting stories to the editor. Henry explains that his shithead friends keep coming over and having a party in his apartment. In an attempt to allude his friends Henry travels through the country side and finds an old abandoned house, naturally a great place to write horror stories. Everyone in town, including the Sheriff warns Henry that the house is haunted and he should avoid it. So of course Henry purchases the house and sets up shop, he is inspired and finishes multiple stories. But his friends somehow find him and bring the party with them, fed up Henry goes into town to buy some supplies. Henry's friends have the bright idea to play up the idea of the haunted house and set up props/speakers throughout the home in an attempt to scare Henry back into the city.

Spoiler Alert!!! Once Henry returns he finds an "abandoned" house and begins hearing strange noises which soon turn to terrifying signs that the house is indeed haunted. Henry bolts and decides to go get the Sheriff to help him clear the home. Satisfied with their cruel joke the group laughs out loud until they discover the true paranormal entities within the home. Once Henry returns with the sheriff they find 1 of the men hanging in the bathroom, 1 with his face eaten off and the woman laughing hysterically with her hair turned white!

I enjoyed this story more for the atmosphere and the fact that the true ghosts are never revealed. I am a firm believer that your imagination is usually more terrifying than the real thing.

Terror in the Swamp!

This is the first story to be hosted by the Old Witch and it is an interesting one. Basically the story surrounds a pair of men who are traveling through the swamps and come across an old hermit who gives a stiff warning not to proceed forward. Curious, the pair enters the old mans home as he tells them a story of the swamp and the "thing" that lives within which terrorizes all life.  In a flash back the hermit reveals that himself, his former fiancee and her father entered the swamp some 20 years before to begin research in the creation of life out of pure chemicals. Convinced that the group has the proper elemental/chemical sequence to create life they quickly learn that something is missing. In an attempt to bring life the group tries electricity, radiation, microwaves and sound waves. Nothing works and in a fit of rage the Father tosses the batch into the swamp and something happens which allows the creation of "life". This shapeless blob basically eats everything in its path including birds, crocodiles and the entire research facility with the hermits fiancee and father inside.

Spoiler Alert!!! Back in present day the pair of men ignore the story and pass it off as fiction, as they paddle away from the hermits shack they hear him yell that he was one of the scientists who created the abomination. But it is too late and the mass swallows the two men whole, adding to it's limitless hunger.
 

Woman love the Swampthing!

This concept of life being created from the swamp has been adapted into multiple movies/tv shows/comics. It is an interesting concept and is reminiscent of the Blob The most famous being the Swamp Thing which had its own comic franchise and eventually a feature film. If you are really bored and want to waste some time find the film Terror from the Swamp released in 1985, I warn you it is god awful and is not a direct adaptation of this story but it does have a killer half man half nutria (water otter).

I would advise you do not pay more than $1 for this shitfest

Report from the Grave
The third story in this comic happens to be my least favorite. The title and some plot elements would later be used in a Tales from the Crypt Episode, which is not that entertaining either. The story revolves around a group who has formed a club, the Vault Keepers club and begins with an introduction ceremony for a new member. Basically the club tells the potential inductee (Warren) that he has to go dig up a recently deceased members body and read the time on the watch, which has been dialed in by the president. Once Warren finally gets to the coffin he discovers a much older coffin filled with nothing but bones and rags. Convinced this was a joke the club council informs him that this is a mistake and there must be something wrong.

Spoiler Alert!!! The entire club goes back to the cemetery unearthing the corpse and the truth. One of the members had murdered the former member and buried his body in an unmarked grave somewhere in the cemetery. As fate would have it while the murderous member is attempting to flea the cemetery one of the tall grave stones is knocked over with an explosion killing him. The dumb-ass sealed the coffin too tight which allowed for a build up of pot mortem gases which caused the explosion.

As I said this was a weak entry and I did not care for it.

Buried Alive!

The final story in this comic is all about the Great Zobo a circus performer who's specialty is being buried alive and lasting for multiple hours. Suspicious of his wife (Rita) Zobo (Sam) begins tailing her and finds that she has been messing around with a wealthy man (Paul). Planning to confront her one night Rita explains that she is setting up Paul so that Sam and her can live in luxury. With Sam in the mix Rita lays out the plan. Basically Sam will storm in on Rita and her lover, engage in a fight and act like the Paul has killed Sam. With Sam being buried, Rita will convince the wealthy man that he will need to pay off multiple parties in order to keep this quiet.  Sam warns Rita that since he is going to be buried in dirt and not a coffin he can only hold his breath for 55 minutes.

Spoiler Alert!!! Everything goes as planned until Sam realizes that time is almost up and Rita has betrayed him. Luckily for him one of Paul's butlers notices the recently buried body and plans to rob it. Digging Sam up the butler is in for a shocker when Sam gets out alive. Hell bent on revenge Sam finds Rita and plans to bury her alive, dragging her into a swamp and specifically a quicksand pit Sam tosses the coffin into the pit but realizes that his tie is caught so he goes down with Rita as they are both buried alive.

This was another strong story to close out this comic. The story would later be adapted for a 1990 TV Film of the same name.

Final thoughts
I felt this was an overall good comic, although I did not like Report from the Grave. It was nice to see the addition of the Old Witch and less emphasis on Greed.

Now I would like to present my favorite panels from each story

Horror House!

I wonder what the ghost looks like?

  
Terror in the Swamp!

Anything that swallows a crocodile whole is okay in my book

 
Report from the Grave

A well illustrated panel

Buried Alive!

I am impressed, carrying a coffin with a person inside.

Thanks for reading and join me tomorrow for Vault of Horror #16.

Credits

Cover Artist: Johnny Craig
Story Artists: Johnny Craig (Horror House!), Al Feldstein (Terror in the Swamp!), Jack Kamen (Report from the Grave), Graham Ingels (Buried Alive!),

Vault of Horror #14

Hello and welcome to the third post in my challenge as I present Vault of Horror #14. This is the first Vault of Horror which does not contain a text story (thankfully) and features the Vault-Keeper more prominently.

Original

Restored

 
 

Voodoo Vengeance!
The first story of this comic is a tale of Caleb Standish and his young trophy wife (Sally) who happens to be cheating on him. One day while coming home from work Caleb notices a strange exotic antique shop that he has never seen before. Caleb decides to stop in the store and find a gift for Sally, immediately Caleb realizes this is not a typical antique shop. The shop owner try's to sell him a voodoo doll which can mimic anyone Caleb wishes and anything that is done to the doll will be felt by the "model". The uneasy Caleb leaves the shop and comes home to find out first hand that Sally is in fact cheating on him! Fueled by anger Caleb returns to the shop and requests a voodoo doll of Sally. After the strange ceremony Caleb is warned that anything done to the doll will be inflicted upon the wife.Although I could not find a direct influence for this story, the tales of Voodoo Dolls had been around for decades.

Spoiler Alert!!!With Sally continuing to try to see her new lover Caleb is forced to test out the doll, first with just a cut and then by breaking the dolls legs! After weeks of recuperating at home with Caleb, she has had enough!. In an interesting climax Sally begins berating Caleb for spying on her as she proceeds to break anything she can throwing the voodoo doll into the fireplace, thus burning herself alive! That;s what that cheating hussie gets for being so terrible.


Werewolf

 A group of mountain climbers are attempting to topple the Cragghorn mountains in Transylvania. Our protagonists (Reggie and Eric) are two among five and receive a grave warning that one of the members of the group Viktor Zorak (Bad-Ass name BTW) is actually a werewolf! Skeptical the men continue on the journey and each night Jan Bodzla warns of the upcoming full moon. Convinced that Jan is simply insane they ignore his pleas and continue on the journey. Once again the stories of werewolves have been around for years so there was no direct influence for this story.

Spoiler Alert!!!One night while sitting around a campfire the men hear a shriek and find a woman torn to shreds by what appears to be an animal. While searching they find that the Viktor is missing and a trail of wolf prints leading up the mountain. The story climax's with the beast being shot to death with silver bullets, but three of the men have wounds from the battle including Reggie and Eric. Terrified, Jan explains that any man wounded will now turn into the dreaded Werewolf. We end with the three men surrounding Jan as they complete their transformation and close in for the kill!

Rats Have Sharp Teeth!
This story seems to be original and has yet to be adapted into an episode or movie, at least that I know of. This is a tale of nature biting back at the corrupt! The town historian Abner Tucker is tired of just getting by so he decides to put his knowledge of the towns residents, specifically the dead ones, to work for him by digging up the bodies of the wealthiest people. The chosen deceased were all buried with treasure/jewelery or some other form of wealth.On the first night Abner is almost discovered which makes him rethink his new found plan. Abnercomes up with the idea to become a caretaker at the cemetery so he applies and gets the job. Now with no concern over being caught and the cemetery to himself Abner is free to go to work. Immediately he realizes he is not alone as there are hundreds/thousands of rats and they are not only getting in his way but carrying the buried treasure away. Obsessed with killing every rat Abner creates trap and drops poisoned meat in an attempt to clear the tunnels.

Spoiler Alert!!! Abner is now convinced the rats are all gone, so he digs an intricate tunnel system that must be secured with bracing shores. But the rats are back and they are out for revenge, slowly every night hundreds of the rodents begin gnawing at the shores weakening the support. Then on one fateful night while Abner is digging he hears the snapping of the shores and soon after is buried alive with hundreds of rats surrounding him.

 
The Strange Couple!

The final story in this comic and my personal favorite out of the four is a strange tale that is both creepy and surprising and continues this comics tradition of being an "original" story, I hope this gets made into a movie one day. A man whose name you never learn is driving through a torrential down pour and can barley see infront of his car. Attempting to bypass a closed road the man turns down a side street that happens to be riddled with potholes. Unfortunately for the man he hits one hole a little too deep and stalls his engine. Stuck in the storm the man begins to drift asleep when he notices a light coming from a house down the road. Fighting the storm the man rushes the old worn down home and knocks on the door. An old woman with a crooked face answers and gives  stiff warning that the man should go away, begging the man is finally allowed in the home when the husband notices. Throughout the night the man is warned that the old woman's husband is a vampire, while the husband warns that the wife is a corpse eating ghoul!

Spoiler Alert!!! Terrified the man locks both the closet and the door to his room. He pushes the furniture against the doors and finally feels secure. He is awoken in the middle of the night to a growing light that seems to come from a secret panel in the wall. Sure enough the panel slides open to reveal both the husband (a vampire) and the wife (a ghoul), who were both telling the truth! With a scream the man wakes up in his car to discover it was all a dream. Peering out the window he notices a light in the distance and approaches the same house from his dream...

Final thoughts
I did find amusement in the vault-keepers increased involvement in this comic. Similar to the crypt keeper from the HBO series the Vault Keeper is filled with one liners and puns, which may be cheesy but perfect for lightening the mood. It was also nice to see a grouping of original stories that did not have direct influences.


And now I present my favorite panels from each story.

Dude just told his wife he knows she is cheating and she has the balls to be mad at him!

Not alot of options from this story

He is scared of rats yet kills one and picks it up?

That is just a freaky image

Thanks for reading and join me tomorrow for Vault of Horror #15.

Credits

Cover Artist: Johnny Craig
Story Artists: Johnny Craig (Voodoo Vengeance!), Al Feldstein (The Strange Couple!), Jules Feiffer & Harry Harrison (Werewolf), Graham Ingels (Rats Have Sharp Teeth!),

Vault of Horror #13

Hello, welcome to the second comic in the Vault of Horror series.

The Dead Will Return!
This comic starts off with a tale of a man (Bert) and a woman (Flo) who have just murdered her husband (Hank) to inherit his fortune, a whopping $16,000. So, to get rid of the body they paddle a boat out to sea and dump the body. Once the couple returns to the lighthouse, which is apparently the home of Flo and Hank, they begin a frantic search for the money. After a few days of no luck they decide to expand their search to the surrounding buildings, when Flo goes to the beach shed she discovers that her Hank's corpse has washed up on the beach in front of the light house. Scared out of her mind she demands that Bert get rid of the body. This time Bert drives 20 miles up the coast and drops Hank's body off a cliff. What do you know the body washes back on shore in front of the lighthouse again this time more decomposed, now they are scared shitless. Bert decides that he will drive 2 hours away and just leave the body on a distant shore so that someone will discover the remains.

Spoiler Alert!!!...Before Bert returns to the lighthouse Flo hears a banging on the door and notices sea water leaking in under the door, which means the husband is back and he is pissed off. The next day the police find both of these adulteruss lovers dead and covered in seaweed. Oh and the money was strapped to the husband the whole time.

This is a strong entry in the series and was later adapted to the 1982 Warner Bros movie Creepshow, entitled "Something to Tide You Over." The movie itself paid homage to the era of Horror Comics and specifically EC.The illustrations are fairly good and the story is interesting, you are never sure if it was in fact the husband who came back to murder the two lovers.

Seaweed Zombies ruin everything

The Curse of Harkley Heath
The second story starts with a trio of cousins (Sybil, Charles, Edgar) sitting around discussing the death of their uncle. Actually they murdered him and stand to inherit his wealth, with a knock at the door their Uncles lawyer enters and reads from his will. In a twist Sybil inherits all of the money, which pisses off Charles and Edgar. Aware that now she has a target on her head she is fearful for her life and sleeps with a gun near her side. Sure enough Charles and Edgar enter the room intent on killing her, she try's to fight back put they inject her with a large amount of morphine, effectively killing her. The cousins drag her into the basement which happens to contain a crypt. While Edgar and Charles sit around drinking and talking, Edgar becomes paranoid that the ghost of their recently deceased cousin Sybil is haunting them. Charles drunk with liquor and rage attempts to murder Edgar so that he will inherit all of the wealth.

Spoiler Alert!!! With a chase ensuing a chandelier falls and kills charles, as Edgar is attempting to escape he opens a door to the recently deceased Sybil! It turns out she has been on morphine most of her life so it simply knocked her out. With the candles from the chandelier lighting the house on fire the two remaining cousins burn down with the cursed manor!

This was a more mild story with a very predictable pace, the mood is set early and the characters are all interesting in their own way.

The Diamond of Death!
The only text story included in this comic and guess what it's about? Someone trying to steal something! A butler is trying to find a precious diamond while his master is in bed. Searching every area of the house he finally comes across the diamond in the exotic plant section of the house. His master bursts in and warns him of the curse surrounding the diamond. So, the butler kills him only to have the infamous "man-eater" plant swallow him whole...the end.

Once again it is a text story about greed with a slight supernatural twist. It would be awesome if the plant was the alien from Little Shop of Horrors, but it's not. If you pick up this comic I would say skip over it.



Doctor of Horror
The third (illustrated) story revolves around an anatomy professor (Lemonet) who is on the brink of losing his job and must resort to extreme measures in order to gain a larger attendance in his class. Lemonet figures that if he has more cadaverous for the students than attendance will begin to swell. Luckily for him there is a cemetery in close proximity so he resorts to grave robbing, but soon discovers the need for "fresher" specimens.

Spoiler Alert!!! As Lemonet begins to gain infamy as the foremost authority for anatomy and climbs the ladder of success the power goes to his head so far as to hire men to kill people and bring them to him. Unfortunately, one night while tracking his men to ensure the job gets done they do not recognize him and he becomes one of the subjects for dissection.

I was glad to see a story that strayed away from robbing someone or trying to inherit money, although there is still an element of greed its a fresh idea. The one major complaint I have is the quality of the illustrations, the majority of the prints were dark and tough to read. This story would later be adapted as an episode for the HBO series Tales from the Crypt, Doctor of Horror staring Hank Azaria.


Island of Death

The final story is based on the 1932 RKO film The Most Dangerous Game, which is based on a short story of the same name by Richard Connell.Starting with two men (Steve and Alec) who are flying over an unmarked island begin to have engine failure and result in a crash landing in the middle of the sea. One of the men, Steve, swims to shore of the unidentified island and begins a search for the other man, Alec. With no luck Steve stumbles apon a lone castle in the middle of the jungle and eventually passes out due to exhaustion. Once he awakens he realizes he is in a bed with fresh clothes and a hot bath ready. Next we meet the host (Alvar Cabeza) of the castle who allows the Steve to recuperate before revealing a room of conquered animals. Alvar reveals that he intends to add Steve to the collection and will hunt him down like an animal. Steve has 12 hours to run and hide becayse now the hunt is on.

Spoiler Alert!!!...Steve manages to set traps which kill the hosts right hand man (Mulok) and the hunting dogs he brought on the hunt. In a final standoff Alvar raises the crossbow to kill Steve when Alec jumps out of the brush shooting the hunter. Wounded the hunter falls into a nest of Jungle Hornets which proceed to sting Alvar to death.

This is a great story to end this issue, a fresh idea with no connection to greed and great illustrations. Today the idea of the stereotypical Alpha Hunter who has resorted to hunting men is by no means original, back than it was not a common idea.



And now I present my favorite panels from each story.

The Dead Will Return!

Is it bad I laughed when I read the bubble?

The Curse of Harkley Heath

I like the Ghost of the woman just chilling in the fire place.

Doctor of Horror

Dude really wants that job

Island of Death

Just left is man hanging, that's cold.

Thanks for reading and join me tomorrow for Vault of Horror #14.

Credits

Cover Artist: Johnny Craig
Story Artists: Al Feldstein (The Dead Will Reutrn), Wally Wood & Harry Harrison (The Curse of Harkley Heath), Graham Ingels (Doctor of Horror), Harvey Kurtzman (Island of Death)

Vault of Horror #12

Hello, and welcome to the start of this extensive comic book challenge. To begin I would like to explain the numbering, after WWII when the young men lost interest in caped crimebusters and returning GIs wanted more potent themes in their reading the horror genre emerged. The One-shot Eerie Comics (1947) is generally considered the first true horror comic with its cover depicting a dagger-wielding, red-eye ghoul threatening a bound, scantily clad, voluptuous young woman beneath a full moon. In 1950, Gaines and his editor Al Feldstein discovered they shared similar tastes in horror and began experimenting with such stories in EC's crime comic War Against Crime and its companion title, Crime Patrol. With issue #12 the War Against Crime title was replaced with The Vault of Horror. Vault of horror would be the first of the trio of terror to launch a series of horror comics.

Which brings us to the first issue of Vault of Horror...

 This first issue contained 4 illustrated stories as well as 2 text stories. The host for this Issue is none other than the Vault Keeper and he kicks it off with an introduction to story #1...

Portrait In Wax! 
The first story is heavily inspired by the 1933 Film Mystery of the Wax Museum, which in turn was inspired by "The Wax Works" by Charles Spencer Belden (1904).

The story begin with two struggling artists, Robert and Henry. Robert is an artistic genius who creates etchings which are masterpieces that give him a sense of satisfaction and pride. Henry is a jealous slouch who decides he can sell the etchings and make a large profit from his roommates work. Once Robert finds out he is furious and demands that Henry retrieve the etchings at once, well Henry decides he would rather throw acid in Robert's face and kill him in a tub filled with the viscous fluid. Years later Henry is running short on funds and needs a new angle. After receiving a suspicious letter in the mail he finds a new ponzi  who has been creating the most life like wax sculptures and stands to make a huge profit from going into business together.

Spoiler ahead...As it turns out the master wax sculpture is Robert who has created a mask for himself and plotted his revenge to sully Henry's name and reputation by creating his wax figures out of dead bodies. Robert's final plan is to add Henry to the collection.

My overall opinion is that this is an interesting tale of betrayal and revenge. Being familiar with the film I half expected the outcome but I still enjoyed the story. The artwork is simple yet well done. Not a bad way to start the series.


The Werewolf Legend 
Inspired by the 1941 Universal film The Wolf Man (1941) this is a tale of a cursed man named Walter. After discovering the horrible truth an ancient family curse of lycanthropyWalter is determined to end it all by any means necessary. Every full moon the blood lust seems to overcome Walter and he is forced to kill relentlessly.Walter decides he must go to the police and have them patrol his manor with instructions to shoot the beast on sight.

Spoiler ahead...Walter's cousin turns out to be a master hypnotist who has been setting up poor Walter, and tricking him into believing he was a wolf. The police arrest Gregory and explain everything to Walter who can now rest easily.

My thoughts, well to start it is a werewolf story so of course I love it. To be fair this story throws a twist into the mix that I didn't even consider. I had heard that the 1941 Wolf Man considered going this route making Lon Chaney's realize that everything was in his head and that he was not a werewolf. I was pleasantly surprised by this story and the illustrations were excellent, for all werewolf fans you should definitely get this comic.

Fingers of Death! 
The first text story which tells the tale of a greedy murderer who is attempting to steal his victims gold chain when he is discovered by a car. Waiting for the right time the murderous thief enters the tomb of his victim to retrieve the precious necklace. While removing the gold from the cold dead hands of the victim he accidentally gets too close and the vice like hand of the victim grasps the theifs neck to seal his doom!

Overall, not a bad tale but not for me. I am not a huge fan of text stories. Another tale of someone getting what they deserve in a supernatural sense.

Horror in the Night
The story begins with a man, Tom, who has had a terrifying nightmare of murder. He swears that it could have been real and delves into the details. Basically a man and woman "Mr and Mrs Smith" seem to be on the run when it is discovered the wife is crazed with murder after the death of their infant child at the hands of a cat. Filled with rage the wife attacks her husband who is forced to shoot her dead.

Spoiler ahead... As it turns out the next day the couple arrives and it seems his dream was indeed a prophecy. 

I was torn with this story as I felt it was strong in illustration yet weak in story telling. I liked particular moments but on the whole it was average. This story inspired the episode Horror in the Night from the Tales from the Crypt, HBO Series.



Tooth and Fang!
The second text story which begins with a murder in a circus tent as a man is attempting to rob the tent master. While looking for cash in the tent he is interrupted by a couple of kids, so to hide he finds a cage at the far end of the tent. Once inside with the bars shut he waits, until he hears the snarl behind him.  As it turns out this dumbass has locked himself in a panther cage...I will let you guess how it turns out.

Once again a story of murderous greed that ends in the demise of the criminal. A weak entry in this comic.

Terror Train
The final story and a great illustration to start with. The story revolves around a woman who is convinced that her husband is attempting to kill her. He seems to be motivated by greed as he has just taken out a $16,000 life insurance policy for the couple. The wife fleas the city on a train but is paranoid that her husband is following, convinced she sees his face at every corner. Finally she falls asleep only to awake to a train car full of dead passengers, she jumps off the train once it breaks and runs to a nearby house. Once inside she is confronted by her husband who is has dug a grave and has a coffin waiting.

Spoiler ahead...The story returns to her as she awakens from her sleep on the train with her husband and some orderlies escorting her back to the mental institution and closes with her telling the story in a padded room confined to a straight jacket.

Overall this was another solid entry, with a compelling twist at the end. I know that there are films or televisions shows that have used this concept but it alludes me, so if you know of a similar story comment below.


I want to close out this inaugural post with my Personal Favorite Panel from each Story:

Portrait in Wax !

BAM! Face full of Acid!!

The Werewolf Legend

Stalking his Prey, like a true Werewolf

Horror in the Night

Snapped the shit out of that cats neck

Terror Train

He's not even trying to be sneaky

Final thoughts

This is a good start to the series, it has plenty of supernatural elements, suspenseful story arcs and the occasional twist. The majority of the stories seemed to focus on greed and supernatural retribution, which I hope they expand into other motifs/sins. All in all I enjoyed this comic and look forward to continuing forward with Vault of Horror #13.



Credits


Cover Artist: Johnny Craig
Story Artists: Johnny Craig (Portrait in Wax), Wally Wood & Harry Harrison (The Werewolf Legend), Horror in the Night (Harvey Kurtzman), Terror Train (Al Feldstein)