| Issue | #27 |
| Published | October-November 1952 |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Al Feldstein; William M. Gaines (managing editor) |
| Notes | Cover title taken from 3rd story, from which the cover was based. |
| Characters | The Vault-Keeper (inset); The Old Witch (inset); The Crypt-Keeper (inset) |
| Genre | horror |
| Pencils | Johnny Craig (signed) |
| Inks | Johnny Craig (signed) |
| Notes | Cover title taken from 3rd story, from which the cover was based. |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3; in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #16 (July 1996) |
| Characters | Harvey Kurtzman; Bill Elder; Al Feldstein; Wally Wood; Johnny Severin; Jack Davis; Bill Gaines. |
| Synopsis | House promotional ad for MAD #1 [cover by Harvey Kurtzman]. |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 |
| Characters | The Vault-Keeper (host); Cedric Harrington; Christine; Gary |
| Synopsis | Cedric was working late tonight, putting the finishing touches on his latest statue, and told Christine to relax. His model was a woman he wished to marry, but she wasn't ready. Anyway, he told her he'd have a big surprise for her the next day, and when she walked in, he showed her a huge vat. He was going to sculpt a life-size statue of her, then put it in the electroplating vat in order to produce a silver-plated statue. He never noticed she wasn't the least bit thrilled, and when he returned to his studio later, she was on the phone with someone....and he followed her to the park, where she met with her secret lover, Gary! Together they plotted to take him for his money, then get married....the next day, Cedric confronted her with the news that he knew, and she stormed out. When she didn't show up at her lover's house, he came to Cedric's studio looking for her....but it was like she disappeared. Then one day in the studio,Gary noticed a life-sized silver statue of Christine and bought it from Cedric. At home, Gary admired it....and later accidently fell against it, knocking it against the wall. The hand fell off....then he saw a rotted human hand underneath the metal. Trembling, he chipped away the metal from the head....and found the rotting corpse of his beloved! |
| Genre | horror |
| Script | Johnny Craig |
| Pencils | Johnny Craig (signed) |
| Inks | Johnny Craig (signed) |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3; in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #16 (July 1996) |
| Characters | The Crypt-Keeper (host); Lionel Byrd |
| Synopsis | The children ran up to the hearse as Mr. Byrd drove by, yelling things at him as he made his way to the general store. They couldn't understand why a man, who was NOT an undertaker, would drive such a contraption. The townsfolk were scared of the man, who lived in a rented, deserted house. Whenever Lionel would come to town, the kids would look in the back of the hearse and only see a curtain partition, wondering what was behind it. The answer began when Lionel first moved to town....before he ever owned the hearse, and a couple of fugitives came by his house, looking to hide out from the law. When Lionel told them to leave, they shot him dead, and dug a grave to bury him behind the cabin. When they re-entered the cabin, there he was, holding a shotgun on them, and telling them they had killed his siamese twin! As he stepped forward, they could see the dead corpse still attached to Lionel, who tied the pair up and threw them in the grave they had prepared for him. Now we know why Lionel had that curtain in the back of his hearse! |
| Genre | horror |
| Script | Al Feldstein; Bill Gaines |
| Pencils | Jack Davis (signed) |
| Inks | Jack Davis (signed) |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3; in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #16 (July 1996) |
| Characters | Henderson |
| Synopsis | Henderson was watching his partner diving into the water from their boat, trying to locate the valuable oyster bed that was shown on a map and they had been trying to find the last two days. Then, his partner discovered a huge oyster with a giant pearl inside....but before he could do anything, Henderson pushed his partner back into the water, followed him and knifed him in the chest, and cut the airhose. He was going to tell the crew aboard the boat that his partner had been killed by an octopus, but before he re-surfaced, he was attacked by a giant octopus himself. He passed out, and when he awakened, he discovered the octopus had torn off one leg and a savage tentacle was wrapping around his other leg. All Henderson could do was pray for a quick death! |
| Genre | horror |
| Script | William M. Gaines |
| Pencils | ? (spot illo) |
| Inks | ? (spot illo) |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | The text story was printed on the inner halves of the two pages, with EC house ads to either side. One promoted Weird Fantasy #15 [with cover by Al Feldstein], while the other promoted, with covers, the Complete Old and New Testament editions in the Picture Stories From the Bible series, Picture Stories From Science #2 and Picture Stories From World History #2. |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 |
| Characters | The Vault-Keeper (spot illo) |
| Synopsis | VK presents more letters about Mrs. Phelan's criticism of EC mags from E. Manning, P.O. Hagan, Mrs. R.K. Colgin, Dorothy E. Padolick, Johnny Knisely, C. Fanning, Mary Margaret Bye, Bob Hoopengarner, , D.C. McLarty, Hardy Myers, Ralph Becker, Hector M. Cuellar, Felix Canps III, George Ramming, Mrs. L. Collins and Mrs. J.L. Rakes. Finally he pushes copies of Tales of Terror Annual #2, photos of the three GhouLunatics and subscriptions to EC's mags. |
| Pencils | Johnny Craig (spot illo) |
| Inks | Johnny Craig (spot illo) |
| Letters | typeset |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3 |
| Characters | The Vault-Keeper (host) |
| Synopsis | The posse stood before the mouth of the dark cave, where they had trailed a creature that had killed ten of their own, stripping their flesh from their bones. Doc told them he'd seen this creature long ago....before it came to look like it did now. Pete came to see Doc with a lump on his arm, which he discovered was cancer, and he only had a few months to live. Dejected, Pete went to see the Old Hag up on Baldy Mountain, and she hexed him so that he'd never die....IF he'd agree to never ask her to un-hex him. When Pete returned later to see Doc, his arm had been taken over by the cancerous tumor....and slowly more of his body was taken over until all the healthy cells were destroyed and all that was left were cancerous cells gone wild. Just then, the oozing thing emerged from the cave, and the men threw searing torches at it until it retreated back into the cave. Then the men blocked up the entrance.....and prayed no one would ever uncover that entrance! |
| Genre | horror |
| Pencils | George Evans [as Geo. Evans] (signed) |
| Inks | George Evans [as Geo. Evans] (signed) |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3; in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #16 (July 1996) |
| Characters | The Old Witch (host) |
| Synopsis | Once upon a time, there was a tiny kingdom overrun with rats....they were everywhere. One day the people decided they'd had enough and proceeded to kill all the rats. Now, this kingdom was ruled by a pompous King and Queen, who lived in a castle surrounded by a moat....which the rats couldn't cross over. The Queen had pet white mice and enjoyed them immensely. One day, the Queen learned that the townspeople had nearly killed off all the rats, and, knowing they were related to her mice, forbid them to do so, and it became a crime to kill any rat! Soon, the rats overwhelmed the people again and ate all their food. Furious, the townspeople decided to act: they invaded the castle, captured the royal couple, shoved starving rats down their throats and sewed their mouths shut....and then watched as the rats ate their way out! |
| Genre | horror |
| Script | Al Feldstein; Bill Gaines |
| Pencils | Graham Ingels [as Ghastly] (signed) |
| Inks | Grahman Ingels [as Ghastly] (signed) |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Notes | Added co-writer [Gaines] and colorist added by Craig Delich (March, 2006). |
| Reprinted | in Vault of Horror, The (Russ Cochran, 1982 series) #3; in Vault of Horror (Gemstone, 1994 series) #16 (July 1996) |