This year marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of psychiatrist Frederic Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent, an exasperatingly best-selling screed against comic books he blamed for juvenile delinquency. His conclusions were alarmist, idiotic, and frequently hilarious. Wonder Woman was a lesbian. Batman and Robin were gay. Superman was a fascist. Obviously.
Wertham’s wide-eyed, lip-trembling book is mostly remembered for spewing righteous kerosene on the fiery Senate Subcommittee of Juvenile Delinquency. The resulting theatrics, ogled by Americans on TV, shuttered the doors of multiple comics outfits, including the best of them all (or worst, if you were a Wertham flunky): William Gaines’s EC Comics.
Though Mad would become Gaines’s 67-year success story (until this year’s closing of the magazine), it’s arguable that his 1950-1955 trio of horror comics—Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunt of Fear—was more foundational, inspiring the careers of everyone from Stephen Spielberg to Stephen King. (HBO’s 1989-1996 series adaptation served a similar purpose for my generation; the first fan letter I ever wrote was to HBO, pleading for a second season.)
The influence continues today. Shudder’s new Creepshow series, which premiered September 26th, is directly inspired by the EC titles.
Though accurately branded as horror, the three comics weren’t all slobbering were-pire hybrids and man-eating blobs of goo. More traumatizing and exciting were the wildly over-the-top murders played out across the pulpy pages. Here are just a few of my favorites.
“The New Arrival”—The Haunt of Fear 25
After his car breaks down in a storm, Edward Lockwood seeks shelter at the quintessential creepy house. He is greeted by elderly Cynthia Ackroyd—and the sound of a wailing baby upstairs. Cynthia’s too old to have a child, but Lockwood’s also too tired to worry about it. Until the baby’s cries wake him in the night and he creeps up the stairs to the nursery. There he finds that little “Dumpling” is, in fact, Cynthia’s child—keep chained in his crib for forty years. Here comes Ackroyd with ax! She’s got a new dumpling now: Lockwood.
“Split Personality”—The Vault of Horror 29
Ed King is one of EC’s long line a smooth-talking, pencil-mustached con men. He sees dollar signs after learning of rich twin-sister agoraphobes. Both sisters fall for the oily eel, but if he marries only one of them, he’ll only get half their fortune. So the snake decides to play his own twin. It only makes sense, right? Eventually the dames catch on, and with EC’s classic I’ve-gone-mad signifiers (Little Orphan Annie eyes, frozen grins, sweat beads), the sisters split Ed down the middle so they can each enjoy half. As our host, the Vault-Keeper says, Ed made “a BIGAMISTake!” (Note: Another tale, “How Green Was My Alley” is the same story, but with the addition of bowling/golf, and the two-timer getting his head/eye used as balls.)
“Indisposed”—The Haunt of Fear 25
Henry has killed his nagging wife, Rita. Par for the course in EC-land. Also par for course: his just desserts. With Rita “out of town,” his buddies come over for whiskey, smack-talk, and general palling. One of the guys, in fact, has just helped Henry install a new garbage disposal after Rita’s haranguing. Problem is, the friend mixed up the hoses with the well-water pressure tank. And when he turns on the faucet for some refreshing, the buddies find themselves “staring at the crimson liquid and ground-up red fresh-slime that oozed in a continuous sickening stream.”
“Hoodwinked”—Tales from the Crypt 42
Since the early death of their mother, older brother Leon has worked like a dog to provide everything lil’ bro Chet wants. That includes a sweet convertible…then gas and oil…then special hub caps—the continual expense of it forcing Leon to endlessly delay his wedding to the over-tolerant Claire. Leon puts his foot down when Chet demands a sterling silver hood ornament. But after Chet’s implied assault of Claire drives her to kill herself, the enraged Leon gets that hood ornament for the car…Chet’s head.
“An Ample Sample”—The Vault of Horror 32
Meet another wedded couple addressing financial woes in a rather curious manner. Irwin’s wife Hannah has expensive tastes—mainly chocolate. Her favorites are the Russell Stover-type chocolate boxes with all the candies labeled so you never get surprised. Well, prepare to get surprised. As Hannah gets fatter, Irwin’s bank account grows slimmer (comics in 1953 were not known for sensitivity), and finally Irwin loses it. The last panel is one of EC’s gnarliest, with Hannah’s body divided up into a giant-sized candy box complete with labels: “Chopped Nut” (head), “Sour Bowels,” “Sweet Heart Special,” and so on.
“Strop! You’re Killing Me!”—Tales from the Crypt 37
Old Dan Harper, the lazy operator of Lyndale’s tiny fire department, is none too happy about his new boss, Frank Miller. Frank’s a galdarned drill sergeant: clean this, polish that, blah, blah. Worst of all, he’s relocated Old Dan’s beloved wicker chair up on the second floor, and to get down, you gotta use the new descent pole. Old Dan can’t cut it, and eager to be rid of the geezer, Frank dallies when Dan’s home catches fire. Dan’s out of the picture at last, but he gets the last laugh. He sharpened the fireman pole before he died—and Frank is sliced into bits on his way down.
“Only Skin Deep”—Tales from the Crypt 38
Each year, Herbert returns to the same Mardi Gras masked ball to rendezvous with the alluring Suzanne. They’re always wearing masks, of course—his a bandito mask, hers that of a withered witch—but she has a body that won’t quit. He begs to get married, and at last she relents, but only if she can reveal her face after they’re pronounced husband and wife. The are wed and make passionate love (in the dark), and the next morning, as Suzanne sleeps, Herbert tries to take off her mask. He tugs and tugs—she cries out for him to stop—and he rips her face off. Yes, that was her real face. And he ripped it off. That’s it. That’s the ending. All right, maybe Wertham was right about this one.
