DtH Episode 73: Pre-Code Horror Comics

June 26, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Chamber of Chills, Dark Shadows, Dr. Dan Yezbick, EC Comics, Grimm's Ghost Stories, Haunt of Fear, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Pre-Code Horror Comics, Tales from the Crypt, Tomb of Dracula, Tower of Shadows, Vault of Horror, Werewolf by Night, William Gains | Leave a comment

In the mid 1950’s an overzealous witch hunt took place in the United States focused on the corrupting effects of comic books on young people, which ended in horror comics being banned from the shelves by a draconian comics code. But why? What did those comics contain that got people so riled up? Well, it depends on who you ask.

WE asked Dr. Dan Yezbick, a comics scholar, and he sparked a lively discussion. If you’re only vaguely aware of this chapter of horror history, strap in, because pre-code horror is one of the more fascinating areas of the history of the genre.

Comics mention in this episode:

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Movie Review: Tales from the Crypt Documentary

March 20, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Al Feldstein, Al Williamson, Chip Selby, Dr. Fredric Wertham, EC Comics, George Romero, Haunt of Fear, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Jerry Weist, John Carpenter, R.L. Stine, Roger Hill, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, William Gaines | 1 Comment

(2004)
Directed by Chip Selby
Starring John Carpenter, Jack Davis, Digby Diehl, Al Feldstein, William M. Gaines, George Romero, Bernie Wrightson

I grew up in the late 60’s / early 70’s, so the horror comics that I remembered reading in my youth were titles like Creepy and Eerie. The moniker Tales from The Crypt was from a movie as far as I knew. Once I started really getting into horror, I kept coming across references to these comic books from the ‘50s. Eventually, I would learn a little more about what EC comics had done a good 10 years before I was born. Then when the reprints started to come out, I was able to see and enjoy these wonderfully created images and stories that caused such a roar back in the mid 50’s.

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Tales from the Crypt Bookends!!!

March 18, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Dark Horse Direct, E.C. Comics, Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror | Leave a comment

In case anybody out there is wondering what to get me for my birthday, look no further! While I just might have a few books around the old Kryptic Office so bookends are always something in need. But just look at these bad boys! Brought to us by Dark Horse Director, these two book ends feature three of the main hosts from those E.C. Comics that gave us images of terror and horror, wrapped inside a gruesome tale! One of them features the Crypt Keeper, which is 8 1/2″ tall by 6 3/8″ side, while the other one features the Old Witch and the Vault Keeper, which is 9″ tall and 6 1/4″ wide, both highly detailed and painted. These were sculpted by Chris Dahlberg.

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The Drive-In That Dripped Blood

February 20, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Amicus Films, Asylum, Christopher Lee, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, From Beyond the Grave, Peter Cushing, Skyline Drive-in, The House That Dripped Blood, Torture Garden, Vault of Horror | 2 Comments

The Skyline Drive-In, located in Shelbyville, Indiana, has announced a weekend celebrating the British films studio Amicus, which specialized in making horror anthology films. Over two days, Friday March 25th and Saturday, March 26th, they will be screening 6 titles from Amicus, and all of them anthologies! In fact, some of these are some of the best that studio put out! Here’s the lineup:

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Horror History: William Gaines

June 4, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Al Feldstein, Haunt of Fear, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Mad Magazine, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Weird Tales, William Gaines | 2 Comments

williammgaines William Gaines
Born: March 1st, 1922 Died: June 3rd, 1992

Gaines created Mad Magazine in 1955 and published and oversaw until his death in 1992. Why am I mentioning this magazine on a horror website? Because before Mad Magazine, there was E.C. Comics, which published titles like Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, and a few more interesting titles. Gaines had taken over the company that his father started when he passed away in 1947. Gaines started to delved into more serious subject matters and into scary stories. Each issue featured murder, vampires, zombies, and other strange things. But there were messages in there and those that wrong people, always got what was coming to them. Even though he lost, the fight that Gaines gave is one that all supporters of free speech should be proud of. It ended with a ratings being developed with certain restrictions, such as not being able to use certain words in your comic titles… such as Horror, or Fear, or Terror, which pretty much put an end to Gaines horror comics. Continue reading →