The Haunt of Fear is an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series that was published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1954 created by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. The magazine began in June 1947 as Fat and Slat. It continued under this title for four issues before becoming Gunfighter (#5–14). It was retitled The Haunt of Fear with issue #15 (1) (May/June 1950). The numbering was reset after #17 (3). The comic bore this title for 28 issues until being discontinued after issue #28 (November/December 1954).
Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. Publication ceased, however, after horror and crime comics came under scrutiny for an alleged link to juvenile delinquency and the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code.
The Haunt of Fear has since been reprinted in single issues and collected volumes. Some of its stories were adapted for the 1972 motion picture Tales from the Crypt and television's Tales from the Crypt, which aired on HBO from 1989 to 1996.
In 1950, EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines and his editor, Al Feldstein, began experimenting with horror tales in their crime titles, War Against Crime and Crime Patrol. An EC Western comic called Gunfighter, which had previously run for five issues as the comedy Fat & Slat, became The Haunt of Fear with issue #15 (1) (May/June 1950). Due to an attempt to save money on second-class postage permits, characteristic of comics publishing in the era, the numbering did not change along with the titles. However, numbering for the magazine was reset after #17 (3) due to a request by the United States Post Office that the fourth issue under the new title be numbered accordingly.[1]
The Haunt of Fear continued to run for a total of 28 issues before ceasing publication with issue #28 (November/December 1954). Along with its sister titles, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear was popular, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers, and others who believed the magazines contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, which placed severe restrictions on violent comic book genres, including forbidding publishers from using the words "terror" and "horror" in titles and from depicting zombies, werewolves, gruesome characters, and outrè horror fiction trappings, EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines cancelled The Haunt of Fear and its two companion horror titles.[2]
The Haunt of Fear has been reprinted on numerous occasions. Ballantine Books reprinted selected stories in a series of paperback anthologies from 1964 to 1966. The magazine was fully collected in a series of five black-and-white hardbacks by publisher Russ Cochran as part of The Complete EC Library in 1985. Cochran also reprinted several issues in a standard comic book format during the early 1990s in association with Gladstone Publishing. He eventually reprinted the entire series with Gemstone Publishing from 1992 to 1998. This complete run was later rebound, with covers included, in a series of six softcover EC Annuals. Cochran and Gemstone planned to publish hardcover, re-colored volumes of The Haunt of Fear as part of the EC Archives series, until Gemstone's financial troubles left this project in limbo. The series was revived by GC Press, a boutique imprint established by Cochran and Grant Geissman, and the first volume (of a projected five) was released in 2012. Dark Horse Comics took over publication of the remainder of the series from 2015 to 2018.[3][4] The complete five-volume series was later republished as over-sized trade paperbacks from 2021 to 2025.[5][6]
Gaines and Feldstein were responsible for writing all the stories until the end of 1953. An unauthorized adaptation of Ray Bradbury's work in another of EC's comics eventually led to a series of authorized Bradbury adaptations. Features included "Grim Fairy Tales", horror-based parodies of well-known fairy tales such as "Sleeping Beauty" and "Hansel and Gretel". The parodies began appearing in issue #15 (September/October 1952).[7]
Artist Graham Ingels took over the art duties of The Haunt of Fear starting with issue #4 (November/December 1950). He became the Old Witch's primary artist for the remainder of the comic's run, though his art had been appearing since the second issue. Ingels later took over cover art duty with issue #11 (January/February 1952). Other artists who contributed to the title were Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, George Roussos, Harry Harrison, Joe Orlando, Sid Check, George Evans, Reed Crandall, Jack Kamen, and Bernard Krigstein. Ingels' artwork on the eight-page lead stories and his splash pages, particularly on issues #14 and #17, set a new standard for horror illustration.
Among the title's most controversial stories was "Foul Play" (#19, May/June 1953), written by Feldstein and drawn by Davis. It featured a crooked baseball player being dismembered, with his body parts used to play baseball by his murderers. The story was singled out by Robert Warshow in his 1954 essay "Paul, the Horror Comics, and Dr. Wertham". He described it as "the outer limits of... 'good taste'."[8] It was also one of many examples used by Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent.[9] Author Grant Geissman used the title of the story for his book on EC artists, Foul Play (2005).
As with the other EC comics edited by Feldstein, the stories in this comic were primarily based on Gaines using existing horror stories and films to develop "springboards" from which he and Feldstein could launch new stories. Specific story influences that have been identified include the following:
After their unauthorized adaptation of one of Ray Bradbury's stories in another magazine, Bradbury contacted EC about their plagiarism of his work. They reached an agreement for EC to do authorized versions of Bradbury's short fiction. These official adaptations include:
Although EC's horror stable consisted of three separate magazines, there was little beyond their titles to distinguish them from one another. Each magazine had its own host, known as a GhouLunatic. The Old Witch was the primary host of The Haunt of Fear. Hosting duties for any one magazine were typically shared with the hosts of the other two. For example, a single issue of The Haunt of Fear would contain two stories told by the Old Witch, one by the Crypt-Keeper (of Tales from the Crypt) and one by the Vault-Keeper (of The Vault of Horror). The professional rivalry among these three GhouLunatics was often played for comedic effect in the letter column.
The Old Witch was the last of the three to make her appearance. She was introduced in the second issue of the magazine, #16 (2) (July/August 1950), in a segment titled "The Witch's Cauldron" in which the Old Witch introduces herself in a story drawn by artist Jack Kamen. The third issue featured a Johnny Craig cover depicting the three GhoulLunatics stepping out of doorways and launched a letter column, "The Old Witch's Niche." Thereafter, the Old Witch presided over the magazine as its comedic horror host, delivering an irreverent and pun-filled commentary to lighten the horrific tone of the stories she introduced. In spite of her late start, the Old Witch would prove to be the most visible of the GhoulLunatics in their initial run. Not only did she appear in virtually every issue of The Haunt of Fear, Tales From The Crypt, and The Vault of Horror, she also appeared in the final story in each issue of Crime SuspenStories from #3 through #16. Occasionally, the Old Witch would appear as a character as well. A personal account of the circumstances surrounding her birth are related in "A Little Stranger!" (The Haunt of Fear #14), and "Horror Beneath the Streets" (The Haunt of Fear #17) tells how she and her fellow GhouLunatics got their EC publishing contracts. The character was inspired by Old Nancy, the Witch of Salem, host of Alonzo Deen Cole's radio series, The Witch's Tale, which aired from 1931 to 1938 on WOR, the Mutual Radio Network, and in syndication.
"Poetic Justice!" (#12) and "Wish You Were Here" (#22) were adapted for the 1972 film, Tales from the Crypt from Amicus Productions. Three other stories came from Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror.[10] An homage film entitled Creepshow (1982) followed from Warner Brothers, paying tribute to the tone, look, and feel of Haunt and other EC comics without directly adapting any of their stories.[11]
Some stories were also adapted for the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt, which features John Kassir as the voice of the Crypt-Keeper and included comic book covers designed by Mike Vosburg—with at least one drawn by Shawn McManus—to look like the original 1950s covers. The series ran for seven seasons from 1989 to 1996 and spawned 93 episodes.[12] A photograph of a latex mask of the Old Witch, sculpted by Steve Fiorilla, appears in the "Korman's Kalamity" episode (season 2, episode 13). Adapted from "Kamen's Kalamity" (Tales from the Crypt #31), the story is set in EC's offices, where the EC editors have a meeting with illustrator Jack Kamen about his artwork.
The following tales were used in HBO's Tales from the Crypt TV series: "House of Horror" (#15 (1)), "Television Terror" (#17 (3)), "Ear Today... Gone Tomorrow" (#11), "On a Dead Man's Chest" (#12), "Till Death Do We Part" (#12), "What's Cookin" (#12), "Death of Some Salesmen" (#15), "Lover Come Hack to Me" (#19), "Dig That Cat... He's Real Gone" (#21), "Creep Course" (#23), "Only Sin Deep" (#24), "The Secret" (#24), "The New Arrival" (#25), "Spoiled" (#26), "Comes The Dawn" (#26), and "About Face" (#27).
HBO's Tales from the Crypt was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon series called Tales from the Cryptkeeper in 1993. It lacked the violence and other questionable content that was in the original series. Kassir reprised his role as the voice of the Crypt-Keeper. The Old Witch appeared as a character, voiced by Elizabeth Hanna. It ran for three seasons from 1993 to 1994 and in 1999, spawning 39 episodes.[13]
A pinball machine, Tales from the Crypt, was produced under license by Data East in 1993. The game incorporates art from the original comics as well as the HBO series.[14]