The 1940s and 1950s were a grand time for horror comics. The two most popular horror comics were “Tales from the Crypt†and “The Vault of Horror,” both were horror anthologies that had a “host.†Tales had The Crypt-keeper and Vault had The Vault-keeper and The Old Witch. Dark Horse comics has graciously been keeping these comics alive by releasing them in collections. The most recent one is “The Vault of Horror: The EC Archives Volume 4″ and it’s one old-horror fans will eat up.
This edition collects “The Vault of Horrors issues 30-35.†As for the comics themselves, if you’re a fan of either series you’d know what to expect. If you don’t, each issue has six horror stories ranging from revenge, murder and other scary things. Not to mention a comic adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story.
As with any short story collection, the stories range in quality. The ones that stand out in this collection are ‘Split Personality,†“The Lake†(a Ray Bradbury story,) and “…And All Through the House…†These stories are what people expect when they pick up a copy of this anthology. There are crazy twist endings, supernatural phenomena and characters that are horrible people. The rest have pretty much the same, but are either decent or boring.
The art in these comics has been a highlight since their inception. The art is not to be high art; It’s meant to show that what’s going on in the story is horrible so of course the art will highlight this. The characters may look low-grade, but they’re not meant to look appealing. These are people who experience or do things that will make anyone want them dead. Everything is meant to look ugly and unappealing.
Of course, fans will eat up this and other collections like they’re going out of style. New readers who have never read a “Vault of Horror†in their lives should pick this up and have a piece of horror comic history even if some of the stories fall flat.
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