The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear #2

In "Room For One More!", young Rodney Whitman, orphaned and adrift, seeks a final resting place among his family in the crypt—only to find the last casket already claimed. When he takes drastic measures to claim it for himself, the dead have other plans, and the family plot has room for one more… forever. The Old Witch warns of the price of greed in the afterlife.

In "The Basket!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of duality and dread: a man named Vincent Cabez, born with two heads, hides his true nature beneath a basket on his shoulder. As the darker head begins to assert dominance, the good one faces an unbearable choice—escape through suicide or surrender to the monstrous will within.

In "The Howling Banshee!", a fugitive mobster seeking refuge in Ireland finds himself entangled with a local legend: a woman who claims the Banshee wails when a blood relative is near death. As his past catches up with him through a pair of relentless gangsters, he’s forced to navigate a fog-laden countryside where every shadow feels like a threat—until a fateful wedding night shatters his last hope. The Vault-Keeper warns that some debts are paid in blood, and some screams never stop.

In "Hounded To Death!", a man’s cruel obsession with the foxhunt takes a deadly turn when he catches his wife with another man. With the help of his wife’s deceit, he tries to dispose of the intruder—but the man’s fate is sealed when he’s thrown into the very kennels meant for the hounds. Now, the dead man returns, and the old witch warns that vengeance is a hungry thing.

In "Diminishing Returns!", the Old Witch recounts a chilling tale of a man who trades in human lives for treasure, only to find his own fate sealed when a mysterious package arrives at his door. What begins as a cold transaction with a distant tribe spirals into a grotesque reckoning, as the severed head of his latest victim refuses to stay dead.

In "The Irony of Death!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of twisted fate, where a man’s ambition leads him to inherit a steel mill—and a deadly legacy. After marrying the boss’s daughter, he takes over the plant, only to find that two of its ingots have been forged into an iron maiden, now on display. When he dares to test it for size, the museum exhibit proves far more than a curiosity.

In "Warts So Horrible?", a pair of mischievous boys stumble upon a cursed grave robbery gone wrong, only to find themselves caught in a chilling twist when the buried uncle rises with a vengeance. The Old Witch hosts this tale of greed, grave dirt, and a spell gone awry, where two boys' desperate wish for clear skin leads to a far more horrifying fate than they ever imagined.

In "Forbidden Fruit," a lone Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of two survivors from a crashed plane who wash up on a desolate island, where a single tree bears fruit behind a stockade. The previous occupant warns them the fruit will rot their skin, but they dismiss his madness—until they return at night and see the truth behind his plea.

In "The Age-Old Story!" from The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear #2, a young woman’s greed leads her to abandon her older husband—only to find herself on the receiving end of a chilling twist when he toasts her with a drink that ages her before her eyes. Hosted by the ever-watchful Old Witch, this six-page tale delivers a sharp, unsettling turn on the classic revenge fantasy, where beauty and youth are fleeting, and the price of cruelty is paid in time.

In "The Gorilla's Paw!", a curious bargain at a mysterious curio shop sets off a chilling chain of events for Floyd, whose midnight wish for a little extra cash quickly spirals into something far more dangerous. As the mummified gorilla’s paw begins to demand payment in blood, Floyd finds himself trapped in a nightmare where every wish comes with a terrible price — and his friends are the first to pay.

In "Grave Business!", The Old Witch spins a chilling tale of a greedy undertaker whose greed catches up with him in the most literal way—when a fatal accident leaves him buried alive, his own tricks of the trade turn against him. As his partner exploits his final resting place to swindle the estate, the dead man’s fate becomes a grim lesson in what happens when you bury the living.

In "My Uncle Ekar!", a young boy’s chilling claim during a police interview takes a dark turn when the officers follow his directions—only to discover the truth in a horrifying, unforgettable final panel. The Old Witch hosts a tale where innocence and monstrosity blur, leaving readers unsettled long after the last page.

In "Bum Steer!", the Crypt-Keeper spins a tale of jealousy and vengeance, where a disgraced matador, Manuel Rodero, turns his fury on a rival by training a half-blind bull to attack the young man who’s won his beloved Maria Carlo’s favor. With a whip and a perfumed handkerchief as his weapon, Manuel sets a deadly trap—only to find his own schemes twisted by the very creatures he manipulated.

In "The Acid Test!", the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of betrayal and twisted love, where a woman’s hatred for her husband reaches a horrifying peak. After blinding him with acid, she’s acquitted when he claims to still love her—only to discover too late that his confession was a ruse, and his mercy was a trap.

In "Extermination," the Old Witch introduces a chilling tale of dread and irony, where a man’s routine encounter with a cockroach spirals into a nightmarish dream that blurs the line between reality and terror. As he confronts the bug he’s sworn to destroy, the story plays with the unsettling idea that every creature we silence may be watching—and waiting.

In "Ear Today... Gone Tomorrow!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of greed and consequence, where two business partners, Irwin Durd and Elliot Unger, dig beneath a cemetery to harvest bone meal for their fertilizer factory. After fulfilling a massive order, their ill-gotten success leads them on a fateful road trip—only to find themselves trapped in a cornfield fertilized by their own product, where the husks come alive in a gruesome, silent retribution.

In "Poetic Justice!", the Old Witch presides over a chilling tale of cruelty and retribution, where a kind-hearted garbageman is driven to despair by a wealthy man and his son who scheme to steal his home. As the town turns its back on him, even on Valentine’s Day, the old man finds only cruel messages in his mailbox—until the next Valentine’s Day brings a horrifying, poetic reckoning.

In a tale of twisted loyalty and macabre irony, a wealthy steamship owner’s life unravels when his brother and wife conspire to end it—only to find that a seemingly innocent tattoo holds a chilling secret. As the Vault-Keeper warns, some crimes leave marks that even death can’t erase.

In "What's Cookin'?", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of betrayal and culinary revenge, where two restaurant owners lure a third partner into their fold with promises of success—only to plot his demise when his vision threatens their profits. As their diner transforms into the "Chicken Coop," greed takes a dark turn, and the victim’s return is anything but sweet.