The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #3

In "A Bloody Undertaking!", the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of deception and dread: mortician Gilbert Podges, newly married to a mysterious young woman, finds his quiet life unraveling when his assistant, Charlie Drayne, begins to vanish into the shadows. As corpses grow unnaturally drained and whispers of a vampire spread through town, the townspeople turn on Charlie—only to learn too late that the true horror wears a different face.

In a chilling tale from The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #3, Pierre, haunted by the thought of a grim fate, vows to Maria that he’ll never be left to rot in the ground. After her sudden death, he keeps her body preserved in the ice house, determined to afford a metal vault to honor her. But when he finally opens the ice house to claim her, he’s met with a horrifying sight—her body stripped bare by a lynx, its presence a grim echo of the very fate he sought to avoid.

In "The Death Wagon!", two crooked used car dealers, Herman Kitch and Amos Sink, find their shady business coming back to haunt them in the most gruesome way—literally. When a Police Inspector threatens to seize their lot after a string of fatal accidents, the pair spend the night repairing their inventory, not realizing the corpses of their victims are slowly reclaiming what’s theirs. The Crypt-Keeper sets the scene with his usual chilling flair, as the line between buyer and beast blurs in a tale of twisted retribution.

In "Seance!", the Vault-Keeper welcomes readers to a chilling tale where grief and deception collide. After John Chalmers is swindled by two confidence men, his wife, Mrs. Chalmers, arranges a seance with Madame Gilda to consult her late husband’s spirit—only to find that the dead may have a far more personal reckoning in store.

In "Kickin' the Gong A Round!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of vengeance from beyond the grave: once a rising boxing star, Patty Marko meets a brutal end after a tragic kidnapping and a fatal fight. Six months later, his decaying corpse returns to the ring, driven by a single, relentless purpose—reclaiming justice from the man who destroyed his life.

In "Practical Yolk!", the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of deception and dread, as Fredrick Hamilton returns from a Congo hunting trip with his servant B'uuna, only to find his fiancée Louise’s gift—a seemingly innocent Easter egg—hiding a horrifying secret. As tension mounts between the two men and Louise vanishes into the egg’s twisted interior, Fredrick is left grappling with a nightmare that blurs the line between love, loyalty, and the monstrous.

In "Collection Completed!", the quiet dread of domestic unease spirals as Anna Tillman watches her husband Jonah’s obsession with taxidermy grow from a strange hobby into something far more unsettling. When Jonah claims his collection is nearly complete, Anna’s fear turns to horror upon realizing what he’s done — and what she’s now meant to become.

Willow Dree, the elusive actress whose image always eluded the camera, ventures into the snowy isolation of a remote cabin with fellow star Bradbury Phillips—only to find the storm traps them together. As the blizzard cuts off all contact, the silence grows thick with secrets, and the photographs that were never meant to be taken begin to tell a darker story.

In "Graft in Concrete!", the Crypt-Keeper sets the stage for a chilling tale of corruption and retribution, where ambition turns deadly. When Godfrey Hornsby pressures Mayor John Applegate and the City Council—Williams and Barlow—into approving a road through a cemetery, their greed sets off a horrifying chain of events. The next morning, state troopers find the council’s car abandoned, its surroundings eerily paved… and the bodies of the corrupt officials embedded in the new asphalt, perfectly preserved in their final, twisted form.

In "Half-Way Horrible!", The Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of duality and dread, as Zachary Boxer arrives at a trembling tenant’s apartment, drawn by a plea for help. The man, haunted by a fractured mind and a dark alter ego he believes he’s exorcised with a voodoo doll, reveals a truth too grotesque to ignore—his own body is betraying him, and the evil half he thought he’d destroyed is still very much alive.

In "Hook, Line, and Stinker!", The Old Witch sets the stage for a chilling tale of betrayal and obsession, as Bernice—Stanley’s fiancée—discovers his secret romance with Emma during one of his routine fishing trips. Fueled by years of resentment over his fishing trophies and his infidelity, Bernice resolves to make Stanley the final, permanent addition to her collection.

Cedric Harrington pours his heart into a life-sized silver-plated statue of Christine, hoping the gesture will win her hand in marriage. But when he overhears her and her lover Gary plotting to kill him for his money, his dream begins to tarnish. When Gary finally comes to the studio seeking Christine, he finds her in a form far more permanent—and far more unsettling—than he ever imagined.

In "People Who Live in Brass Hearses...", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of deception and duality, centered on Lionel Byrd, a man whose eerie presence unsettles the townsfolk. When children stare in fear at the curtain hiding the back of his brass hearse, the truth behind his unsettling routine begins to unfold—revealing a past where death and identity blur in the most shocking way.

In "Strictly from Hunger!", the posse stands at the mouth of a dark cave, haunted by a creature that has already claimed ten lives—stripping flesh from bone. Doc recalls seeing the beast before, but its current form is a nightmare made real. Meanwhile, Pete Feeley, cursed with a terminal illness, seeks the Old Hag’s dark magic to cheat death, only to be bound by a terrible vow: he will live forever, but never ask to be freed. Now, as his body begins to rot, the line between man and monster blurs—and the cave’s hunger may be just beginning.

In "A Grim Fairy Tale!" from The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #3, the Old Witch spins a dark tale of a kingdom undone by pride and misplaced loyalty. When a royal couple—Siegfried, the pompous King, and Gwendolyn, the pompous Queen—refuse to acknowledge the rat infestation, their obsession with their beloved white mice leads to a grotesque reversal of fortune. As the townspeople, driven to desperation, turn on the nobility, the line between predator and prey dissolves in a chilling act of vengeance. The pompous Lord High Advisor watches helplessly as the castle’s moat becomes a trap of its own making.

In "Till Death...", the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of love and loss, where a grieving man, Steve, is reunited with his wife Donna—not through life, but through a dark ritual performed by his loyal servant, Jebco. When Donna returns as a decaying zombie, Steve’s joy turns to horror, leading him to take his own life—only for Jebco to restore him as a corpse, bound to her forever.

In "The Chips Are Down!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of greed and retribution at a remote sawmill, where Sigmund Darby, Averill Henning, and Dilbert Field are thrust into a deadly game after securing a secret government contract to produce 60,000 wooden discs a month. As their partnership turns sour, Henning and Darby conspire to cheat Field out of his share through rigged poker games—only to face a horrifying reckoning when Field’s corpse rises from the grave, seeking vengeance with a blade that slices far beyond the physical.

In a forgotten castle where time hangs heavy, an aging bell ringer finally gets his chance to toll the great bell on the Queen’s birthday—only to be betrayed by the apprentice who’s watched him for decades. When the boy strikes, the King walks in, and the bell’s toll becomes a grim reckoning. A chilling tale of loyalty, obsession, and the price of silence.

In "We Ain't Got No Body!", the decaying specter of Henry Bodwin returns to haunt his brother Norton, dredging up the gruesome past when the three men—Norton, Charlie, and Sidney—conspired to kill Henry for his inheritance. With only a torso left after the train accident, Henry’s ghostly presence grows more insistent, unraveling the uneasy peace the survivors thought they’d found. The Old Witch presides over this chilling tale of greed, guilt, and the terrifying cost of a life cut short.

In "The Mausoleum!", the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of greed and deception: after Howard Martin’s failed attempt to buy Mr. Weatherby’s castle, the nephew Nathan Weatherby kills his uncle, hides the body in the family mausoleum, and frames the death as an accident. With the property now Martin’s, the castle becomes a curiosity — but eerie events soon begin to unfold, hinting that the past refuses to stay buried.

In "Let's Play Poison!", The Crypt-Keeper presents a chilling tale of guilt and retribution, where a teacher haunted by a past tragedy returns to his classroom only to find himself trapped in a nightmare of his own making. Once a man who believed children were less than human, Mr. Howard now faces a terrifying reckoning when the children’s game of poison begins to mirror the very act that broke him—until the line between punishment and possession blurs.

In a grimly whimsical tale from The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #3, the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling Christmas story set in a decaying castle where a spoiled prince named Tarby forces a village boy into the role of whipping boy. As the holiday approaches, the boy dreams of a gift from Santa—only to be told by Tarby that "bad boys" get nothing. When he’s briefly returned home, his father pleads with the King to let the boy receive a gift, and the next morning, both the boy and his father find their stockings filled with a horrifying surprise.

In "Pickled Pints!", the Old Witch sets the stage for a chilling tale of greed and gruesome consequences, as Cal and Warren exploit the desperation of Bowery derelicts—Jack and others—for quick cash by selling their blood through a blood bank employee named Herb. When their scheme hits a snag after one of the men dies, they escalate their operations, only to find themselves outmatched when a seemingly ordinary donor awakens with fiery red eyes and turns the tables.