The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #13

In "Jury Duty!", a man wronged by the justice system returns from the dead with a singular purpose: to hunt down the jurors who sentenced him, one by one. Convinced that the law can’t touch him now that he’s been declared dead, he moves through the shadows with cold precision—until something unexpected begins to unravel his plan.

In "The Works...In Wax!", a wax museum’s chilling chamber of horrors becomes a stage for a haunting clash between devotion and madness. When Marie claims the figures whisper of their torment, her quiet changes to the displays provoke fury in her husband Henri—until her final act of mercy turns deadly. As the museum’s silent statues rise in vengeance, the line between art and nightmare blurs in a tale of obsession and retribution.

In the chilling halls of Croydon Insane Asylum, where whispers and screams echo through the stone corridors, a visiting relative confronts the asylum’s unsettling director, Blackpool, about the treatment of his patient. Blackpool, unshaken, claims the patients are possessed and justifies his brutal methods as necessary. As the days pass, the patients endure torment in silence—until their quiet defiance begins to stir. When Blackpool finally faces the consequences of his cruelty, it’s not with fear, but with grim satisfaction, as the asylum’s most broken souls turn the tables in a moment of terrifying retribution.

In "Hounded to Death!", a man’s cruel obsession with the foxhunt takes a deadly turn when he catches another man with his wife. When the wife urges him to fake a heart attack to dispose of the intruder, the husband sees through the ruse—and instead of following her plan, he casts the man into the dog kennel, where his hounds tear him apart. But the dead man’s vengeance is far from finished, and his return sets a chilling, relentless pursuit in motion.

In "Horror under the Big-Top!", a young woman's secret romance with a daring circus performer spirals into deadly deception when her husband conspires with the trapeze artist to stage a fatal accident. As the big top lights flicker and the crowd watches on, the line between performance and punishment blurs—until a hidden betrayal from the past turns the act into a grim reckoning.

In "Political Pull!", a cunning political rival sabotages his opponent by poisoning the sitting mayor and staging a suicide note confessing to corruption—only for the wind to hide it beneath a bookcase. When the mayor is found dead and the truth of the poisoning surfaces, the rival wins the election, only to face a chilling reckoning when the note resurfaces. As he rows out to sea, a sudden storm traps him, and a corpse’s hand drags him beneath the waves.

In "Warts So Horrible?", two mischievous nephews dig up their miser uncle’s grave at midnight, hoping to steal a diamond ring he’d buried with him—only to find the corpse still very much alive and eager to return to the earth. With the boys trapped in the grave, two young witnesses who’d been trying a witchcraft spell to remove their warts watch in horror as the ground closes over them.

In "Partnership Dissolved!", Doc Merrick and his partner Winkler bet everything on a secret chemical solution derived from papaya and a mysterious catalyst, promising to turn cheap meat into prime cuts. As their plan begins to unfold, a sudden betrayal turns deadly when Winkler kills Merrick—only to find himself consumed by the very solution he thought would make him rich.

In the bloody chaos of the French Revolution, a nobleman’s betrayal of his peers lands him in the crosshairs of justice—only to face a far stranger terror. After a servant demonstrates how a headless chicken can still move, the nobleman dismisses it as a grim joke. But when night falls, the line between mockery and nightmare blurs as the servant guides his former master’s headless body to deliver a chilling reckoning.

In the frozen stillness of the Arctic, Gerald Dawson and Herbert Campbell face a chilling mystery when their Eskimo guide refuses to go further. Drawn by a local legend, they venture to a remote site where an ancient monster lies encased in ice—only to awaken something far more terrifying than they imagined. As fear takes hold and the line between science and superstition blurs, the two men find themselves trapped in a nightmare they can’t escape.

In "Grave Business!", a greedy undertaker who’s always looked for ways to overcharge finds himself on the wrong end of his own schemes when a car accident leaves him paralyzed—and buried alive. With his partner using the very tricks he once employed to defraud families, the man must confront the chilling consequences of his own deceit as he lies trapped beneath the earth, still very much aware of what’s happening above.

In "A Tree Grows in Borneo!", two men venture deep into the Borneo jungle, drawn by the promise of wealth hidden in ancient Kenyah temples built inside colossal trees. What begins as a search for gold quickly turns into a test of greed and superstition when one man’s ambition awakens a long-buried curse.

In "Staired... in Horror!", a widow named Irma begins a new life with a wealthy suitor, Robert Hornsby, after a carefully orchestrated scheme to inherit his fortune—just as she did with her first husband, Herman. As their marriage unfolds at his country estate, unsettling memories of her past crimes resurface, especially when Robert insists on visiting his late wife’s grave. The tension mounts as Irma’s guilt and paranoia spiral, culminating in a chilling confrontation on the very staircase that once bore witness to her first murder.

In "The Rug!", Conrad and his friend Reggie venture into the deep woods for a hunting trip, seeking a grizzly bear to prove their mettle. While Reggie rails against the idea of turning big game into rugs, Conrad’s hunt takes a chilling turn one night after he bags his prize—only to hear something else stirring in the dark.

In "Friend to 'Our Boys'!", a weary corporal returns home on leave to find his family’s rented house overrun by rats and insects, a squalid state the landlord refuses to fix. With no help from the USO and his family now in a hotel, Barry demands his security deposit back—only to be told he must inspect the property first. What follows is a chilling descent into a house that seems to have a mind of its own, where the walls themselves feel like they’re watching.

In "A Sucker for a Spider!", a desperate banker with a secret hobby of keeping spiders finds himself trapped in a deadly game when his chief teller threatens to expose his embezzlement. After a tense night that turns horrific, he flees to the skies in a small plane, only to crash into a swamp and face a far worse fate than he imagined.

In the quiet dread of a coming winter, Pierre, haunted by the thought of being left to rot like the dead in the cemetery, makes a desperate vow to Maria. As he struggles to provide for her and himself, a chilling discovery awaits him when he returns home to find her dead—her body preserved only in the ice house, where he soon realizes too late that something far worse has taken her flesh.

In the chilling tale "Halloween!", a new matron at an orphanage stumbles upon a grim secret: the orphanage's manager has been embezzling funds meant for the children. When he tries to silence her with violence, the children—silent but not helpless—turn the tables in a way that’s as dark as it is unforgettable.

In "Poetic Justice!", a well-liked elderly garbageman becomes the target of a cruel campaign by a wealthy man and his son, who seek to seize his property. After being driven out through rigged ordinances and the betrayal of the children he once cared for, he finds fleeting hope on St. Valentine’s Day—only to be crushed by a flood of malicious messages. When he is found dead a week later, his fate takes a chilling turn: on the next Valentine’s Day, his corpse rises to deliver a grim, final retribution.

In the humid heart of a colonial plantation, Armand and Bovant brace for the arrival of a visiting inspector known for his charm—and his appetite for conquest. When the man sets his sights on Nanette, Armand warns him, but the real test comes when the inspector is invited to a native chief’s daughter’s wedding, where his next target may be the last woman he’d ever expect to desire.

In "Collection Completed!", a quiet household unravels as Anna’s gentle love for stray animals clashes with her husband Jonah’s increasingly disturbing hobby. When Jonah reveals his collection is nearly complete, Anna’s growing dread turns to horror as she realizes what’s been taken — and what remains. The story lingers in the space between affection and obsession, where the line between caretaker and collector blurs into something far more chilling.

In "For the Love of Death!", a man obsessed with the reverence given to the dead devises a chilling plan to take their place at a funeral, hoping to bask in the same mournful adoration. After disfiguring the town’s wealthiest man to ensure a closed casket, he climbs into the coffin—only to face a grim twist when the deceased’s final wishes demand cremation.

In "Paralyzed!", a marriage built on mutual resentment reaches a chilling breaking point after a car accident leaves Gladys seemingly paralyzed. While Ernest claims he’ll stay to care for her, he insists on weekly nights away—nights he uses to escape the suffocating tension. To ease his conscience, he gives her a gun, warning her of intruders. But when he returns, the house is silent, and Gladys has a shocking secret: she’s never been paralyzed at all.

In 1667 Germany, a gluttonous Duke tyrannizes his starving people—until he demands a tax for the "crime" of a child’s blood staining his carriage. When his friend Emile volunteers to steal jewels to pay the fine, he’s caught and punished with the loss of his hands. Now Johann, driven by grief and rage, devises a cunning plan to turn the Duke’s cruelty against him.