The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #16

In "The Beast of the Full Moon!", Tom Kellogg arrives at his brother Andrew’s isolated home with his girlfriend June, drawn by eerie footprints and mounting dread. As night falls, Tom sets a trap for the werewolf he believes is among them, only to find himself caught in a nightmare when the creature’s clawed hand reaches for him—just as a silver bullet from above ends the threat. Climbing from the pit, Tom confronts the shocking truth: his brother Andrew stands before him, and as he turns back, the body of June lies in the trap below.

In "A Tasty Morsel!", a weary traveler stops at the End of the Road Inn, only to wake up bound to a slab—just as a chillingly precise dream begins to blur into reality. The innkeeper, far from a vampire, corrects the guest with grim amusement, revealing himself as a ghoul with a very different appetite, cleaver in hand.

In "Conniver!", a frustrated comic book editor schemes to eliminate his boss by manipulating a fellow artist and his fiancée, planting seeds of jealousy and betrayal. As his plan unfolds, the web of deceit spins in unexpected directions, testing the limits of manipulation and trust.

In "Lend Me a Hand!", a once-prominent physician, Dr. Johnson, faces a devastating turn when a car accident costs him his hand—ending his career and shattering his sense of self. Desperate to reclaim his life, he turns to a radical medical article about preserving limbs, leading him down a path of grim experimentation with terrifying consequences.

In "Cheese, That's Horrible!", a greedy cheese factory owner’s betrayal takes a grotesque turn when he kills his partner, Hendrick Villhem, by shoving him into a vat of cheese. Haunted by nightmares of glowing cat’s eyes and a mouse trap baited with cheese that holds his victim’s dangling hands, he begins to unravel—until the trap springs shut in the dark.

In "Mr. Biddy...Killer!", a man pushed to his limit by a suffocating marriage stumbles upon a mysterious offer from a man named Mr. Biddy—someone willing to end his troubles with a single, decisive act. What begins as a darkly pragmatic solution quickly unravels into something far more unsettling, as the line between perpetrator and victim blurs in unexpected ways.

In "The Jellyfish!", Charles and Howard Norton clash over a dire shortage at their pharmaceutical company, where one million insulin inserts are needed but only half can be produced. Charles suggests diluting the product to meet demand, calling Howard a spineless jellyfish when he objects—only to see his decision lead to tragedy. Years later, Howard is released from prison and returns to confront his brother, his revenge unfolding in a way as chilling as it is unexpected.

In "The Basket!", a man with two heads endures a life of secrecy, using a basket on his shoulder to hide his condition from the world. As the darker of the two heads begins to take over, the remaining one faces an unbearable choice—either surrender to madness or end it all.

In "The Reluctant Vampire!", a night watchman at a blood donor center struggles to maintain his cover while secretly feeding on the very blood he's supposed to protect. When a missing record book forces him to resort to murder to keep his secret, he faces a grim choice: either abandon his routine or escalate his crimes to meet new demands. As the pressure mounts, his carefully constructed lie begins to unravel in ways he never expected.

In "The Irony of Death!", a man's swift rise to power through marriage to his steel mill boss's daughter takes a chilling turn when two of the mill's ingots are forged into an iron maiden for a museum. When he tests the exhibit for size, the device slams shut—trapping him inside.

In "Phonies," a desperate Frank Shantly sees a newspaper story about a wealthy gambler headed to Washington D.C. to testify, and hatches a plan to exploit the situation. But when a man claiming to be Adellis arrives at his doorstep, offering a high-stakes bet on whether Shantly can crack his safe, the con begins to unravel in ways he never expected.

In the claustrophobic dark of a moving boxcar, Marty crosses paths with an old hobo who warns him of the haunted Smoky Mountains. After a forced jump that claims the hobo’s life, Marty seeks shelter at a remote farmhouse—only to find himself trapped in a nightmare where the past refuses to stay buried. As a relentless, screaming fly shadows his every move, he realizes too late that some places don’t just haunt the mind… they trap the soul.

Floyd steps into a curio shop on a hunch, drawn in by a mummified gorilla’s paw he can’t quite look away from. After buying it for twenty-five dollars, he tosses it on his nightstand—only to wake up the next morning to find the paw covered in cash, exactly the amount he paid. When the paw vanishes and reappears smeared with blood, along with the body of a friend, Floyd realizes too late that the object he bought is far more than a curiosity—it answers his deepest desires with a terrible price.

In "Gone...Fishing!", a tense summer day by the shore turns sinister when a passionate fisherman reels in something far beyond the ordinary. As his companion watches in horror, a single candy bar left behind becomes the first thread in a terrifying trap, and the sea begins to claim more than just a catch.

In "Bum Steer!", a disgraced matador, consumed by jealousy, turns to dark tricks after losing his lover to a rising rival. He trains a blind bull to charge the scent of her perfumed handkerchief, using cruelty to bend the beast to his vengeance. But when the young matador falls to the bull’s horn, the night brings a reckoning neither man could foresee.

In "Cut!", a vanity-driven movie stand-in named Russell Slade sees his chance to steal a leading man’s spotlight when he discovers his make-up artist can transform him to look exactly like the star, John Hammond. But when his scheme to eliminate the actor goes awry, the consequences spiral in ways he never expected.

Ernie’s life has been smooth sailing since he became manager of the Hudson Soap Company—especially since his former boss, Benny Anderson, vanished without a trace. Now, after turning Benny’s body into soap, Ernie thought he’d escaped justice… until the night he uses one of his own creations in the shower, and the past comes crashing back in the most horrifying way.

In the heart of a remote tropical isle, 'Red' Buckley stands over the corpse of his former plantation boss, the weight of the past pressing down as he and a silent native, Kulu, set off on a three-day journey down a winding river. As they near Banggai, Buckley’s uneasy confidence falters—Kulu isn’t heading for the port, but toward a hidden village. When he turns to confront the native, the truth comes too late: Kulu’s reward is not gold, but a chilling triumph, carrying the head of a man with red hair into the jungle’s embrace.

In "Ear Today...Gone Tomorrow!", two business partners with a morbid side venture—mining bones from a nearby cemetery to fuel their fertilizer business—find their scheme unexpectedly successful. After fulfilling a large order, they head upstate for a break, only to find their car stranded in a cornfield that just so happens to have been treated with their latest batch. As they push through the stalks, the corn begins to move, turning the quiet farm path into a deadly trap.

In "Missed by Two Heirs!", two stepsons conspire to inherit their late mother’s fortune by eliminating their stepfather, Henry, first with a rigged staircase and then a poisoned orange juice. When Henry outsmarts them and flees with evidence, the boys drink the poison themselves to cover their tracks—only to find the police waiting at the door with a twist neither expected.

In "The Death Wagon!", sink and Kitch, two unscrupulous used car dealers, find themselves haunted by the grim consequences of their shady trade when the corpses of their victims begin to stir. As they frantically repair every car on their lot to avoid a police inspection, the dead rise in gruesome fashion—unseen by the men until it's too late. The next morning, the inspector returns with a warrant, only to discover a horrifying transformation on the lot.

In "The Patriots!", a tense military parade honoring wounded Korean War veterans turns violent when a mob, fueled by anti-communist fervor, attacks a blind veteran for failing to salute the flag. The story unfolds with chilling immediacy, exposing the fragility of patriotism when fear takes hold.

In "What's Cookin'?", two longtime restaurant owners welcome a new partner eager to revitalize their roadside diner, renaming it the Chicken Coop and expanding their menu with broiling and deep frying. As their success grows, greed takes hold, and they plot to eliminate the man who threatened their profits—only to find their revenge served up in the most horrifying way imaginable.

In "Two for One!", Carleton Ashley faces ruin unless he can raise $20,000 in a single day. Desperate, he’s approached by Mr. Simms, who promises to double any investment instantly. With little time to spare, Ashley hands over $10,000 for what he believes is a surefire fortune—but soon realizes he’s been duped, caught in a scheme that turns his last hope into a costly mistake.

In "Four for One!", Donald Irwin spins a high-stakes financial ruse, convincing a bank president to help him project wealth by opening a checking account and depositing $10,000—only to set up a cascade of chaos when five separate individuals, each holding a check from Irwin, arrive at different tellers at once, demanding cash.

In "Kickin' the Gong A Round!", a once-promising boxer named Marko, fresh from the slums and rising through the ranks, finds his life upended when two strangers abduct him and deliver him to the training camp of his upcoming opponent, Jake Houseman. Houseman offers Marko a fortune to throw the fight, but Marko refuses—only to be beaten senseless when his son is kidnapped, leading to a brutal, fatal loss in the seventh round. Six months later, Marko’s corpse returns, dragging Houseman into the ring and unleashing a vengeance as bone-chilling as it is inevitable.

In "Stumped!", a lone trapper’s simmering rage drives him to sabotage a rival’s trap, hoping to claim the man’s territory through violence. When the rival stumbles into the snare, the trapper’s thirst for vengeance pushes him to an unthinkable act—chewing through his own ankle to ensure his enemy’s death.

In the frozen silence of the Russian steppes, a sleigh hurtles through the snow as wolves close in. With only two bullets left, the officer fires to buy time, but the driver knows they won’t reach the distant town. As panic sets in, a desperate choice is made: one of the travelers—officer, a woman with her newborn, the old man, or the driver—must be thrown to the pack to save the rest. The story ends on the moment of sacrifice, leaving the reader to wonder who is lost to the wolves.

In "Murder the Lover!", a betrayed husband named Ken Martin plots revenge after catching his wife with his best friend, Walt. Luring Walt into a hunting trip with a false promise of camaraderie, Ken hopes to eliminate him under the guise of an accident—only to face a far more brutal twist of fate when the wild moose becomes the unexpected arbiter of justice.

In "Murder the Husband!", a man consumed by obsession devises a plan to eliminate his best friend, knowing the man’s wife is the object of his desire. When Kenneth invites him on a moose hunting trip, Walter sees his chance—only to find himself trapped when his gunshot sets off a chain of disasters he never anticipated.

In "Graft in Concrete!", a corrupt contractor's ruthless bid for a city road contract spirals into something far more sinister when the city's power players—each hiding their own secrets—agree to his demands. But when the council's car is found abandoned, its surroundings eerily paved over, the troopers uncover a chilling truth buried beneath the surface: the council members themselves have become part of the new road, seamlessly embedded in the concrete.