The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #19

In "Forbidden Fruit," the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of two survivors from a crashed plane who find themselves stranded on a remote island, where a single tree bears fruit behind a stockade. The lone inhabitant warns them the fruit causes their skin to rot, but when they ignore his plea and return at night, they’re forced to confront the unsettling truth behind his warning—before they fully understand the cost.

In "Madame Bluebeard," a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #19, the Vault-Keeper recounts a haunting story of a mother who raises her daughter to despise men, one murder at a time—each husband a carefully staged accident, each body a tribute to a lost mother. When the seventh man survives the crash she orchestrates, she must finish the job herself, only to find that the graves she built for her victims have a terrible memory of their own.

In "Ants in Her Trance!", the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of love, betrayal, and a deadly hypnotic command gone horribly wrong. A man, driven by obsession, uses a trance to silence his wife—only to later conspire with a new lover to end her life permanently, believing the phrase "wake up" will not revive her. But when guilt takes hold and the dead rise, the past returns with a vengeance, and the final command may be the one that truly ends everything.

In "A Rottin' Trick!", The Vault-Keeper presents a chilling tale of guilt and retribution, where a man’s cruel dismissal of a woman leads him to seek escape through a desperate alliance with a boat pilot haunted by her past. Tricked into a remote island that doubles as a leper colony, he soon realizes some debts can’t be outrun—only paid in full.

In "Impressed by a Nightmare!", the Vault-Keeper presents a chilling tale of dread and déjà vu, where Emma Dworkin begins to live out the terrifying details of her dreams with eerie precision. As each nightmare unfolds in real life—first a cut, then a fall, then a car crash—her husband Fred struggles to dismiss it as coincidence, until the most horrifying vision yet forces her to confront the unthinkable.

In "A Hollywood Ending!", the Vault-Keeper spins a chilling tale of ambition and isolation: a movie producer journeys to a remote Eskimo settlement, where he discovers a striking American girl living among the locals. Drawn to her beauty and mystery, he secretly brings her to the States, eager to make her a star—until her step-father tracks them down, unearthing a truth far darker than he ever imagined.

In "Who's Next?", a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #19, Tony’s world unravels when his wife Anna grows distant and cold, her affection replaced by an unsettling silence. When he catches her in the arms of the local bank president, his shattered trust leads him back to his barber shop, where he waits for Mr. Barker—only to face a razor’s edge and a choice that blurs the line between justice and madness. The Old Witch watches, silent and knowing, as the tension builds toward an inevitable, terrifying reckoning.

In "Midnight Mess!" from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #19, the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of a man who stumbles into a town where daylight brings silence and fear—until he finds himself drawn back to a restaurant that shouldn’t be open, only to discover the true cost of a late-night meal.

In "The Lake," a grown man returns to the beach where he once played with Tally, his childhood friend who drowned years before. Now married to Margaret, he reunites with the old lifeguard, who reveals a haunting truth buried beneath the sand. As the past rises like a tide, the man must face what he’s spent a lifetime avoiding—without knowing if the sand castle he builds will finally set him free.

In "Pleasant Screams!", a high school teacher recounts his chilling ordeal as the dream's central figure in the twisted mind of a sadistic student. Trapped in a nightmare populated by a werewolf, a vampire, a rotting corpse, and little monsters, he begins to fear that waking up might be the real horror—especially as he senses the student stirring from sleep.

The Craving Grave! unfolds through the voice of a lonely tomb that longs for the company of the dead it once mocked for having children. When Cynthia’s casket arrives, the grave’s quiet despair turns to uneasy hope—only for a haunting twist as her no-good nephew and his wife return, seeking forgiveness, and the dead woman’s restless spirit begins to stir.

In "The Thing From the Grave!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of jealousy and revenge, where Bill Ferth’s deadly obsession with Laura Mason drives him to murder his rival, James Barry. After burying Jim in the woods and framing him for abandonment, Bill’s grip on reality unravels—until a desperate act of violence awakens something far older and more terrible than he ever imagined.

In "Food for Thought," a desperate miner flees the collapsing mine after a violent act, hiding his stolen fortune in his lunchbox. Trapped underground with no food and no way out, he faces a grim choice as starvation sets in—how far will he go to survive?

In "The Hazing," a college student desperate to join a fraternity spins a dangerous lie about a professor he dislikes, claiming the man is a communist—setting off a chain of consequences he never expected. The story unfolds with sharp, unsettling precision, exploring the weight of deception and the fragile line between loyalty and betrayal.

In "The Operation," a cunning diamond thief and surgeon orchestrates a deadly game of greed, using his two goons as unwitting pawns. When a massive diamond lands in his hands, he promises to hide it in only one of them—knowing the other will try to kill to claim it—while secretly preparing a far more dangerous plan of his own.

In "Dead Center," a man's growing suspicion of his wife's infidelity spirals into obsession when her friend starts taking her to weekly wrestling matches. He buys front-row tickets and watches the show on TV, certain he’ll catch them together—only to find the seats empty, confirming his worst fears. When the truth unravels, it’s too late to undo what he’s done.

In "An Harrow Escape!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of survival and terror aboard a haunted ship. Captain Grady and Lt. Morton investigate the derelict Sea Witch, where they find only Kip Fowler alive—his final, frantic account of a storm-wracked castle, a night of coffins and vampires, and a deadly betrayal that may not be over.

In "Success Story," the Crypt-Keeper spins a chilling tale of domestic tension turned deadly, where relentless pressure from a woman and her parents pushes a meek man to a horrifying breaking point. As the dinner table becomes a stage for severed heads and a chilling laugh, the story explores how far desperation can drive someone to prove they’ve “made it.”