The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #23

In "Smokin' Six-Guns!", two brothers with a flair for old-west mythos set out to carve their name into legend with a string of train robberies—until a sudden clash with resistance turns their outlaw dreams into something far darker.

In "The Saga of Spotlight John," a young man driven by a hunger for fame rides into the frontier, eager to carve a name for himself among legends of the wild west. Drawn to the ruthless gang of Scar Meldrum, he learns the ways of outlaw life—only to discover that the spotlight he craved might cost him everything.

In "Curse of the Pharaoh," a million-dollar emerald scarab—once the treasure of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh—takes center stage at the Metropolis Museum, drawing the attention of a notorious jewel thief. As the museum’s detective watches from the shadows, the stolen artifact seems to whisper secrets, leading the thief straight into a trap he never saw coming.

In a world of shadowy crime and silent heists, a mysterious safe cracker known only as Gentleman Danny Kenyon leaves behind a single, perfect round mark on every vault he opens—leaving police baffled and the underworld on edge. When Kenyon’s growing affection for a woman named Doris draws the attention of a rival named Rick Thayer, the fragile balance of fear and respect among criminals begins to unravel.

In "The Rise and Fall of Blackie Archer," a cunning and calculating criminal with a flair for the dramatic climbs the ranks of the underworld through sharp wit and meticulous planning. But when a single misstep exposes a flaw in his otherwise flawless scheme, a desperate man with a hidden grievance turns the tables—setting a trap that could end it all.

In "Doctor of Horror," Professor Alfred LeMonet, a once-respected anatomy instructor at the Hampshire Surgeon School, finds his career hanging by a thread—until he begins using freshly dug-up cadavers to boost class attendance. As his enrollment soars, his ambition grows, and he plots to eliminate rivals, eyeing not just the Dean's position but even the governorship. But when his own body turns up among the victims he orchestrated, the line between predator and prey blurs in a chilling twist of fate.

In "The Hungry Grave," a woman’s slow, desperate attempts to poison her husband backfire when he grows immune to the arsenic—only to turn the tables on her. After overhearing her plan to abandon him in a grave for her lover, he instead poisons her, seals her in a sack, and leaves her for burial—still alive. The lover, unaware of the truth, digs her up, and the husband kills him with an ax.

Nan Parker’s husband, Ernest, has a chilling plan: fake his own death from the plague to cover up his murder of her. But when his lover, Faye Booth, falls ill and can’t dig him up from the coffin, the alibi begins to unravel in ways he never anticipated.

In "A Snapshot of Death!", a tense encounter unfolds at a dimly lit pool hall when Jean Darrow walks in and hires Louie to kill a woman—only to reveal the photo she’s shown is of herself. As the implications sink in, the line between hunter and hunted blurs, and the quiet tension of the room crackles with unseen danger.

In "Rx...Death," a young woman's growing concern for her brother's health leads her to seek help from a doctor, who prescribes a remedy. When the medicine is dispensed by an old-fashioned druggist, a shocking discovery unfolds: the bottle contains a substance that reveals a horrifying truth about her brother's condition. The story unfolds with quiet dread, turning a routine visit into a chilling mystery.

In "Monster Maker!", a twisted experiment at London Hospital takes a deadly turn when Dr. John Ravenscar’s plan to merge an ape’s brain with a human body goes awry—only for his assistant, Whitsly, to seize control of the chaos. With the doctor’s own life hanging in the balance, the line between creator and creation blurs as vengeance unfolds in the shadow of a sea cliff.

In "Death Suited Him," a bitter rivalry from college spirals into murder when a young man kills his rival for love, only to find his victory tainted by obsession. The Old Witch recounts how the killer’s greed for a stolen tuxedo leads to a fatal twist on his wedding day, as the very suit he coveted becomes his undoing.

In the quiet dread of a small town, young Stanley finds himself under the care of his uncle Ezra, the local undertaker, after his mother’s passing. When Stanley uncovers a dark secret about his uncle’s practices, the line between life and death blurs in the most unsettling way. As the coffin becomes a stage for a gruesome transformation, the house begins to echo with knocks that grow more insistent—each one a chilling reminder of a punishment that fits far too perfectly.

In a quiet town haunted by whispers, Roger Compton reunites with his old friend Peter Goglo—only to discover the man is said to harbor a monstrous secret. Beneath Peter’s skin grows a flesh-eating ghoul, a twisted twin that threatens to consume him from within. As the truth begins to surface, the line between friend and fiend blurs in this chilling tale of isolation and horror.

In "Blood Red Wine!", the Old Witch hosts a chilling tale of revenge and vintner's vengeance, where Pietro Ballo, a disgraced vintner, plots to settle a score with Ramon, the wine connoisseur whose damning review destroyed his livelihood. As the evening unfolds, the air thickens with secrets and the scent of aged wine, hinting at a fatal finale only the bottle can deliver.

In "Blood Type 'V'!", a man races to save his unconscious wife after a crash, only to find her bleeding out with no clear cause. When a mysterious stranger offers a rare blood type that saves her, the relief is short-lived—soon, a string of brutal deaths follows, and a reporter begins to suspect the donor is no ordinary man. The Crypt-Keeper presents this chilling tale of deception and the unseen dangers lurking in the shadows.

Barton Gordon trudges through a merciless snowstorm, drawn by a mysterious want ad for a superintendent. He finds himself in a freezing, forgotten apartment building where the new owner, Marcus Kingsley, lives in chilling isolation—his air-conditioned apartment a grotesque contrast to the freezing halls. When the AC breaks down and a sickly, oozing substance begins seeping from under Kingsley’s door, Gordon realizes something far more unsettling is stirring in the cold.

In "A Biting Finish!", a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #23, a man’s past sins catch up to him in the most gruesome way—after burying his rival in a grave from 1867, he finds himself trapped in an underground tunnel beneath the old graveyard, where a coffin’s occupant has a final, deadly claim. As the weight of his crimes closes in, the name on the coffin reveals a truth he can’t escape.

In "Heads-Up!", the Old Witch introduces a chilling tale of betrayal and twisted ambition, set in the shadowy world of a traveling freak show. When Dora Butler grows weary of her husband Fred’s cruelty and finds love with fellow performer Hal, their secret plan to escape sets off a deadly game of deception — one that turns the circus into a stage for vengeance.

In "Last Respects!", a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #23, Anthony Colton, the grieving chauffeur of Anna Cooper’s uncle, finds himself trapped in her mausoleum after a desperate act of devotion. With Anna and her uncle both dead, Anthony’s final gesture becomes a grim test of endurance, as he survives on rainwater and the decaying remains of his beloved, slowly succumbing to the very poison meant to preserve her.

In a town where everyone is overweight, Dr. Perdo arrives with a miraculous weight-loss capsule that works too well—so well that four of his patients die suddenly, starved despite their shrinking forms. Six months later, disguised and fleeing suspicion, he seeks refuge in the cemetery and stumbles into the mausoleum of one of his victims, only to confront something far worse than he imagined: a monstrous tapeworm.

In "A Strange Undertaking..." from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #23, the town’s undertaker Ezra Deepley, haunted by past wrongs, finds himself in a chilling game of retribution when the wealthy citizens he resents—John Bridgeman, Fredrick Dunhill, Horace Streetwall, and Dr. Claude Fowler—die during a sudden epidemic. As their bodies rise from the grave, the line between the living and the dead blurs, and the cemetery becomes a stage for a haunting reversal of power.

In a shadowy theater where magic blurs with menace, Ventar the Great dazzles crowds with feats that seem to defy death itself—until his trusted assistant Molto betrays him. When the secrets of a water-dissolving metal are revealed, the line between illusion and horror begins to dissolve, setting the stage for a return from beyond the grave.

In "The Living Death!", a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #23, the line between life and death blurs when a surgeon’s desperate act of saving a patient’s life sets off a chain of macabre consequences. When Dr. Arnold Manning dies in a car accident, he remains preserved—unfading, un-decaying—thanks to a post-hypnotic suggestion tied to a single word: Laurie. But as the past resurfaces, the weight of his choices and the presence of the woman who once held his heart threaten to unravel the fragile illusion of life he’s been living.

Lillian Ansley and Roger Kane once shared a promise beneath the moonlight—a vow to reunite by the lake every five years if fate ever allowed it. Now, years after Roger’s death in a train wreck, Lillian returns to that same shore, drawn by memory and longing, only to find something far more unsettling than she ever imagined. The story unfolds with quiet dread, where love and loss blur into something ancient and inescapable, and even the old witch’s shadow seems to whisper secrets from beyond the trees.