The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #31

In "Frozen Assets!", a chilling tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #31, Helen Wentworth and her lover Mort plot to secure a fortune by eliminating Helen’s husband, Jasper, and concealing him in a freezer—only to find the cold storage comes with a price far beyond their calculations. With Jasper’s aunt Mildred nearing her end, the couple’s scheme begins to unravel in ways they never expected.

In "The Sacrifice," Gloria Fielding orchestrates a chilling game of manipulation, drawing Paul Nichols into a web where love, guilt, and betrayal collide. As the scheme unfolds, the line between victim and villain blurs, leaving one man trapped in a confession he never intended to write.

Alan’s suspicion turns deadly when he believes his wife Della and his friend Andy are having an affair, leading him to orchestrate their deaths—unaware they were only planning a surprise anniversary celebration for him.

In "Double Jeopardy," a Hollywood writer grows increasingly paranoid when his famous sister Nan falls for Eddie, a man he’s convinced is a gold-digger. To expose him, the siblings stage a trap using an actress to impersonate Nan, only to witness Eddie’s chilling act in the dark—his true intentions laid bare in a moment that could cost Nan everything.

In "Deadline," a struggling ex-reporter named Larry Grieg, once a man of the byline, stumbles into a diner seeking redemption and a second chance. When he overhears a violent act in the next room and witnesses the diner owner’s confession, he sees a story—and a chance to reclaim his past—just as he realizes the woman he’d met earlier is still alive and connected to it all.

In the Groove, a tense six-page crime tale from The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #31, sees radio announcer Garry Green orchestrate a deadly plan during a live broadcast, aiming to eliminate his wife Rita Green. As he plays a pre-recorded message meant to frame another, the airwaves begin to unravel his control—especially with Valeria Simms listening, and Nick Saunders quietly monitoring the signal.

In "Only Skin-Deep," a man wakes from a car accident with no memory and a face rebuilt by plastic surgery, only to be greeted by a woman who claims he’s her lover and partner in a murder plot against her husband. As they retreat to a remote cabin, a momentary stumble triggers a flood of forgotten memories—memories that reveal a terrifying truth about who he really is and what he did.

In "Cinder Block," a young woman named Pat and her lover Conrad execute a chilling plan to murder her wealthy husband by drugging him and setting their apartment ablaze, counting on his smoking habit to ignite the fire. After the act, Conrad leaves her to wait for the fire department, confident the staged rescue will cover their tracks. But when the emergency crews are delayed, Pat finds herself trapped in the inferno—forced to make a desperate choice that changes everything.

In "Standing Room Only," Carl Dunn, now living as his sister Cynthia Otis, navigates a web of deception after murdering his sister and her husband to inherit their wealth. As he tries to maintain the charade, a careless misstep while flirting with Peter’s lawyer threatens to unravel everything.

In a cold, quiet corner of Quebec, Bart’s secret affair with Lita spirals into murder when their wealthy lover, Lloyd, returns home early. To hide the body, Bart buries him beneath frozen ice, counting on the spring thaw to carry the truth out to sea. Years later, with Lita now his wife and heir to Lloyd’s fortune, Bart begins to unravel—haunted by visions of Lloyd’s rotting face trapped in ice. Seeking escape, Lita takes him on an ocean cruise, but when the ship collides with an iceberg, they find themselves staring into the frozen depths, where Lloyd’s accusing gaze still stares back.

In "Three for the Money," two young men, each smitten with the wife of a wealthy man, independently plot to kill him to win her affection. Their schemes collide in a moment of brutal coincidence—just as one throws a knife, the other fires a gunshot—only to be arrested for murder, unaware that the wife had already poisoned her husband moments before their arrival.

In "4-Sided Triangle," Abner Hester’s twisted obsession with Annie, his wife’s retarded servant, takes a chilling turn when she claims to have a secret lover—someone she meets in the fields at night. When Abner learns she means the scarecrow, he sees a chance to exploit her innocence, disguising himself as the straw figure to fulfill his desires. But when Hester Yates is awakened by the sounds of their encounter, she rushes out with a pitchfork, determined to prove to Annie that her boyfriend is nothing more than a pile of straw—no matter the cost.

In "The Fixer," a struggling family tries to start anew in a hostile neighborhood, where their presence sparks escalating tension. As strange murders begin to plague the block, suspicion falls on the father, but the truth behind the violence runs deeper than anyone suspects. When the boy’s secret comes to light, it forces a devastating reckoning with the cost of trying to fix what’s broken.

In "The Trap," Matt Hall finds himself ensnared in a chilling scheme orchestrated by his wife, Irene Hall, and the funeral director Larry Grover, who conspire to fake his death and collect his life insurance. As the plan unfolds, Matt discovers the truth too late, leading to a desperate attempt to escape the web they've woven—only to be arrested and trapped in a fate he never saw coming.

In "Half-Way Horrible!", the Vault-Keeper welcomes Zachary Boxer into a chilling tale of duality and dread. A man haunted by a fractured mind recounts how his schizophrenia led him to seek a voodoo witch doctor’s help—only to have the ritual go terribly wrong when the doctor crafted a doll representing his split self, and the man believed he’d destroyed his evil half. Now, he’s called Boxer to preserve what remains: his rotting, malevolent other half, still very much alive.

In "Ship-Shape!", a stranded group of survivors clings to a life raft after a plane crash, only to be drawn to a mysterious derelict ship cloaked in eerie fungus. When one of them dares to cut into the strange growth, a horrifying transformation begins — and the raft itself may not be safe. The Old Witch hosts this chilling tale of isolation, decay, and the unseen dangers lurking in the open sea.

Helen Forbes is already on edge—jealous of her sister Joan and suspicious of her boyfriend Bob—until she sees them together at a jewelry store, choosing a ring. When she waits for them to return, her paranoia turns to action. But the twist comes not in the moment she strikes, but in the strange package that arrives afterward, a wedding ring engraved with Bob’s name.

In "Second Chance?", Helen Forbes faces a tense moment when she confronts Bob and Joan about a rift in their relationship, only for the truth to unravel with the arrival of a delivery man bearing a wedding ring. As emotions flare and apologies are made, the story takes a quiet, poignant turn when Helen discovers a letter from Joan revealing a sudden departure—leaving her with only uncertainty and a lingering question.

In "Cutting Cards!", two bitter gamblers, Gus Forney and Lou Crebis, escalate their rivalry to a grotesque extreme with a game of chop poker—where stakes are limbs, not clothes. With their doctors on hand to tend to the wounds, the gruesome duel reaches a shocking impasse when both men are left severely maimed, unable to continue. The Crypt-Keeper watches from the shadows, as the horror of their self-inflicted punishment lingers in the air.

In a grim, fleeting moment, Pete Miller returns home to find his wife Mary in the arms of another man—only to shoot her dead before fleeing the courtroom and the electric chair. Haunted by his crime and desperate to escape death, he vanishes into the subway tunnels, where the rails themselves become his final, merciless judge.

In "The Hangman's Noose," Peter Millson’s world unravels when he discovers his wife, Mrs. Millson, with her lover—only to kill him in a fit of rage. Fearing the gallows and the noose that awaits him in England’s justice system, he flees into the dark subway tunnels, desperate to escape. As he tries to hide in a passing train, the doors close on his tie, dragging him to a grim, ironic end.

Pierre Millet returns home to find his wife Marie in the arms of another man, and in a fit of rage, he kills them both. Now condemned to die by guillotine, he makes a desperate bid for freedom—escaping through the dark metro tunnels only to leap onto the tracks as a train barrels toward him. The story’s chilling final moments unfold in a single, stark sequence: a fall, a collision, and a brutal end.