Greetings,
boils and ghouls! This is your old
pal, the
Crypt Keeper, bringing you a
terrifying node on
EC Comics. EC (short for "
Entertaining Comics") was a
publisher of
lurid and
violent comic books in the
1940s and
1950s. They're still best known for their groundbreaking
horror comics, like "
Tales from the Crypt", "
The Haunt of Fear", and "
The Vault of Horror", though they also produced
science fiction,
fantasy,
war, and (eww!)
romance comics.
The
company was driven
out of business by an
anti-comics frenzy, spurred on by
Dr. Fredric Wertham, a
psychiatrist who claimed that
horror and
crime comics caused
juvenile delinquency. You can still find them available in
reprints--ask at your local comic shop.
EC Comics were not just
gory and
gruesome--they are considered some of the
best-produced comics ever, with rock-solid
artwork and
stories that always delivered a
fatal shock. They've been cited as an important
influence by modern horror authors like
Stephen King, and many of the stories have been brought to a larger
audience, thanks to
HBO's "
Tales from the Crypt"
anthology series.
Well, that's all the time we have today,
fear fans. Until next time, pleasant
screams, kiddies!