The Monster Times

2 The Monster

The World's Volume 1, No.lO

First

This issue, as you may have noticed

(you'd have to be blind not to). is
PAG:1 THE HORROR LIBRARY OF THE 'FIFTIES
dedicated to E.C. Comics. Not only to the Gutsy, grusome, gory, grisly, and Ghastly ...
comics themselves, but to the people who Grab It before it grabs you!
gave them to us. To Bill Gaines. To AI
Feldstein. To Wally Wood and Jack Davis. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE OLD WITCH,
To AI Williamson, Roy Krenke} and Flank
Frazetta. To Ray Bradbury and Graham 8 CRYPT-KEEPER AND VAULT-KEEPER
Your three favorite creeps come out of retirement,
just to sound off sickening sooth saying.
(Ghastly) Ingels. To The Crypt-Keep", The
Old-Witch- and The V-ault.;K~. To'1he-
whole batch of the most fantastically
- ~O THE"SP"AWN OF DR . WERTHA"M'S INNOCENTS
The ce nsors of the comics caught with their scissors showing,
in this chronicle of cute cuts.
talented loonies ever to come out of a
cosmic booby-hatch.
· TALES FROM THE CRYPT
A special Thank-You to Woody Gelman,
for bringing us the fantastic hard-<:over
book devoted to the E.C.'8 "Horror comics
12 Comparison time ... the Crypt·Keeper on film,
together with some of his most famou s friends and horrifying

of the 1950·s. BILL GAINES AN~ AL FELDSTEIN ••• AN INTERVIEW

And to the fans of E.C., spanning
generations ... you and me ..• and the
countless- others who, we hope, will get as
15 The madmen of E.C. speak in this candid conve rsation
recorded live and printed on pulp.

much of a blast out of seeing this issue as OUR SPECTACULAR CENTERFOLD

we got putting the whole thing together.
E.C. covered alot of territory in the old
days ... from here on EarUi clear out to
16 An original, uncensored .and bloody beautiful E.C. cover.
You (heh·heh) axed for It ...

the planets and stars . .. down dusty back THE MAIL·BAG BLUES
alleys and swamps rotting with death ... in
ancient castles and realms of unspeakable
19 Did the Frankenstein Monster write to compl ain we .spell ed his name wrong?
Maybe ... And maybe YOUR name is misspelled thiS t ime!

horrors (I'd talk about them, but they

21
ARE. after all, unspeakable!). E.C .... IN THE MOVIES?
Where did some of the inspir.ations come from for those classic
In short, we hope you get caught up in E.C. tales and terrors? The kmdly old Doctor seemed to know ..
our issue (and there's alot of super-stuff to
get caught in, too). We hope you walk MONSTER TIMES TELETYPE
away after reading it with more than you
had before ( ... and we hope the person
you took it from doesn't miss whatever
22 What's happening in the world of the weird? Alol! Read all about it
HERE ... FI RST ... in The Monster Times!

part of him you're walking away with).

2~
E.C. FAMILY TREE, CHECK·LlST AND PRODUCTS
And by all means, have a good time (The What was it ca ll ed, how much is i t worth and how many are
Crypt-Keeper always did! Heb, Heh!) A comp lete chronicle 01 E.C. publications and products.
So put on your spacesuits or don your
. glop-proof clothes. Oil your spaceships or SEYMOUR .•• 1
sharpen your ·axes. You're about to take a
trip through E.C. Land. Just jump right on
26 Who is Seymour ... W HAT is he? Can ANYONE be safe from Seymour?
SEYMOUR ..• from twinkle town to The Monster Times!

in ... you'lJ. see alot of things along the E.C. PORTFOLIO ONE
way ... whether you're being fascinated or
frightened, have a good time. It's all for
fun! And as a matter of fact, I'm dying to
28 A look at Louies ... and other fond memories ..
right here in The Monster Times Memory Lane.

start already ... See you next ish for

; TALES FROM THE CRYPT on pap8\'" end on screen. The hONifying, hamting hideoul
another voyage through •.. Heh, Heh! qu"ities of both the ~mics ..d the film is her. captUred for taadet'S of Thti Monster TilTl8$ in this
You'll never know 'til you read it (or see
the " Next Issue" department on the last
I. cover by ~.my ~enzel.

page)! MONSTER TIMES, No.l0 May 3t, 1972 publbhed wery two weeks bV The Monster Times
A"~- Publishing C~V, lne.. 11 West 17th StrMt, N_ YOfk, N.Y. 10011. Subscriptions in U.s.A.: $6.00
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N.Y. and .t Idditional mailirtg offi .... Contributions , .. invited provided return ~ is endoted;
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The Monster Times
The late H.L. Menckan, known as
the '" mage Breaker" by his peers in
the history business, would not
have been welcome by the EC fan.
Mencken was always known as the
defiler of the pseudo-gods, attacker
of the unattackable, and criticizer
of the untouchables. E.e. Comics
have become all of those to their
fans-pseudo.gods, untouchable,
unattackable-and any attacks
Mencken might have mustered
against the myth that has formed
around the Entertaining Comics
groups woukt oot be readily
appreciated.
Fans venerate anything
concerning the EC comics group.
Folk lore has perpetuated itself for
years. All those fans (or 8$ they like
to be called, "fan-addicts")
pictured the emptoyees of the EC
group as knights on white horses,
rescuing the reader from the
mediocrity of comic books in the
1950's. In fact, however, EC was ,
like any oomic outfit during the
trying SO's. The 1950's were k!an
years for comics, and everyone, EC
included, was looking for some
gimmick to hypo sales. They would
try anything to sell their books.
E.C. was lucky-they found the
gimmick. Any company might
have, National. Atlas, Fiction
House, Charlton, Dell. ,any
publisher of the 50's. But EC found
the gimmick first. Their gimmick
was quatity.
page 3
Recently. those EC fan·addicts.
the very same who twenty years
before feU for the EC gimmick.
published an ever·lasting tribute to
their knights in shining armor-a
208 page, full color book reprinting
the best stones EC had done. They
have not forgotten, and The
Monster Times' very own Joe
Brancatelli takes a look at the
book, the outfit that inspired them,
.,d the people behind the legend.
H.L. Mencken, where are you
when we need you?
What prompts anyone to plunk
down twenty hard earned dollars
for a book. Especially a book of
stories taken from those supposedly
god·awful, offensive horror comics
of the fifites. You might remember
those horror stories, terrible, grisly
tales of grue and gore. They were
the stories that incited a nation. So
controversial were these stoties,
they prompted a Congressional
witch·hunt, led by the venerable
old witch·hunter himself, the late
Senator Estes Kefauv'e r of
Tennessee .
. So what motivates a person to
blow twenty clams on a book that
all the established institutions tell
us is bad. Discounting the rich,
people who buy anything that
anti.establishment and the mobsters
who must hide their money from
Uncle Sam, the overwhelming
reason is that · misty·eyed
commodity known
NOSTALGIA. .
For those of you too young to
be struck by nostalgia, let
us tell you a little about
the peerless fifties. Or at
least the state of .comic
in the fifties (this isn't the
AM ERICAN HISTORY
QUARTERLY,
or hadn't
noticed).
 page 4
T'hh; picture of • quiet ct., in tM "-1:. p_ted by 1M inc;rIdibM R_ 0 .... '. Is 1he
InCIInt of " C.rrion Death," From SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES #8.1963."'1 u~ thb . .
w• • frro.ite of \'\Iltum _rywhen.
Comics were not in good health
in the decade that also featured
such luminaries as Joe McCarthy,
Alger Hiss and some Californian
with long jowls named Dick Nixon
(you remember him). The comic
book had just emerged from a
period later to be known as the
"Golden Age of Comics!1 from
1939 to about 1945. From then to
about 1949, they marked time,
feeling their way around. looking
for a trend to replace the now
tarnished image of the super-hero
who had been the stalwart o f the
good times. In that Golden Age,
such long-johned good guys as
Captain Marvel were selling about
.. ~~~":e:k~~~~~li~~~:: ~~~
behind. But the end of World War
II also ended the dominace of the
super-bero (who ~d spent most of
his time beating Krauts and Nips.
Someone once calculated that
American super-heroes had killed
about nine billion of the enemy.)
And the slump that started in the
late forties developed into a serious
depression in the early months of
1950. AU the big companies were
looking for a trend that would sell
comics. The super hero was dead
(indeed, the Big Red Cheese, as
Captain Marvel was called, had
dropped to about 300,000 copies a
month and would no t survive the
fifties or a lawsuit with ")uperman),
cowboys were not M lUng and
romance wasn't exactly making
readers storm the new' !.;mds . Kids
w~r ' giving up comi hooks in
l ron~ ~. ~p ellding mosi \J( Lhe time
l he} ~e supposed to spend doing
h o rr ,'.. ark watching that
,-:; If'ci tel evi ' se t.
, ,S lolded by L. - dozf>n,
and it looked as if the comic book
industry, conceived in the early
1930's by M.C. Gaines (remember
that name), Irwin Donnenfeld and
several others was about to die a
quiet death. And then came E.C.
comics.
Well, not really. E.C. (fltSt
standing for Educational Comics
and then Entertaining Comics) had
been around for a while, created by
M.C. Gaines (we told you to
remember him) in the mid-forties .
I It too was looking for a trend. It
had bet on cowboy comics,
romance comics, sf comics, and all
sorts of combinationB of the
aforementioned. (for instance one
title started as MOON GIRL,
changed to A MOON - ... A
Th. I..t four"""" from '"Midni\lht M_:· d~ by Jo. OrlandO. ~ .. bloocty-but-bNutiful taJe-
pw'. E.C:s ..rsion of wn.t IMcafM of the old, honor.d prof*'lion" .... mpiN. From TAlfS-FP.DM THE CRVPT #'36: 1951
The Monster Times
GIRL ... ROMANCE and then science fiction books, humor
finally MOON GIRL FIGHTS books, and they all were gobbled
CRIME). Their Managing Editor, off the stands. And they were
Bill Gaines (yes, folks, poppa's son) imitated. .
and Editor AI Feldstein (he wasn't And that was EC's downfall.
related, he just walked into the Their imitators tried. hard to match
office one day) decided they might EC's class, but couldn't. Their tales
try horror. They . created a few almost always ended as senseless
story tellers. situation-violence. They were bad
Feldstein and Gaines' creations, books, thrown t oge ther to
The Crypt-Keeper, The Old Witch capitalize on EC's popularity. Many
and The Vault Keeper, were of the younger kids couldn't tell
obnoxious if they were anything. the difference, and brought home
Sarcastic, impudent and absolutely the trashy imitations and their
shiftless, they wove yams of horror, parents found them. Justifiably
twisting tales of gore and gruesome angered., the public raised an
reality. The U1ree witches dealt in outcry. Men like Estes Kefauver
perverted scenes of horror, scary seized upon the comic book horror,
gore and simply disgusting realism. and called for their censorship.
No matter how horrible those tales Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist
of the witches were, the main who has been on a life long cruaade
characters were rotten people, and against violence in the media,
they all got theirs in the end, published a book entitled
usually by some ironic twist of fate SEDUCTION OF THE
that sealed their doom . . INNOCENT, reprinting lots of EC
And for about three years (from art, but neglecting to mention the
1950 when Gaines and Feldstein story line of EC comics, or to
introduced the pilot magazines, differenciate between them and
THE HAUNT OF FEAR arid THE their iniitators. With the public
CRYPT OF TERROR), E.C. comics aroused, the comic industry (or at
were the hottest sellers going. They least some of the industry)
introducecLwar books, crime books, instituted a ·self~nsorlng body
HEH,HEH~ AND THAT'S THE STORY,
KIDDIES~THAT'S WHAT 'CIYILIZED'
VAMPIRES DO THESE DAYS! .THEY
DINE IN 8LOOOITARIAN RESTAU-
RANTS.OPEN SUN_NTO SlMIS£.
WHERE IS THERE ONE IN rtJIIR TOWN,
YOU ASK? WELL. SOME NIGHT IF YOU
FEEL UP TO IT. LOOK FOR rTf YOU
CAN TELL IT BY THE SIGN INSIDE!
IT'S IN /lED ••• AND IT SAVS:POSITfYELY
NO NIPPIN8 THE "AITERS-l THE
GUY WHO STARTED THIS CHAIN OF
ORIN.ERIES IS A VAl/PIllE IlARMIII.
• HE KNO"S THERE'S
A 'SUCKER' BORN
EVERY MINUTE !
NOW 11 LL TURN YOU
BACK TO THE
CRYI'T-KEEPERl
'BYEr
The Monster Times
known to this day as the Comics
Code Authority. The Code had its
desired effect, placating an incensed
public, who then went back to
persecuting non-existant
communists, but by then EC had
been struck a mortal blow.
Distributors refused to distribute
_them, vendors refused to sell them,
and Ee comics were dead. They
threw in the towel in 1955, and
after several brief attempts at
revivals, EC faded into whatever old
comic companies fade into.
-Or so the editors thought. The
Humanity1 " fans of EC never relented. They
Dr_nby went underground, publishing
Jack Davis. clandestine magazines, never
forgetting Ee. They reemerged
briefly in 1964, when Ballantine
Books published paperbacks that
reprinted some Ee stories. Later
merging with the now growing
general comic fandom, they
. educated. a whole new audience to
Ee comics. Now there were two Ee
fandoms; the original group, that
saved their lunch money to buy the
Ee's as they came off the presses,
and, the new group, the fans of Ee
who were too young to have
bought Ee off the stands, but who
were paying $10 and $15 at comic
conventions for the honor of
owning an Ee comic book.
For the original Ee fan,
pageS
HORROR LlBRAR Y OF THE
1950's is a memento, a reassurance
that what was good for them, is
good for the youth of today. For
the new EC fan, it's a §Ort of
legitimacy. A sort of refirmation of
the validity of comic collecting.
And that is why the EC book will
become a classic, if not in terms of
sales, definitely in terms of feeling.
That feeling of nostalgia, if you
will.
The book reprints twenty·three
stories between its covers. They are
all hallmarks of EC comics.
Everyone of them a nugget of
writing that you'd swear took days
to even conceive, not to mention
the actual plotting, dialoguing,
panel breakdowns and everything
else. And the art ... heaven, pure
and simple.
Some critics of EC comics (No
doubt sons of the irrepressible H.L.
Mencken) claim that E.C.'s comics
fall into the trap of repetition.
They claim that stories are basically
similar. The villain, who might not
look like the villain at first, is a
supremely rotten guy. and in the
end, through some irony gets
justice dealt to him from the
bottom of the deck. That, critics
persist, is the basis for every one of
E.C.'s horror tales. What they fail
to realize is that all comic writing is
formula writing, and that E.C.
found a formula that provided
consistently interesting tales is an
achievement in itself.
But the amazing thing is that
most all the tales in this book,
indeed almost all E .C. stories, were
written in one day by a
combination of Gaines and
Felstein. Comic publishing is a
hectic business, and deadline
pressures force a rapid pace, this
making comic writing tantamount
to hack jobs. But somehow,
someway, Feldstein got the twist
ending in every time, and
simultaneously developed a style. A
comic style. Feldstein developed a
fluid style that read like the great
short story writers, especially
Bradbury and De Maupassant. Later
EC even began adapting some of
the memorable Ray Bradbury
stories into comic strips.
But enough of the abstracts.
You want to know about the
stories in the book. Well, since THE
MONSTER TIMES is in the
entertainment business, and since
. THE MONSTER TIMES is not
above recognizing the achievements
of others, let us tell you about
some of those EC masterpeices .
For our m~:mey, 'TAIN'T THE
MEAT ••. IT'S :I'HE HUMANITY
is the be~t in the book. Set in the
World War II era of food rationing,
old Zach Gristle, small time
butcher,. decides to get into the
black market. He sells his relatively
small arnoung of choice meat to
black market customers, while the
regulars get horsemeat. When that
runs out, the regulars get spoiled
mE!at, then tainted meat, all

"TAIN'T THE MEAT . •• ITS THE HUMANITY .,. qu.nt little v-n Ibout.
Ttl.
CRY" #32 ___ a""'"
Nt will IUrety tidl .. your ....-ibli
done by ___ odMw 1Mn ..... 0"'"
unbeknowmt to them. Old Zach's
wife discovers this, but does
nothing until her own son is killed
by eating the tainted meat (seems
he was a guest at one of his dad's
customers). What does she do?
Well, Mrs. Gristle cleaves old Zach
to death and opens up her
husband's store with ... choke.
.. her husband all carved up and on
display in the store showcase.
Meaty tale, wot?
Another, aptly titled FOUL
PLAY. features super-nasty Herbie
Satten. Herbie is a real mean guy.
So intent was Herbie on winning a
ball game for his team, that he put
poison on his cleats, then spiked
the opposing second basemen in
what looked like a useless steal
attempt. The poison was quick
acting, and, as it would happen, the
second baseman falls dead shortly
after Satten strikes him out, ending
a rally . The other team knows it's
Satten's doing, and in a most grisly
revenge, they dismember Satten,
then play a game of ball, using
Satten's bloody head as the ball, his
leg as a bat, his heart as home plate
and his intestines as the foul line.
They sure threw him a curve, eh?
And while we don't want to ruin
your fun when you buy the book,
This poor dwil is ebout to be "Sw.mJ*i." in HAUNT OF FEAR #27. RIMt Crandell en.tld thl Itorv.
. _ SLOWLY DOWN ... DOWN INTU THE ...
bu...., ... _
IM8ty ".,..odnmll ~ "'om TALD OP THE
This woman is _tainlv NOT going to h..... I
Mwry Christm_. thinks to Johnny C,eig Ind
the suff of E.C.. who err.ngId tor her
itpPe• • noe in VAULT OF HORROR #33.
we want to mention one other tale
that struck our fancy. It's called
STROP! YOU'RE KILLING ME!
It's a devilish tale of two firemen,
who hate each other. One night,
while one was on duty, a call comes
to save the other's house. Naturally~
the fireman on duty takes his time.
with an unforlltuble fllting of muddy clNth tNt hluntld thI-.tends in 1954 .
The Monster Times
and eliminates his enemy, who died had any artist SO graphically
in the fire. The dead fire-fighter portrayed and conveyed the sense
gets his revenge several months of horror as Ingels had. His work
later. when the remaining fireman was truely inspired. '
gets a call to put out a fire at his Then there was Jeck Davis. Davis
own bouse. But while going down is a genius, pure and simple. You've
the descent pole, he is slashed to seen his work countiess times, on
death. Someone (and the story
indicates that it is the dead
fireman) has replaced the pole with
a sharp blade. Cutting tale, yes?
If we had ten issues to discuss
this book, I might talk at some
length about the artistic content of
this book. How can you discuss the
legendary art of E.C. comics? (And
any of you out there who said
"quickly" deserve to be starred in a
new EC story entitled HOT SEAT,
the tale of Santa Claus coming
down a lit- fireplace.) They
compiled in just five years the best
collection of artists ever to grace
the pages of comics.
There was Graham Ingels, the
head of the staff. His art was so
horribly unique he started signing
his name GHASTLY. Ingels had a
non..descript career before joining
E.C., and declined after EC folded
Teg ..• You',. it, kids, if this Jed!. O..,is
and later disappeared, but his work ghoulie ~ you I
for E.C. was amazing. Never before
in the history of the comic
medium, perhaps illustrating itsell, TV GUIDE covers, television
station commercials, MAD
MAGAZINE and many others. It
The Gr.h.m Ingets COVlr for "Horror WI, was Davis who portrayed the
How', 8eyou?" H~nt of Fe. #25 w_
never
previously mentioned Zach Gristle
the Mme. _ Gh_tty struck ....inl
who ended up in the meat
showcase. It was also Davis whose
grisly portrayal of Herbie Satten
being dismembered in FOUL PLAY
made the story famous. He's mOlt
recently drawn SESAME STREET's
"Cookie Monster" so well that
when TV GUIDE wanted the
monster for one of its covers, they
chose Davis.
Reed Crandall was another, as
was George Evans. They may not
be familiar names, but they are
geniuses in their own right. And, of
course, there was the young AI
Williamson, present SECRET
AGENT CORRIGAN artist, who
drew for EC. He couldn't draw
faces then, but could he draw
everything else. The other names
flow like water down a mountain:
Frazetta, Orlando, Feldstein, Craig,
Continued on page 25
The Monster Times page 7

ECHORROR
COMICS~50'S
Dim the lights and cl0$8 the doors as those FETID FOLKTALES of
the 1950's bubble forth in FULL COLOR from the witch's cauldron. A
selection of the greatest scare stories from HAUNT OF FEAR , TALES
FROM THE CRYPT . and VAULT OF HORROR . .. including a rare
unpublished TERROR TALE.
These stories will terrify you like they terrified 8 whole generation of
readers! EC HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950 's' features a fantastic
collection of terror stories plus the original ads for MAD, artist
biographies and more! From the comic book company that brought
readers the finest horror stories of its time comes a collector's edition
you must have!
Great comix artiSU like WALLY WOOD. JACK DAVIS. FRANK
FRAZETTA. AL WILLIAMSON I Stories reproduced in Full Color! 23
. horrifying epics from the original comics! All the old ads and editorials
plus artist biographiesl The comics that caused all the excitement way
back when! These are the oomics they wouldn't let you reacH

••••••••••••••••••••••••
• THE MONSTER TIMES •
• P.O. Box 595, Old Chelsea Station •
• New York. N.Y. 10011 •
• Yes, send me the Collector's Limited Editk>n Copy of EC . •
• HORROR COMICS OF THE [950's for which I enclose $19.95 •
• plus $1 .00 Postage and Handling. (Total $20.95) •

• •
•
•

•
NAME

ADDRESS
•
•
•
: CITY STATE _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ :

••••••••••••••••••••••••

GIANT EC POSTERS!
. - , . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , DEATH L1VESI In these two
FULL·COLOR vintage E.e. Postenl
Original coven of TALES FROM THE
CRYPT NO. 38 ...d THE VAULT OF
HORROR NO. 32. Newr published in
these versions beauM they were
considered TOO fri~tening. these
~r·before-teen renditions can now be
younl Printed 22"x28" on sturdy peper
stock. these masterpieces ..e alWllYs ,.nt
rolled, in sturdy mailing tubes, for
Super-protection. The VAU LT cover is
by Johnny Craig. and the CRYPT cover
by famed cartoonist Jack Davis. The best
in 8rt, color, darity and hOrJOI', all youn
for only $2.50 plw .50 postage, each.
The supply will be limited, so we urge

- - - --
you to order nowl

I ~Sv~?O::'.i.!C
=ed-="':'~ lullcoiorpao""I"

Yeo. I - . , ,,,- TAL ES "AOM THE

CAYPT f.C. Hon-or P........ 1>1' JacI<
o.m;endOMdISG.50PI.. &Ocpao l_
- I Tor.lols3.00I.
v.. I - . , 1M VAULT OF
HORROR E.e. ....... 000 ........ , 1>1'
............ Crq;Oftd ...... S2.50pt .. SO"
_ po;.. . CT...... ol S3.0CIl.
1_ .. f .e. FRfAIC, ......... ' _
80TH ,_;nCnOCIitIM po;....... EnckMcI
_ ~~$4.60pMSO"_. . lTouiof

NAME _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
ADDRESS _ _ _ _ _ __
CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ __
srATE _ _ ZIP _ _ __
 pagel The Monster Times

Introducm the ,~,~"W"' '"~'"

Continuing our inhuman coverage
of all things unbeautiful. we at The
Monster Times hired a top private
defective who bravely located those
emcees of E.C. comix; The
Vault-Keeper ('The Vault of
.,"

Gruesome Threesome
Horror'), The Crypt·Keeper nales
From the Crypt'), and The Old
Witch nhe Haunt of Fear').
Checking further. we found
someone willing to interview them
(Our defective is now in the
Serenity Sanitarium for No-Good
Nuts). Yes, we found Mark Evanier,
and flew him from Los Angeles to
Brooklyn (on a broomstick ... of
course). to introduce our readers 10.
The Gruesome Threesome.

Ihis is the perfect assignment

for you," they were telling me.
"You don't know the meaning of
the word, fear . You don't know the
meaning of the word, quit. We've
read over a lot of your articles,
Evanier. You don't know the
meaning of very many words, do
you?"
•• 'Fear.'.. I said, .. '(noun)
Painful emotio n excited by
apprehension of impending danger;
dread.; the object of fear; filial
regard mingled with awe; reverence.
(verb transitive) to feel fear; to
apprehend . . . n
"Can the cute stuff," they said,
"we need an interview for this issue
of Tbe Monster Times, so we want
you to go talk to the three ghouls
who used to host the E.C. horror
comic books. Here's the address. Be
there in ten minutes."
"Qui~" I said, "(adjective)
Discharged; released; free; clear.
. ~~~ . . t.~,ansitive) quitting,

JOURNEY INTO BROOKL YNI

Ten minutes later, however, I
was knocking upon a certain door
in the heart of Flatbush-Why, I
don't know. Something about my
body being maimed it I didn't come
back with the interview. The door
swung open, slowly and with a
noticeable Inner Sanctum squeal.
The interior of thE' house was dark,
very much so. But I was able to
make out the hunched-over fonn of
the Vault--Keeper, with no problem.
Not since 1954 had the
Vault--Keeper been seen in public,
nor his partners, the Crypt--Keeper
and the Old Witch. It was then that
their popular horror comics-The
Vault of Horror, Tales From the
Crypt, and The Haunt of Fear,
respectively-were discontinued.
Save for a few reprints, they had all
been retired ever since. And it was
remarkable how well-remembered
~ey were, in some circles .

.•. RAPPING AT
MY CHAMBER DOOR!
"Who is it?" yelled a voice from
somewhere within the old house.
"Is it another Avon lady, V.K.?"
The craggy features of the
Vault--Keeper were beginning to
come into focus. He looked as he
always had. Sickening. "Heh heh,"
he chuckled. "No, it's just some
tall, skinny gloop. Come on it,
putrid puss! What brings you
here?"
I introduced myself as a reporter
from The Monster Times.
"Oh." He sounded disappointed.
"[ was thinking it might be
someone important. Well, here [ am
in the livid flesh, the Vault--Keeper.
....... Mh. ... , So .... to _ YOU. my b..... "........ w«ttt... , So the _m hal t*. . . tum tor 1hII_. ' - h. ... .....s.nd '"'-* in.
"tilt thInI·.
your fiendty old VIUtt·K....... Mdent Iboch. 1tt1 Willi ••• you',. just In d __
.,0.. in ttlis
mirld·lMltine. ............... ~ ~
une.rthty edition of THE MONITER nlllESI So . . ril'tt iMo my V.. lt. don', be "" ••• _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . _
~. you_·tbe . . . . . . . . . ..-
Care to hear one of my nauseating GALLERY OF GOREI very old and very ornate. A2, we
novelettes? Got a dandy here about walked down the hall, [ noticed a
a husband who sticks his wife in a "Oh, that's the Old Witch! Come series of portraits of Boris Karloff,
microwave oven. It's called on, sloosh over this way and I'll Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price, Peter
'Spouse--Wanning'-!" introduce you to her." Lorre, Lon Chaney and Jerry
"Vh, not right now, if you don't A2, he led me through the Lewis. "What's Jerry Lewis doing
mind," I said. "Who was that I corridors, [ studied this majestic up there with all these masters of
heard yelling to you, just a minute home where Utey had ensconced screen horror?" I asked .
ago?" themselves for retirement. It was all The Vault--Keeper stopped in his
""' ~nster Times
....... tIM! If It iIn't mel V-. 1I\Ity, tM otd Witch, end " .. got my tnntv brootn with witd'l
I'll . - p • litd, gloom III doom your Wrf. V.f, my ..,il ~, t.en stumin' ..,' bubblin'
;u.t to mIk, It hot fw you. Won't you join 1M I". cup7 It'ln kind E.C. '-Ilk_pub hair
on your "'-c. w.ns on your _ . _ flO'IJII'In on your ..-'"
tracks and looked up at me.
o "Obviously. you've never seen a
. Jerry Lewis movie." . mostly. Say, you sure you wouldn't
I was led into a high-ceiling
room, well-c1uttered with cob-webs.
The walls were lined with ancient
books and potions. In the center, a
'bubbling cauldron stood. "Is this
the Old Witch's laboratory?" I
88k~.
"It ain't Dinah's Place" the
Vault-Keeper responded. • explained. "When our putrid
While the Vault-Keeper had aged
little in almost twenty years, the
Old Witch was altogether different.
She shuffied in, holding a lizard by
the tail, and seeming oblivious to
my presence. "I'm so glad it wasn't
another Avon Lady. V.K. We
haven't finished the last one, yet!
Hee hee!" Suddenly. I was spotted.
"Well, it's about slime we got some
young blood around here . Fond
felicitations, freak! Welcome to my
Hacienda of Horror. Step up and
glom a scrumptioUs slew of slop
from my crud-crusted cauldron!"
I was at a loss for words to
refuse. This, Emily Post never
covered . I wouldn't even know
which fork to use to eat a slew of
slop. I tried to change the subject.
"Say, is the Crypt-Keeper around? I
always got a kick out of his stories.
Is he here?"
A SLEW OF SLOPI
The Old Witch motioned to a
chair. "He'll be back in a few
minutes. Park your crumbling
carcass, slob. So, you're from The
Monster Times, huh?"
"That's right," 1 said. "I
understand you're subscribers."
The Vault-Keeper cut in. "Heh
heh, yep! It's a little far out for us,
though. Especially that rancid
reviewer of yours, Rex Reed ...
"That's Women's Wear Daily,
you're thinking of, V.K .... said the
' Old Witch. "You're a real
Ghoulunatic ...
"Just what do you two do all
day now that you're retired? Ever
~::~,~ urge to get back in
page 9
Richardson, whoever he is!" Before I cou'ld protest, the"
"He's the actor who played you Crypt-Keeper shoved me over to a
in the 'Tales From the Crypt' guillotine and locked my head
movie," I explained. under its hanging blade. "Now,
"Who's the skinny kid without that's horror! Are you scared,
acne?" he asked the others. huh?"
I had to admit that I was.
THE MONSTER TIMES, EH? "Your shoulders are 'Shivering.
"Heh heh, he's from that Your trunk is trembling. Now, for a
nauseating newspaper, The Monster quivering quip... The Monster
Times responded the Vault-Keeper. Times lost a good reporter when
The Crypt-Keeper's face, 1 noted, they tried to cut down on the
had not changed much. The added overhead! You get it?"
years only gave it more of its CURSED RENTED GUILLOTINE!
ghoulish flavor. Now, as I was
introduced, it began to have that "I get it! 1 get it! Now, let me
faintly sinister smirk. He peered at out of here!"
me, then brightened up "Heh heh! Not yet! We've got
considerably. "A repulsive reporter, too good a story going!" "
huh? Heh heh, so you came to learn "But that blade could fall, any
at the feet of the old master of minute!"
cemeteries, the Crypt-Keeper. Well, "Say, grimy! You've got a pretty
you'll be amply-sickened by_ the good neck on your shoulders. Here
time I get through with you. You we go. I'm pressing the release!"
seem a little young to have been a Nothing happened. When I
opened my eyes, I could still open
~eu~~~~=~. )ollower of my my eyes. The Crypt-Keeper was
pounding the side of the guillotine.
bit ~~:!'''~y sa:!;~~T~~~ ;he::e': "That's the last order I place
.been a renewed interest these days, with Abbey Rents! Horror is a
in the old E.C. comics. grave undertaking! Can't do it with
Reprints . . . movies . . . They're cheap equipment."
even holding .a big convention ... " The Vault-Keeper unbuckled me
"And you know why?" The and led me towards the door.
The Old Witch answered as she Crypt-Keeper almost bolted from '~ Come back next week when he
stirred her cauldron. "I cook, his chair. "It's because these guys, gets it working right. You'll just
today, don't know horror! They love his cadaverous cavortings! By
like a slew of slop? Made it myself! think it's all biting necks and trick bye and buyV.ault of Horror!"
One sip of this and your whole face endings and the guy you least Once outside, I ran -for my
will break out. It's a shame a suspect turning out to be the life-sweating, shaking ... unable to
scrawny kid like you doesn't have werewolf! Putresence is in the even think straight.
acne." hands of amateurs! Why, in my And that, general, is the whole
NO MONSTERS IN MAD!! yecchy yelp yams ... Here, let me truth and why I think I qualify for
"We're still on pensions from give you a demoniac a Medical Exemption from the
demonstration! .. Draft. •
E.C., you know," the Vault-Keeper
periodicals got the ax, there was
just no place for us to vamoose to. I
mean, we only agreed to tie
ourselves down to those maggoty
magazines so we could share our
yelp yams with the world. We were
getting a little fed up, anyway, with
those idiot editors. They were
futzing around with all these
stagnating stories of science-fiction
and pirates and stuff. And that real
wretch Mad. I looked through three
whole issues. Couldn't find a
werewolf or a zombie ... what a
loser. We told those comic
schnooks at E.C. they had a bomb
on their hands but that"wretched
rag actually caught on! Noone
cared to hear ow blood·cwdling,
spine·tingling, heaping helpings of
horror, anymore. Say, you want to
hear one? I have a gruesome gagging
right here about a husband who
cremates his wife and puts her ashes
in an howglass. It's called 'The
Time of Your Wife!'"
Just then, I was spared by the
sound of a door slam , elsewhere in
the old house.
- "Crypt-Keeper's in," the Old
Witch announced. "You can meet
him, if you like. Personally, I don't
see what you see in that old fool of
a ghoul. His terror tales looked like
nursery rhymes, next to mine."
"Heh heh, here he comes," V.K.
signaled.
"Bah! Out of my way!" The
Crypt·Keeper pushed his way into
the room. He was obviously not in
the mood to converse. "Nine
people stopped Ille on .the street,
today, for autographs. They all
thought I was Sir Ralph
"Wei, my bIood-curdled klddiel. if you _'t. tigJrt for.,....t ~ v _ friend the
rwme...-
Crypt·K....... hen! to. hell....... ~sodt.r" to you .......·1 hot»e you to k..., '" .,..
out . . him. Go ...... t *• • long look wound . . crypt • •• 1 k~you_1d ~-* it
tlwttny .....

In the motion·picture business, the
expression is "The Face on the
Cutting Room Floor." The
cutters ••• lovingly calling
themselves "censors ... are at work
elsewhere, too, dispensing such
amounts of entertainment from
time to time, as their superior
minds decide the world is ready for.
In the 1950's there were many
censors of many types, mostly
political. And you oould never tell
when something like entertainment,
namely oomiCs, would be defined as
political, or important enough to be
smeared and hidden and killed off.
The motives are not always illogical
or impersonal. Some censors take
up their work because they believe
they are doing the right thing for
mankind. Such a man is the learned
and somewhat respected Dr.
Fredric Wertham (Real name:
Frederic I. Wertheim). His motives?
Who can tell. Only one thing is
certain .. . He does what he
believes in. Is he right to any
extent? Or wrong to what extent?
When you find out the man's
position on comics. you'" have an
opinion of your own.
~roup
'he Entertaining Comics (born
the Educational Comics Group) was a
prime target for censors with so many
titles offering graphic stories of crime,
war, horror and science fiction.
When the pressures really mounted
against comic books in the early 1950's, a
noticeable amount of the pressure was
applied to EC. Other targets Included the
Lev Gleason publications (gory crime
books like Crime Does Not Pay) and
Fiction house (with bikini-clad white giris
whipping up on the natives in Africa and
getting tied up a lot).
I understand that Dr. Fredric Wertbam
has denied to THE MONSTER TIMES
that tie ever attacked EC. Interesting.
Dr. Wertham's SEDUCTION OF THE
"COVER OF A CHILDREN'S COMIC BOOK."
says the kincly Dr. but JoMny Craig's portrait
of h__ mwI ktu.lly rx-ts • pretty
unappetU:ing Yi_ of violence to us MTeft.
"A GIRL RAP'EO ANa MURDERED." ,-*Wwtlulm'l aption. Not only !Itt... no ,,*,tlon of .... in the ttory
it didn't _ ~ in • comic book. The illo is from • nwgu:iM ..• not ttm: ..... pan'. W...wm can boa bothend with IUd'! intli"" diltincti_
Here come da SHRINK!!!SPAWN OF DR . WERTHAM By Don Thompson
INNOCENT (Rinehart, 1954) lacks an
index, so it is difficult to sort out all the
mentions of EC stories and titles. But the
16.page spread of pictures from the
comics which makes up the center
signature of the book includes three full
pages from EC titles.
Dr. Wertham's never creaited any of
the illustrations. In fact, the publisher's
name was removed from two of the three
covers he reproduced, including a Johnny
Craig cover from Crime Suspence Stories
showing a closeup of a hanged man.
Craig's signature was whited out, Loo,
though the circle he put it in remains.
only cover which identified the
.,thor of this .rtid. _ no reRmbl.nca
betw.., bound tllrink and Or. Werth.m_citing
it inrtud _ another .",mpl. of ttl. good
dOC1or"s boundl_ p.anoil-w, .t TMT .dmit
1:h.t it du.s inct.d look lik. 1:his jl'nict.II.r
comic-book publish ... w_indulging in • bit of
wishful whimsy.
publisher was Hillman Publications..
Crime Detective Comics which showed a
psychiatt1st named Dr. M. Brown tied and
gagged. The picture is captioned
"Caricature of the author in a position
comic·book publishers wish be were in
permanently." Dr. Brown does not
resemble Dr. Wertham in the slightest.)
The Craig COYer is pretty revolting,
with .the hanged man's face shown in
extreme c1ose·up, the tongue protruding
and the eyeballs rolled back.
Even worse are two panels [rom a Jack
Davis honor story showing • ballgame
JEEPERS! A
DAME --AND SHE'S
6EEN CROAKED!
th".etct.
illultnltm, but
"A COMIC·BooK BASEBALL GAME. NOTICE THE CHEST PROTECTOR ANa OTHER
DETAILS IN THE TEXT AND PICTURES." C.n .-tist In* Oll'li$, who illustr.tad this story
appe.ring in HAUNT OF FEAR No. 19 in 1953 help it if our IlIItioo.JI pastilM is. rough sport?
using the dismembered body of the shaken by the use of the term
"mammal"; my high-school biology
story's villain as sports equipment. The
umpire dusts the plate with the scaJp -
tbe plate is the heart - the intestines "IN ORDINARY COMIC BOOKS. THERE
mark the base lines - the arms and legs ARE PICTURES FOR CHILDREN WHO
are bats - the torso is strapped on the KNOW HOW TO LOOK." Dr. W..-tham
catcher as a chest·protector - the hands ~tly . . . 'dirty' dlltail heN _d it
are strapped on the infielders as mitts - "",,-III _ wonder if it is ..I in th. trY. of 1M
tbe stomach is tbe rosin bag - and, of mp..
bIIholdti•...• noth... • ... of Rorschadl
course, the head, eyeballs dangling, is the r.undl, perh.,.? Wh.. ha1:h Fr.,d wroughtl?
ball.
It has been said that Gaines insisted on
story being written and drawn as a
of the pressure groups that
horror comics. If so, it was a bad
'The story was indefensible and
provided the lead-off item for Wertham's
gallery of bad examples from the comlcs.
Many of his other items are ridiculous or
lying - rKilculous is a closeup of a
drawing of a man's shoulder in which
Wertham sees a dirty picture; lying is a
panel of a milkman discovering a
woman's body and captioned "A girl
raped and murdered" even though the
story (from a pulp magazine, NOT from a
comic book) NEVER implies rape. The
Davis EC item was genuine and was cited
by at least one reviewer as the convincing
argument against comic books.
The other EC reprint is a fairly
innocuous sequence from a Bill Elder
science fiction story in which a MarUan
girl kills her husband when she discovers
he is a "MAMMAL, which bears its
yougng ALIVE .. . attached to the
mother by an UMBILICAL cord," while
"we lay EGGS! We HAVE NO
NAVELS!" Or. Wertlwn ~ed prettY
The Monster Times page 11

400. Only a few copies of this list exist. I

have photocopies of it - it lists the
publishers quoted or referred to in the
text, including some dummy companies
for EC: Educational Comics, Inc., Fables
Publishing Co. and Tiny Tot Comics, Inc.
Several comic book publishers, including
EC, used different companies , to publish
different books - if the books failed,
creditors could only attach the assets of
that company, not the entire line.
With the coming of the Comics C-ode
Authority, EC killed the three horror
comics which had been the financial
support of much of the rest of the line,
Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt
and Haunt of Fear. A projected fourth
title, The Crypt of Terror, never appeared
except as the final issue of Tales from the
Crypt.
Weird Science·Fantasy underwent
some changes, too. It went from WEIRD
Science·Fantasy to Weird
SCIENCE·F ANT ASY to Incredible "CORPSES OF COLORED PEOPLE STRUNG
Science Fiction. And Earthmen quit UP BY THEIR WRISTS," said the book's
loSing to aliens; the Code did not like that c:.ption. Th_ "fri\tltened natives" would not
- check the science fiction comics be fri\tltened if they were "corpses:,'.. as Dr.
published under the Code and see how Wertham claims they are.
many stories you can find with Earthmen
losing to aliens. rip off her clothes - this is less
In Incredible Science Fiction No. 32 objectionable?
there was a beautifully drawn story (AI Another example of censorship as a
Williamson and Roy Krenkel did the art, point·killer came when a Jew was turned
Marie Severin did a sensitive and into a Christian in Impact No. '4. "The
noteworthy coloring job) called "Food Lonely One" coricerned a GI shunned by
for Thought." The Code people objected his fellow-soldiers because "his kind,"
that flying lizards shown in the who could be spotted by their names,
background on the splash panel were were all cowards. His name, after the
satires on angels (!) and forced EC to add Code stepped in, was Miller, as innocuous
an eighth page to the seven· page story and Anglo·Saxon as Smith. The soldier
reversing the earthmen's defeat by an eventually proves himself a hero and the
intelligent plant. This wrecked the budget bigot who persecuted him becomes "the
INNOCENCE REGAINED for the issue, since a page of advertising lonely one" but the story is meaningless
Contrary to Dr. Fredric Wert'ham's findings on "the pernicious influence of comic books had to be dropped. as printed. Leonard Darvin told me in
on the youth of today," as contained in his shrill, neurotic tome SEDUCTIOIQ' OF THE 1966 that it was possible that the editor,
INNOCENT, TMT's resident shrink, Dr. Sigmund Fraud, has proven beyond a shadow of Albert Feldstein, decided to change the
a doubt the beneficial nature of these very same comics.
name on his own. SURE it's possible.
"The so-called 'comic' books," Dr. Fraud maintains, "'lfford the youth of America an
early introduction to the violence and callousness tha; ;550 much an integral part of our
During the Congressional
present .societal structure, but present them in such a way that said youth can clearly investigations of qomic books in ' the
view the folly of these destructive elements. Rather than encouraging the propagation of 1953·54 period, ,Gaines was
the evils often depicted in the comic books," the eminent doctor, who holds a degree in internationally quoted for a memorable
Pseudology from Bronx Community College, continued, "they are represented in such a remark in court. He was shown a Johnny
manner that they inspire a healthy sense of revulsion, rather than a desire to emulate the Craig cover from Crime Suspense Stories
negative deeds." . showing a man holding a bloodied axe
Employing a cross·section of "youths of today" to serve as a test group, Dr. Fraud and the freshly severed head of a woman.
divided the group in two and locked them in separata rooms for a period lasting several
weeks. One group was given a wide range of comic books to read, while the other was
supplied with a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas. According to the doctor, the members
of the first group emerged from their seclusion "so smart it would meke your head
spin," whereas the group who perused the encyclopaedic volumes were "so dull you
couldn't even talk to .them."
The Comics Code took offense at "Judgement
An interesting sidelight to emerge from the study was the fact that the group that
Day," because a BLACK astronaut is the hero
had been allowed access to the comic books also.had 44% fewer cavities than the other
of the story, which was, in fact, a parable
group. This unexpected finding prompted the good doctor to remark: "See? What'd I
speaking out against racial prejudice. The tale
teU you'" While this dental development "eludes immediata explanation," Dr. Fraud
was reprinted by E.C. without Code permission.
assured us that this too will be cleared up in due time. "Gimme a couple minutes," he
said, "and I'U come up with something." •
With the next issue, the Code found
one story wholly unacceptable. Publisher
William M. Gaines decided to rerun one of
The following letter, sent to u~ from the good textbook would have jarred him badly. EC's most popular stories, one which had
Dr. Wertham himself, includes the interesting . Dr. Wertham's book was itself been singled out for praise by Ray
information that he " ... never mentioned E.C. censored. The publisher sent men out to Bradbury. The story, "Judgment Day"
Comics in any of my writings or talks." He (originally in Weird Fantasy No. 18)
doesn't "talk" about them; he merely reprints
the stores, armed with razor blades, and
had them cut out a "Bibliographical featured orange robots treating blue
them, accompanied by his own often highly robots as inferiors and being visited by an
fanciful captions. Note" which had been pages 399 and
Earthman inspecting the planet to see if it
is ready to join the Galactic Republic.
Because of the bigotry of the orange
robots, Galactic citizenship is denied. In
_ ....., .. GIrt ... ~ ~
the last panel, the spaceman removes his
. . ".;j., helmet and is revealed as a Negro. He was asked if t\iat was in bad taste and
3_ a.-.noe.t.lll
"'-. . .1 . . I4thr April I, un Well, said the Code, you certainly he said no. i
'lb. Noa.t.... n....
:.:. W.II. l ' eb StJ". . t can't print that, unless you change the Asked what he would consider bad
. . . Yon, •• T. 10011
spaceman to a Caucasian. Gaines told the taste, Gaines said that it would be bad
Code people they were bigg:>ts, said he taste if the head were held higher so you
;t;:=: ~:~ ~::~ ' !;::~~':::t~: :::::j~.Iim;r~ ~:c
.ur. ,01.1 rill pro.r. •• t'r.- _ . t a r ••
would print it anyway and that if they could see the blood dripping from the
Qulta • .,.rt t'r_ h.T1n .. no t1 •• at pr. • .nC, 1 o.uldft't objected he would make sure the reason neck.
wrt. t. a ..,thlne _ . , • . . .nd on IC eoalo.·. 1 baT.
a ....ar .entiened IC 0_1 •• ln an, ot' . , writln ... _ tallUl. for their objection got national coverage. Darvin, defending the Code against my
Tbat 1 • .,.rt ot' tho .,tb .bout ." wlob .".1.114 be _ " ' _
by tb1. t1m •• With the cowardice of their convictions, charge of putting EC out of business (we
I 100k04 up tl.,. blbUotttaph1cal not • • t the and ot'
5J,DUCTlOJl "'fnm a_OellCT, the pArt that _ . out .ut the Code people backed down, the story debated at the'" 1966 New York
ot' th. t'lh1.h. o1 book by th. publt..b.r, und ... tho
pr. •• ur. ot' 0_10 book publ1." .... , h. told ID• • t't.r was reprinted. Gaines then killed the ComiCon), said Gaines should be grateful
lt h.d be", 41no wlthout "', knowl04,o:.. It wo. pp.", .rt4
/f00. whloh or• •1 •• 1n.. rr_ .11 the c opl •• or SIDUCTt03l
OJ' 'nfl BINOC..,. •• 1d, .1l0'pt ror ora. . .- .ory r .... __
book and turned his efforts to making a . to the Comics Code Authority for forcing
c opl •• that .11pp04 out b.tor. 1 t ...... dono. I" thllt
I111t, In whh:h I ,IT' tho no_. or .11 tho pubU. lh.r. success of Mad as a magazine. him out of . comics and into such a
r.t. 'II'"r.4 to ln tho tlll:t or thl book, tho n_. or Ie
c_lc' do •• not occur. Mad got out of the comics because successful magazine publishing business.
t can't •• , thlt .t thl' 1,t. d"t, , ,.."1 .,, .r SUXICTIO,.
or nlE I.IfIlOCElfT whlch you D,nUo" _1' 1.>. 1n th. nOllt nu.bor even it was not safe from the censors. A ' That's like a murderer saying you should
or ~,~ l ' ".ry U",oly' "CHILDREN CALL THESE 'HEADLIGHTS' thank him for killing your parents and.
COMICS." If anyone out there knows what the
Charlie Chan satire in Panic, Mad's sister
llIot Wl'hOW~ t" ". . il"""...... satirical comic, had at least one gag making it pssible for you to inherit all
Doc meafls by "headlights" comics, would they
Trodrlc W.rth ••• ". O.
please let us know? We're getting scared that we ruined when the Code had Charlie rip off · their money. .
might be missing something .... a girl's hair when the obvious gag was to Now, THA,T is bad taste. •
From out of the pulsating pages of
the late, great EC horror comics
comes a horrific movie .•. (also out
of MT No.4 a sorta almost reprint
of an ECish article called ••• )
"1lIIB . . . . _

(HIPI"
Yep, gang! You remember all
COMPARISON TIME: I dI.
those great EC comics of the early
1950's (How could you possibly
_'1 ........ d-., tNt Mr.
CuItIint'. rnocHm lTYk"p and
forget with all these great illus on perf~ ~ nCety emul.tII

every page.) that have been ....,...rtist

reprinted as paperbacks and even
now in hard-cover book form
(HORROR COMICS OF THE
1950's)! Well, now five of those
great old tales of murder and
mutilation and corpses rising from
th e grave and · demon-haunted
catacombs and obstacle courses of
walls covered with sharp, new,
glistening razor blades,
and - all-like-that-there! . . . have
been turned into a feature-length
film. starring some biggies in both
the hor ror and the " respectable"
acting fields.
Sir Ralph Richardson. of all the
"respectable" people you 'd least
expect to see, plays the
Crypt-keeper. Not so much the
pungently-punning black-humorist
Cr y pt-keeper who obnoxiously
enhanced the pages of the EC
comix. but a somber. moody,
satanic figure in a monk's robe,
broodingly holding inquisition of
souls as he sits before a huge
•EC G"ham1962
__ originlll "Ghftdy"
'fenian
of the QIe; POETIC
JUSTICE.
skull-shaped altar. But Sir Ralph
isn't .really so "respectable" - the
first film he appeared in was a 1932
shocker. THE GHOUL.
The Crypt-keep~r introduces the
tales, by questioning each of the
main participants in the stories.
Then we flash-back tq each
character's particular doings
(mainly evil), and we see how "the
eVil that men do" not only " lives
after them" but often even chases
after them from the other side of
the grave (or Crypt) . And among
the horrified livi ng and vengeful
undead hunters are "respectabl e"
newcomers to horror Joan Collins
(MlS. Anthony Newley), Patri ck
Magee (currently making waves in
CLOCKWORK ORANGE and
KING LEAR), who puts in a
rem"arkable performance as a blind
The Monster Times page 13

man (one wonders if Mr. Magee

coUld do a bad acting job if he
TRIED) and Richanl G _ . who
used to only buckle swashes in TV's
ROBIN HOOD.
But even great old horror veteran
Peter Cushing does a turn-around in
roles. Instead of either the classic
monster, leering mad doctor, or the
stuffy vampire-stalking police
inspect.or. he plays instead a
sympathetic, aging and
kind-hearted garbage collector who
repairs thrown-away t oys and gives
them to young children. Bet you
weren't ready for that! But rest
assured. before his segment is over,
he takes on a more horrifying
'demeanor, as his photo reveals.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT had
a " World Screamit!:re" on March 7th
in New York City The producers
heartily advised all potential
audiences to put themselves into a
fine mood for the occasion by
"Shrieking their way into the
theater," and thal "A scream will
get them passes into the house."
(ABC T.V. covered the corn-ball
event. but the MT staff missed It all
that night. . seems there was a MORE COMPARISON TIME : Nitti Pnid!:', -"Ia~ to tM .....,.rint.nMnt of th, hom.
good horror flick on channel 2 that for the blind in th, BLiNO ALLEY -.n....t • ..dGeort- Ev",,.- origIMI 1954 in~tation.
nite) . ..... ~rly two dec8yi"l dec.tn..,.
But more news for old EC comix murderers and undead and The EC comix frequently ran
Gu...ur .-.... TO RUlli. H€ NAIl TO
fans, .the stories from TALES RIAaI 1".100ItII "FOR( TMAT bug-eyed-monsters in the EC stories stories of the dead having their final
FROM THE CRYPT, which have ITAINU DOe GlIMNT MIM ~ MIE JIM actually encouraged kids back in justice. a horrifying vengeance,
already seen comic, and 00. THI TWfSTII•• MAZIE COftftI-
DOM_T'MI tGUIIIO 01" TMIE LOf'IH.
the 1950's to develop' their reading often a return from the crypt or
paperback-reprint form. have come skills, and to dis~over the many tomb or burial plot to have the last
to book form; a novelization fantastic universes of wonder and Ghastly laugh . And Bill Gaines and
treatment of the stories! So comix horror to be found in prose storIes. AI Feldstein (who now put out
have evolved to prose. It's been It's really ironic that the very MAD) can revel in the final gloating
shown in various studies (studies comix which certain government glory ... giggling arr the way to the
which weren't publicized until long officials and rival publishing bank. For it seems that TALES
after Senator Estes Kefauver and companies conspired against to put fROM THE CRYPT w;1I be a
'Frederick Werth am... and the out of business, should have this horrific hit.
hypocritical Comic s Code double tribute, yea, honor! of both Let's face it ; no one's ever going
Authority had successfully . ...... t=_11 film and prose adaptation. Those to make a successfu l movie about
ram-t'odcIed the EC horror and who learned to appreciate prose, the Comics Code Authority - I.
science fiction comics out of r••ling EC comix, can come full alone about the late Senator ~
business) that the .,ouls and circle, read ing EC prose. Kefauver (who him?) - •
 page 14
ALTER EGO 10 .
professionally done fanzine
heavily oriented to articles.
Covered are such subjects as Gil
Kane, Joe Kubert (and Tor), and
text.
KIRBY POSTERS. The gods of
Jack Kirby's new ~ntheon. four
of them (Heimdlll, Sigurd.
COMIX: A HISTORY OF
COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA.
This is an attractive hard-cover
book cowering the comic book
phenomenon up to today',
undergrounds, a territOfy not
The Monster Tim••
A
mue'. This is a priza for horror
film fans. The antire issue (SO +
.... pagnI consists of magnificent
K y ;.;.., .
~;.-
full·pege stills from Universal
horror films. look again It
K ....off. Dwight Frya. Rondo
~ttoo • ..,d~Yrdy~M~
$3.00
I ALL KINES COMICS. A
defightful potpourri of artwork
ranging from underground to
I include Dennis Nolan ..,d
Robert Crumb. CoJor covers. 64
pages. $1.00
R
sword and sorcery. ArtiS'~"~_~==;cLI:S:;f,i;;1
B
Y
PORT OF PERIL by Otis
Adabart Kline. A hard'cover
re · iSlue of a famous
science-fiction newe4 located on
Venus. Of spacial intarest are the
I
Baldiur. Honi,) in gloriou,
Kirbycolor. on 11 x 17 posters.
FWIT AKE. A thin 16-P1191
booklet (8% x 111 featuring the
I Denis Fujitake, an wtist of the
Jeff Jonel-Bemi Wfithtson
four illustrations by J . Allen St.
John. one of the . .at marten of
bntasy .rt. $3.00
gothic black·md-whi .. style of tchooI. $1.00 '
Good .todc. $3.00
DIG YOUR OWN GRAVE. Rob
Macintyre is a CaMdian wtist
who is VOUI'I9 and very talantlld.
His WOf'k is collected in a series
of 21 full-page drawif19S dona in
a textured. dram.tic, and
stylized mannar. Startling
portTaits of Patrick McGoohan
(the Prisoner), Jimi Hendrix, Jim
Morrison, and fant.y themes.
. $2.50
•••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••
THE OLDAIIANDONED WAREHOUSE ::.!"...~:~~l •
l\e~OId"""W"""
__ ,..'wIlunl*-t • • ..,CIIIIia,
-.its ... ,.., . . . . . . . . . . . .
.wbil . . . . ItGiMu. ....... . .
_ A l l KINES COMICS $1 .00 MML'___________________
_ SCREEN FACTS 23/24 $3.00 UMW' ___________________
_ FUJI TAKE $UIO
previously explored in any _DIG YOUR OWN GRAVE $2.50
an'________
history of the field . T'hoJoughly _ALTER EGO 10 $1.50 STATE'--___________
........ .... ........................
i llu strated in both
black-and-white and color, the
_ PORT OF PERIL $3.00 ....,._In
ey!:;: .:;,~ H.Y.C. _7'!I. . ....
_ COMIX : A HISTORY OF COMICS IN AMERICA $7.95
books appeal extends even to its _NT 0ICUISlD'__________ " ' - - -
_ KIRBY POSTeRS 12.50
bri\tlt-colored dust-iacket. $1.95
~ ~
n.. Monster Times
Ves, almost the whole erowd of nwdmtn _ hen .. All thtm 1#t00001s...t gobliRlwho put the E.e. Comic. together, in this QUMt lin" dr.wing.
INTERVIEW WITH
BILL GAlli f:5
Bill
•
Gaines and AI Feldstein
started the EC hOfrOf. suspense
and science fiction comic lines.
Bill Gaines now publishes MAD
m.gazine. AI Feldstein (who
once did an imitation of the
MAD comic book tOf' EC called
PANIC, because eYery other
comic book company was
imitating MAD) now is editor of
MAD magazine.
Bill Gaines these day. looks
like a hippy Santa Claus. replete
with a thatch of pepper and salt
hili, and mamoth beard and the
proverbial twinkle in hi. eye. To
look at him, you'd never guess
lilY of these things: (1)-he's
rich beyond belief, (2) because
he publishes MAD rM98zine, (3)
which he does, beause he was
forced to _ndon hi. EC horror
.,v
The drawing . . . don. by the ~n the boy-scoul I,.t on the right .. iumpin' John s.... in.
A MONSTER TIMES
comics line, (4) which he
pioneet"ed in the 1950's when he
inherited a line of
indistinguished comic books
from his bther, (5) M.e. Gaines,
who is called the Johnny
Appleseed of comics, for helping
to foulld sev.... 1 different comic
book companies.
Vour MONSTER TIMES
interviewer met Bill Gaines and
AI Feldstein at the MAD
magazine office up on MADison
Avenue here in New Vawk, New
Vawk. In he sauntered. tape
recorder in h.nd. down • long
hallway. lined with the original
paintings for MAD magazine
WILLIAM M. GAINES •• • '?ubi..., of the ....... EC Horrcw ComlQl
coven. each se,er.1 times the
01 die .-1y fiftM. ...t who .... iIId • publilMr of MAD MAGAZINE,
fitht.. __ ...sing battle for truth, justiw .... "" American WfIV .H size rt appe.red in print. At the
ThM', wit.- the dust.j8dt.t of the ' - " - E.C- Hornw Coma bodl end of the hanway, was the
.'tIIof the ~ pictu.... ~,~ YOU ~.e.t7_ . .1 office of Mr. Willillm M. Gaines.
page 15
Ve Gods! The first thing one
notices as he enters what was
intended to be a respectable
office is KING KONG!. sticking
his snout .t you through a
window. Nope, gang. not •
painting. but • papier-mache
sculpture of the old giant ape
himself. his mouth perpetually
baring fangs and dripping red
tonsils in an eternal snort!
Vour MT inteniewer wanted
to glom on all -the other goodies
in Bill Gaines' office, like an oil
painting by Graham "Ghastty"
Ingels of the Old Witch. strolling
thru a gra,e yard poking her way
from one tombstone to another;
and an oil painting of thrI
Vault-Keeper. by Johnny Craie:
Continued on page 18
 .......
18 The Monster Times

GAINES &
FELDSTEIN
Continued fr"om page 15 " I really believe
that if it hadn' t been
for the comic
investigation.
that we would have
developed
a couple of
steps further.

end another painting, by AI

Feldstein, of astronauts
exploring the m90n, painted
b.ck in the mid-SO's, the
.nro.... uts itre aawting from one
of the ~d finned-bullet rocket
Ihips of Sci-Fi yore, not a space
cap.ule. Yes, your MT
interviewer wanted to glom on
.U tNt there good stuff. as well
as the dozens of MAD blimps
strung from the celing, but Bill
Glines instead ushered your MT
interviewer into AI Feldstein 's
office. which features more
original paintings from MAD
cowen, AI Feldstein at his desk,
end a picture-window view of
smog-Iaden Madison Avenue.
There, the interview began,
ilfter your MT interviewer had
let up the tape recordlH'. and
jumped ri!llt in with the first
question;
TMT: How did th e horror comics
start'!
BILL: AI suggested putting two new
..... , . in two of our erime books.
tMrtided TM V.llt of Hon-or WId The
Crypt of TIIn'Or. W. did spooky type
._on-. ..,.... type stories, ...d
IIw doing this tOf' two " •• _
_itched the tides kom CRIME
PATROL .nd WAR AGAINST
CRIME into THE CRYPT OF
TERROR ,nd THE VAULT
HORROR. THE CRYPT OF
TERROR, .tutr th,.. itaI. _
changed 10 TALES FROM
CRYPT.
TNI ill ...... tty l"'l·hnded Johnny
er-. d8III" iustiC8 lI'I8fteqU:in
....... .
10 •
1h8t toob ~y like big Bill
AL: Y~Qh, and th~re _s Bill's work
f1$ (I publishu. To thIs tim~ h~ 'd ~~n
undu th~ influenc~ of his business
tIS$IOClous. And Bill d~cld~d, I guess
my prodding _s part of it, let
!IOm~body follow Us for 0 chang~,
Malus;r th~ WIly il wor~d- tM
leatkrs in th~ field olWllYs sloyed the
1etJd~rs. When CRIME DOES NOT
PA Y com~ out, it WIlS Ihe Itodu, no
f/'/IOttu what crime books came out
fol/owing il. They .....auld die
twnluolly and CRIME DOES NOT
PAY WIlS stiff making a lot of money.
And w~ decided, lei lhem fol/ow us.
So IW' lOOk of( on $Omtlhing loW' had
fIn.t faith in and #arted a nt'w Iii/e.
Bill put the mon~y into iI, and that's
s1~p one in ~comlng a mature
publisher.
BILL: We had I " I I feeling foIo dNI
t..rnw, Met hlVCng I feeling for jt of
_. _ did I "'tur job. And
thlt', why our horror Ind our K i _
w_
fictiOO'l ...d our ... .....- poaibIy
1M best ,tuff tn.t WIS !Mingd_at
m. time. simpty bec8u,. _ towed
whit _ were doing. And H-"Y
IKllrtz1nlll1 came Ilong . . . WIS
doing .,w books-he loowed wt.lt hit
.,_ doil19 too, so they ntfMteted thlt.
The whole line became books that_
_tid to publdtl. Fortunlteiy they
beAme books th.It _ _ t.d
to buy..
AL: Well the scienc~ fiction- ho, ha-
BilL : Well, Iitat' on the sdenoe
fiction w ....·t selling Ind _ _ nt
OF .. pporti"'ll it with the profits "'om
N honor -.'MI ... ~ lTWfKi~
We 10Yed it so mud!, _ kept
TliE PIIbldtlint I t _ a t I to.,. Thill_
- IIso true of Kurtzm.-.·, _ books.
Aft ... m.K_W_ _ _ ._
book. stoppId .... incI. but . . kept
publithlng for I while bMaI.. they
_ _ so good.
TMT: What were the working
!leUions like? I've read in yOllr book
.bollt brain storminS. writin& •
complete story ,. day .
AL: ThaI's right.
TMT: It mllSt have been like a mini
~ naissance ~ing on, pthering .11 the
p~ciOIlS talent abollt and sitting
down and writing the stuff.
AL : What precious talent? Bill and I
wrote 011 the stories except (or the
onu that Johnny Croig pla u ed with
BfII.
TMT: I meant p recious art talent!
AL: Oh, wd/, os far f1$ th~ O("t tolent
~ concuned that ~ somt!lhing thot
de\lf!loped in (trm1 of dewloping
each indillidual grllst IQ do his
intlillidual style. Now this _5
somt!lhlng that hodn't been done 100
much in the comics eithu. There WIl$
imitalion of styles. And books were
suri/e and "ally had no character.
We encour09f!d each arlist to dewlop
his Olollfl slyle, tKtually wrote and
lailored the stories based on the
artist's ability and style. Grahom
always did the Old Witch and kind of
golhlcy Sluff. And 0 finished, neat
artist like Jack Kamen did the
modern, triangle stories with a
husband and wife filling in 1M
suburbs behind a pick~t f~nc~.
because his style lent himself to that.
BILL: I thought it w. more than
thlt. When _ At dooofm 10 wriM I
Jtor'(. _ _ _ writing tM.tory for a
perticulll" Irtist.. So OM day _ lit
down to wriM • story I would II'( to
AI :""Tod..,- _ ~ I _ ~
story fcH Gr.... m I......' to write."
we would think in thlt direction.
And the Ame thing with Klmen. to
tilt, N two Dtrema.. If _ At
down to write I 7 page Klmen story,
it had to be for Kamen. n-efOf••
I do whit h. did in "Mister R_," I
..... ·1 a very Nrly .... 01 of the
Ghaldy _ . Gpham IHomr _ .
. how', by .h imll,....
we thollght along thOM lines
... tomatieilly. Nlturalty. if _'rl
IItil~ing the strong points of eYer'(
artkt deliberltely, right there. you"1
gonnl ItWt off with a big actYantagi.
At: Yeah, bul you know what
you're skipping ollf!r? The fact that
this ...." 0 rellOlutionary kind of
working in the comic fi~/d. I don't
think anybody every .....arked this
_yo
BILL: E~thing _ tlilor made.
AL : Right, I don't think artislS were
encouraged to bnak out Into their
own styles. When lock Davis walked
into our office wilh his nutty Style,
we em;ouroged h;m to work in that
style.
BilL : That _ your doing. You
encourl!fllld him to work in thlt Ityll.
I had nothing to do with it.
AL: Okoy, but che point is, that is
why our books had a look about
them. Each artist wos .....arklng his
own way. When Harvey Kurtzman
walked In and WI! first started /0 use
him in the crime and in Ih~ science
fiction, MIt! en(.ouragtd him to .....ark
in his style. And his style was unique
in comics at that time. And Berni
Krigstein come long afier We we
doing things and he had a whole;Je w
rellOlutionary way of working. He
WIlS enCQuroged.
BilL: Up to I point-hi, hi. hi. hi.
0.
•. c:eruinly not MAD'I Ales
A L: Well, yeah, but I think, I really
~J/eve, that If It hadn't been (or the
comic inwstigotion. and if Beml
Krigste;n had started to work with
us, that we would have dewloped th~
art a couple of steps further. It ~
apparent in some of the things that
he was doing .
BILL: Oh yes, don't misunderr;tWld
that. Whit I'm trying to"Y is Berni
inYwilbly .,.,t beyond whit _ had
hoped th.i he would do.
AL: But the point is that we
permitted/to
BILL : W. didn't permit it. _ didn't
hwl fnlldl choi~. He jllst did it.
Berni kind of forC8d m. itale.
AL: Y~oh, but I ocJmowledged the
wlent.
Bill : You couldn't deny the ..lent
AI , bIIt hid he _ed parmi_on to
think I wOIIId heYe Aid "No." HI
didn't _ . h' just did it. He chopped
the wtlole goddlmn story up. IIld
pasted it bide tOglther his own wrr.
Ed. HOle' "Ma.ter Race" "an be .,een
in the E.C. HORROR LIBRARY
relllewed In thil blu e.
HO, . YEP .
BEGAN . JACK (HAPPY-BOY) KAMEN
CIJII/£ TO WORK FOR E.C ., TURNING
OUT SWEET CHARMIliG UTTLE LOVE
TALES ABOUT SWEET CHARMING
PEOPLE III SWEET CHARMING SITUA-
TIONS' HIS STUFF WAS... THATS
RIGHT_SWEET AN' CHARMING~
THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK AT E.C ....
fi~JrlIII.
AL: But' think he demonstrated
something thaI might hallt! ~en
\Aery ••
BILL : Oh ya. he demonstrated thlt
he knew ""t"llit he WII doing, btlt I'm
jllstsaying thlt .
AL: Well, in any case, this was the
way we worked. Wt were
ope~minded.
TMT: Getting into the earlier
sta tem ent, .bout having afmity for
the horror and the crime and
su.spensc Slories, where did that
afinity co me from ? Mainly from the
pulps and radio? Who were YOllr
favorite .uthors whe n you were
growing lip?
AL: Well, from a lIisual point of lIiew,
I rememlUr the old horror movies. I
sow the first Frarl kenstein, Dracula,
and the ones that followed. Gee, I
don't remember i( I was Influenced
that much by horror writers. The
#range thing was that I started to
reud horror only after I started to
write the stuff. When it came to
science fiction, my writing of science
fiction was my Introduction to it. Bill
introduced m~ to some of the
writers.
Continued on page 30
HOW IT
 COMICS AS EDUCATION

GILL-MAN GETS PENNED IN!
Dear Sirs:
The Monster Times is really REALLY
great! I have never seen any thins like it.
Keep up the fantastic work. Format wise
TMT needs no changing. Leave it like it
is.
I've followed your mag since No. I,
and' it gets better every day. You guys
must have a pretty big staff to cover all
the in-depth reports you print. They're
just great.
. Because of your big article on THE
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK
Dear Editor,
1 am writing to you to tell you how
much J appreciated your response for my
letter asking about the ed ucational vaJue
of comics. Our side of the gro up which
was for comics won by a landslide of the
vote. (And to think that when I proposed
we have this debate the class thought it
childish.) Well here's how the debate
went: Two groups consisting of three
people each, those for and those against.
Each group had to let information on the
topic and prove his belief. The jury
consisted of five classes (about 110
people). They were the first to speak,
they thought they had us beat! They
came up with articles from books, quotes
by psychiatrists and all that bunch, (and
I'll bet those dudes never read The
Monster Times.) I lot mad , seeing how
little some people think of comics! Then
it was our turn and did our side put on a
show! I started by surprising everybody
by reading your letter, on each from Stan
Lee, Carmine Infantino, Jack Kirby, and
Sal Gentile. The auditorium was aJl kinds
of quiet. Then we hit them with a
presentation on the screen of my artwork
-and as I explained the ideas from each
.page, my friend and co-artist friend Joe
Suzzolion played the Three DOl Night
record " Family of Man" on a stereo set
all through the intercom of the school! !
The jury was rollina with enthusiasm!
The principaJ of the school was there and
he surprised us all by orderina all the
English classes down to see the debate!
All of this was made possible thanks to
you and aJI your great staff, to whom I
say Thank You.
Frank Alarcon, This sketch came lumberina into our offJ(:C one day last week on its o ...n
Newark, New Jersey stCllm ... DO leiter ... just a name (J. Jusko), address (N.Y.C.), and an aae (only
13). We dua the dr .... ina enough to share it ...ith all our readen.
We thank YOU, Frank for aiviDJ us the
opportunity to defend comies in publk:. THE BOOK OF UN-KNOWLEDGE! quality sharply after No, 13 issue and
We have alw.ys felt that comic boob a« gone downhill ever since." I , for one, am
more than just an mtertainment medium. Dear Monster Times, fed up with F.M. and C,O.F. Monster
As ...e mentioned to you in your letter, 1 erijoy your newspaper very m4Ch. A Times is a blessing to us horror and
comtcs are used as readina aids all over few weeks ago my parents bought me the fantasy lovers. Lonl live Monster Times.
the country. And, our converqe of EC Encyclopedi. Britannica. Reader forever;
eomics unea.ered the bets that back in The thins I dis1i.ke is that there is Tim Ferrante
the 1950's, EC had anti-druI, about monsten. What can we do Keyport, N.J,
anti-racial-discriminatlon and

- -
anti-poUution stories before they beeame Thank your Fire Department for us, Tim.
popular. And don't worry about FM and COF.
They're all burned up about us already!

LAGOON, I am enclosing a drawing I
have done of the Gill-Man. Hope you can
we it.
""'.
Ted Richichi
Dear Ted:
Yea, we can · ue ... and ARE (like
riabt here!) printina .•• your $ketch.
Gt.d to hear TMT inIIpires you. We sure
A LUGOSI LOVER
Dear Editor,
I have been reading your newspaper
since it fint came out, and so 1 thought
that I would drop you this letter and let
you know how much I enjoy it .
Your articles are well done and very
informative. The posters are areat, Kinl
Konl is the best yet!
I am a Dracula fan at heart and amonl
those who hold the memory of Bela
LIlIOsi very dear. I have many thoughts
on the subject of Mr. Lupi, but for now
I just wish to say this; Lugosi was the
Prince of evil, the likes of which we will
never behold apin. We all know that
Boris Karloff was areat, of this there is no
question but let us also live credit wl1ere
MT HITS THE TURNPIKE
Dear Editor:
This is to thank you for the nifty fmt
issue. I picked it up in New Haven and on
my return trip to school in Washington, it
helped me avoid most of the New Jersey
Turnpike. I had been waitinl a long time
for such a publication, but I never did
believe one would ever materialize. It's
Jiven the Star Trek Society at A.U. quite
a treat (Actually, we refer to ounelves as
the Enterprise Ground Crew).
Obviously, Star Trek did and still does
mean many things to many different
people . Fantasy. Science Fiction.
We don't know if Superman counts u a
Adventure. We can re-create the past with
monster, but ...e think that if
westerns, mass-produce the present with

-
dia seUina art &. pix from all our wrote a letter to the company, we're sure
the situation-comedy, but only in the

readers ... keep lCo'dina those careb Il
TWICE AS NICE?
DearMT,
I very much enjoyed "Hot Prints
Anyone?" by Gary Gerani in No.7. Beina
an avid collector of posters, pressbooki,
lobbies, etc., I'd like to see an article on
this phase of fandom. My subscription
has yet to reach No.7, but on seeing it on
the newsstand several days ago I picked it
up without even thinking it'll be coming
in the mail shortly. I plan now on buying
two copies of every issue because who
knows what kind of collecton items
they'U be in the future. Keep up the good
work.
Best Wishes,
John Antosiewicz,
Perth Amboy, NJ.
Gee, John, you tum our aery little beads
with that much praise. Don' t stop,
tboop, we kind of like It!
-
that they'd put in !JOme monsten for us.
ETen smut people like monsters! future can we make credible our
su p pose d human capacity for
brotherhood. Had "Star Trek" shown
only the great technological strides in
MT: A FIERY ISSUE! whiz-barn gadgetry, instead of eclipsing
Dear Editor: this with the human outcome of 200
years, I doubt it would have claimed such
Let me be the fllSt to shake your claw!
"Monster Times" is the hottest thing on a following as it did. Or, shall I say, still
does. Keep up the lunacy.
the newstands. (I'm not kiddinl! It took
Vicky Dann
our fire department 1/2 hour to put out
the stand in town!) Washinlton D.C.
In aJl seriousness, your mag/newspaper
Nice to hear from. female f.n, Vicky!
is a fresh new way to Look at the monster
Glad to kno ... we helped you 'round the
scene. No truer words were ever said
when a letter writer in MT #4 stated : bend. L~ve lona and prosper!
credit is due and Bela LllIosi is long over
due for it. Think for a moment, what
would have happened if LUIOSi had not
turned down the role of Frankensteins
monster? This man deserves the
recosnition he never got.
While we a.ree that Luaesi was the
ereatest, how can you say he didn't set
enouah publicity? Luaosi u Dncula is a
clasaie the world a.er.

IWANT
YOUFOR
THE
EC
CON!
Cornie conventlons are fun for a
while. After you've been to four or
five. though, they begin to mesh
into a mold of sameness, banality.
if you wilL At every convention
you see the same people, the same
professionals and the same items
for sale. This is especially true in
the big city areas where
conventions flourish.
But, the EC FAN ADDlCI'
CONVENTION (we hope) will be a
welcome breath of fresh air. You've
alr.eady read how great E.C. was
and the convention w ill give you a
chance to say hello and rap to the
people who made it great. People
who you normally don't see at
conventions. People who. even after
twenty years, st ill respect EC for
what they are; The best comics ever
produced!
Most of the creators w ill be
there. Bill Gaines and AI Feldstein
will be there. Many of the great
artists (Krenkel, Williamson,
Kurtzman, Elder, Wood and
Kamen) will definitely be there.
Many more are expected to attend.
It's going to be a bash comic lovers
haven't seen in years.
The convention is being held in
New York City at the Hotel
McAlpin, located at Broadway and
34th Street. from May 26th to May
29th. The convention planners are
expecting a minimum of 1000
fan-addicts , with expected
attendance reaching 2000. Price for
admission is $5 for all four days, or
$2 a day.
Now, to the best part, what you
get for your hard-earned dollars:
Saturday, there will be an EC
HORROR PANEL, an EC WAR
PANEL, an auction and a screening
of Harvey Kurtzman's old movies
on the EC crowd.
Sunday offers an EC SCIENCE
FICDON PANEL and an Awards FRANKENSTEIN. And, the
Presentation (in which all members current · smash hit blood curdler,
of the convention are allowed to TALES FROM THE CRYPI' will be
vote) . Monday. the final day, is shown three times (twice Saturday
when the convention planners will and once Sunday). Free of charge,
spring a surprise EC PANNEL on no less!
us, and we won't even try and guess Now aren't you glad you're
what will be going on there. going to the convention.
And, even if you hate EC comics There are also other goodies that
MEMORIAL DAY
WEEKEND
HOTEL MC ALPIN - NEW YORK CITY
MAY 26-29, . 1972
Let us entertain you
at the first annual •••
if. Q!.lJ1au-Abbitt
Co~".e~ t:l.o~
(perish the thought) there is the convention folk witl be serving
something for you. Classic old up for you. By special arrangement ·
horror movies will be shown free at with Bill Gaines, an entire room of
the convention. They include; THE the convention will be overflowing
HORROR OF DRACULA, with E.C. original art. These classic
BUCKET OF BLOOD, DOCl'OR drawings have NEV~R been on
X , and CURSE OF display (Mr. Gaines keeps them in a
The Monster nmes
"Heh, heh! •.• No gettin'
- I I ' ( from me, kiddies. It's YOU I
want! So come on down, to . " •
Heeee, hee . . " No, not thlt fir
down. Just far enuff to get you to
The Hot1ll McAlpin right sm~ dab
in the middle of Fumin" Fun City.
Breathe I U that putrescent lir
deeply, 9Ing ... you don't get
mud! of it out in them open
IIPlcas! See YIIN
locked vault) and probably will
never be shown again. It may be
your lone chance to see all the
beautiful EC art in it's original size.
And, for you limited-edition
collectors, there will be a beautiful
92 page EC CONVEN'I'ION BOOK,
which will be on sale for $4
(perhaps a bit high .. . but take a
peek anyway) at the conventiQn.
It's filled with interviews With the
EC people, reprints of old EC
stories, and, to ice the cake, an
original WaDy Wood cover drawn
especially for the convention.
Now that we've told you what's
going to happen at the convention,
how can you possibly not attend.
As usually there will be a large
dealer area where anything and
everyth ing will be on sale. But we
may inject a note of caution: EC
comics wiJI probably be very high
so be careful.} There will be dozens
of items besides EC com ies and
fanzines, too!
And.. if you still aren't
convinced, we can only offer one
other item. If EC doesn't enthrall
you, art bores you, and horror
flicks turn you off, then you can
always come just to see the
hard-working staff of THE
MONSTER TIMES. We'll be the
ones trying to date the three
witches! •
-.JOE 8RANKA TELLI
 21

If the
good Dr.
_ .... BY JOE
.0 • ...7 BRAII[CATELLI

knew...
Funny how comics and mO¥i8$ playoff
each other. They say creative people a...
hard to find. They' ,. right l But there
seems to be a multitude of creative
copien (nothing new under the sun and
all that there . .. )
So thanks to the vast MONSTER
TIMES research staff (3 old ladies), here
are some very interesting comparisons
between E.C. comics .nd movies
(remembering that E.C. comics ~in
your mind, pervert your desires and
make you a juvenile delinquint . . . The
movies are okay. thouWl .. . expecially
the "X" jobs!)

••. Prints news. reuiews. preu;ewa,
grues-flashes ferreted out by BILL
FERET, Monsterdom', amwer
ROM Barret. Bill is in Iihow-biz;
,inger, dancer, actor and has many
contacts in the domain of
Entertainment; filma, TV, live
stage, and all like that. Where other
monsterpubs get.. new, to you
months after a film's already been
..leased, BiU Fe ..t'. TELETYPE
lives up to its name, and 1'euetJls to
you info of hon:or (lix &- cetera
when they 'Joe stiU only in
production. Imp..,. friend and
fjend 4like with iMIdo info on
monaler moud tluJt IuJven't even
been made yet! GoIIuuootie, _ !
"enry Farrell, who wrote "BBby
Jane, ... has in the works "'SHOCKING," a
little horror gem concerning two sisten
trying to do each other in. The lovely
lBdies may be (and "lovely" they lIf'f1) A ....
Gardner.,d Lana Tumer.
Damiano Domiani is set to film "THE
roRTURERS." This "pizza pic" stars
"'" WHY lovely Florinda Bo/klm.
There 's t o be a feature film
",..ntBtion based on the lon~ronning
Australian tt./ese' 'ps "HOMICIDE. "
The legendaty Liz Taylor is set to star
in the celluloid Vf:rsion of the Broadway
thriller "NIGHT WATCH." LaurenctJ
HBfIIeY plays the heavy. Joan Hacket t
essayed the heroine ', role on the stage
.,d received rave reviews..
Scheduled for filming in 73 is
"'GETI'ING RID OF MR. STRAKER."
Roger Moore, Lee Remick, Orson Welles
lind Terry· Thomas are sta"ing, with
locations shooting in London.
"DADDY YOU KILLED ME," by
playwright Nick Cosentino, is due for
rel8BS8 soon.
CON-CALENDAR ~
DATE CONVENTION
Mliy26·29 E.C. FAN· ADDICT C ON VE~ TI ON
FRI. SAT. 2623 Silver Coy,t
SUNS. MON East MNdow. N.Y. 11 554
THE S ECO ND SUNDAY
PHIL S EULING
JUNE 11
2883W. 12
B· KLYN. N.Y. 11224
PULp·CON
JUNE 9-11 ED. WESSEL
FRI .• SAT•• SUN . BOX 15853. OVERLAND BRANCH
ST. LOUIS. MO. 63114
NEW YORK COMICON
JULV'·5 PHil SEULING
_
~T. THRU WEO. 2883 W. 12
B'Kl YN. N.Y. 11224
The CON-CAlEND~R is. $pIC"1 exctusR.
'-tu,. of THE MONSTER ' IMES. AcrOSl thi'
gnat a.nd of oun If.
quall'lt and curious
~ of quaindy curious zealots. The
..~ caNed " convantiOl'l5." and tha
....
z"'ott, c:.tl.t "f_," ........ thl attention of
fHI .... non-fans .Iike, '*- thi' trail-blazini
To te.o. r.dartwho'" rwvar ~ to OM of
~ ~ ..,... we raeommMd It.
I don't know just who Paul Naschy is:
but he', starring in . ... ~"nIE CRIMES
OF DR. PETIOT." "DR. JEKYLL VS.
THE WEREWOLF," and "THE
HYENA. ...
My illusive notes concerning II film
called " LADY FRANKENSTEIN"
proved true after all . .. sort of ... i(s
not doing much business in Dayton,
Ohio. But there just how much business
can o"e find in Dayton, Ohio?
LOCATION
HOTEL McALPIN
BrOldway 80 34th St,Nt
N_York City
ST A TLER· HI LTON
33rd ST & 7th AVE.
NEW YORK CITY
COLONY HOTel
7730 BON HOMME
Clayton. Mo.
STATLER·HILTON
3Jrd ST 80 7th AVE.
NEW YORK CITY
Oetraeton of IUch .......u put them down by
saying that thIIy' ,. just. bunch of eartoonistl
and ~tane. 'iction writan and comic: book
publishers tatkins. .nd signing aut...,.... fo,
fans who. lik. ma",,". SfMIId suml on
out·of·de1l comtes. Kiene. ftetion pulPS••nd
monstlf movie stilts. But thllt'. just tha r.son
for going. If yOY want • cou.... of .~
picturws of OrKUt. or King Kong. or • 1$43
copy of Airboy Comics (God alone ~n_ wh.,)
The Monster
''MAN FOR ALL SEASONS"
difrlCtor, FnNi Zinneman will direct
Universal's "DAY OF THE JACKAL ..
Also Robert Altman (MASH,
BREWSTER MeCWUD) will be directing
"'IMAGES. H This macabre entry s tars
Susllnnah York and the bird-profes:sor
from BREWSTER McCLOUD) Rene
$p8Jish productions Jel
for fJ7mk,g ." otIer the world Mr.
Naschy's going to be "'l!fY busy, tlrey'w
been ulling him "The St»nbh
All aisting prints 01 the cIasic FaY
ChristophtJr Lea. H
_ film af 1933. "THE MYSTERY OF ;
The 1973 ~i..UNACON, the I.qIa general
,aence-f"lC'tion convention on the e.t
Co.t. will be held April 20 - 22 next
THE WAX MUSElDI. Mre thou;,t to
H
Nve been lost or denrayed, until the
Amt!Irian Film InstitutB in WalhingtOn
year. For information on this imporUnt
~ one, just one prinl of thtI Rn
fan function, conuet: AJ Stftuster. P.o.
. Box 95. New Von.. NoV.. 10011. (With AJ two-coIor Technicolor film ;,; tJX~/en1
<loin' it" we hope it will be better Itwt this conditkJrL This was .the film upon which
.,.e.',11 -,.oUSEOFWAX-wast.lttd.
Michael GtBI!r, lara 01 "FORTUNE .
Stella SteMms and Jim /JroIrNn are
AND MEN'S EYES, - hili the starring ro/~
co-starred in AlP's new production called ., a new Gothic chiller tided -nIB
"SLAUGHmR. ~
NIGHT OF 11IE BLOOD MOON. "
Just winding up shootong on "'SUPER
INVlSmLE MAN, - Star Det.l Jones will
Filming sl.rts - nex t on
"FIr'TY-FIFTY'" with ., ·originM
f.'1
essay the role of naARON VON
a:nenplly by Eric Roth. It's hBlf horror
MUNCHAUSEN,~' • . . if they can. find
.,d half terror.
h;ml
Pi~fr;, bcrsed (PimburrjJ?J film
French film actor, .Jean Loois
C(Hf1pany Laflmt I~, Inc.. who /art
Trintignant, who is curnmtly starring in
gNe us "'NIGHT OF 11IE U VING-
the who·dun · it murder m ysrery
"WITHOUT APPARENT MO'I1VE" is
DEAD, - hINe oompltltlld prrxIuction on •
thriller titled -JACK'S WIFE" and lITf!
slated to star in a new film, "ONE nNE
starling production on uTHE CRAZIES,"
DAY." The new flick deals wi th the son
concerning bacteriologiul warfare.
of a butcher Vllho revenges his !ather's
Surpri11tld tMy didn't call it "'NIGHT OF
death by killing the nine men 'IIIho
11IE KILLING BUG/"
sent.enced him to die.. (Ah, bat who will
clean up the ma:s;s ••• murder}) (Tht1
more the bury-er})
PRICE FEATURES
V.riOY I Pric. THE GREATEST
Writ. Con For HORROR COMIX
Mora Infonn8tlon 'OF ALL TIME
If you 'woe ew:r wanted to be a butcher,
COMIC BOOK
$1.00 this is the one to be, Richard Burton will
DEALERS & COllECTORS
110 A.M. to
.P.M.l No 5pec:,., G UIItS be playing the role of ~-aLUEBEARD."
He'll be eliminating such lovely lovelies as
PULPS. AUTHORS
Raquel Welch (Tha(/J talce some doing),
$2-&prt.
Philip ..... F _ Virna Usi, Nttthalie Delon, Marilu ToIo,
SA-AdYne.
56- At Door Edmond H_ifton .-.J Joey Heatherton. If his beard is blUtI,
& . . -.
;t's probably ~ ht!'s sorry.
Info-Not
MeM Comic Book .... United Artists will bn»dy for releastJ
Av.labl. Comic Strip ArtiIa. and in June "EVIL EYE.. .. Pic will fens ;n
THOUSANDS of F_ LikI
Write Con.
Younalf tor 5 DAYSl Maniltt in color. Femme lead is none
other· than the M!IY beauteous Antoinette
or if you wish to _ daaaic honor .... _ _ _
fiction filrm;. or rr.- t:ha stars vi old t i _
Bower who you may remember lIS the
wItTy .son::eress in the STAR TREK
mowl. 1IfiI.... or today"l top comic book .-tid episode by RobHt Bloch entjtled
and wriUor$-Gr if you jusc want to ~ otW
" CATSPAW." Aubrey Schenck is
mOM_ or comics ciMlce fiction fnab. lib
you"" . and ...,. you',. not ....... in .....
worl d, OR if you want to meat ..... ......
Producer. Mr. Schenck will then go into
production on "DAUGHTERS OF
damantad lunatics who brine -.t THE
MONSTER TIMES. ............ Nit _ of SATAN, ... which will be • wi~
__ ~W."'y .1
~

"THE ETRUSCAN KILLS AGAIN"
(when was he hen before?) stars Alex
Cord, Samantha Eggar and John (LOVE
STORY's Daddy) MarltIY. It's double
billed with ''BLOODY BUTI'ERFLY."
(Can't be Io'I!'fY colorful.) How about
''OODZlLLA SINGS.?" KlMI, no, not
really, ~t me further explain lest you
have a sudden bunt of euphorie
Since no one we know reads THE NEW
YORK POST, we thought you might like
to see this item that appeared on it's
front page. on Tuesday, April 25, 1972.
Is this what we traded two musk ox for?
We think President Nixon should go back
and demand at least two ping pong
players.
Ccmplainl Complainl That'$ all she ever does..
If it weren't for her looks, I'd /ewe her in a minutB . ..
oriental monsters as Godzill{l, Rodan,
Mothra, etc., will be filled with the stnJins
from thfI score of the new einama
musical, ·" MARco." It will $Urely be a
borderiiM fantasy film with Toho in top
form with itl miniature masterPieces and
super rpet:ial eff«ts. Zero Mostel will
lIbIy portnty thfI Great Kubla; Kahn and
Desi Amaz, Jr. will essBY the role of Mr.
Polo, ;rlIIentor of the shortl/t!8'IIe shirt.
Watch for Peter Brooks celluloid
version of his stage triumph ,
"M IDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. "
Columbia will /ens this Shakespearean
piece and has also obta;,'/ed the rightl to 8
contemporary venion of '1.JLIOM."
which served as the basis for the caissie
musical-fantasy "CAROUSEL I f
Federico Fellini may be filming ''THE
VOYAGE OF MASTORNA," a fantasy
about death and resurrection. He plans
for it to be his final authobiographical
film.
ConventiOl1!i 8re 9Rtting longer aod more
excitiog this year. THE DETROIT
TRIPLE FAN FAIR & STAR TREK CON.
will be on October 19 - 22this '(tM. Held
at the Detroit Hilton and Towen, one of
the faociest hotels in the cit'{, it wilt be a .
combined treat this vear. FO( comics faos,
the guest of honor will be Nu' Act.ms
(Jim StIIr"o may also be on hand). And,
for sci·fi and film fans _rywhere,
extra-speQ81·fantastic-surprise-guest will
be Get.- Rod:tenbeny (and possibly MT$.
Roddenberry, the former Majel ... NUrM
~ . Barrett). A fantastic film
progOHTl, ineludil19 a great maoy S~ Trek
episodes, aocl a $HlO prize for the best
masquerade costume, promise to make
this an exceptional Coo. Write to
D.T.F.F., Dept. 1. 14845, Am", Allen
P8rk, Mich. 48101 fO( more info.
MOVIE POSTERS
PRESSBOOKS. STILLS. PROGRAMS
Actual Posters Used By Theatres
Thousands of Titles Available
CATALOG '1.00 (A.fuf'ldMt with order)
The Cinema Attic. Departnwnt L
P.O. Box 7172 • Phil•. , Pa. 19101
Comic books, fanzines, stills, posters,
Big-Little books, dealers, <,olleclors:
and The Monster Times folk! Every
;"'SECOND SUNDAY!" at the
Statler·Hilton, 33rd St. & 7th Ave.
N.Y.C.lOAM to4PM. AdmiSSion$l.OO
WANTED-Old radio and
comix premiums, to expand our
museum of relics, trivia and the
lore of 20th ,.Century pop-art.
Things like the BUCK ROGERS
PISTOL, 0' a CAPTAIN
MIDNIGHT DECODER
RING ... and all the rest of the
stuff. These things have a place
•
Two P¥leI,from BADTIME STORIES, by Berni Wrightson.
Badtime Stories
Baneful Berni Wrightson's
brought out a bashingly brilliant
book; BADTIME STORIES.
Regular readers of THE MONSTER
TIMES know wrenching Wrightson
from his immortal color poster of
' Boris Karloff's FRANKENSTEIN
in the centerfold of MT No. I, and
your bottom dollar can be bet that
you'll be seeing more of his morbid
phantasmagorically creep ish,
I circusful .o f ghouls and goblins,
freaks and fiends, and doom ish
demons in future issues of this
wonderful monster newspaper.
But in the meanest of whiles,
though, you can have a 48 page, .
permanentlY,-bound slick-paper
softcover creepish classic of six
soul-annihilating solo stories of
mystery and macabre, Berni's
weirdly-wrought, wr£sht-on
BADTIME STORIES. We reviewed
them in MONSTER TIMES NO.6,
recieved so much mail, that we
:ar:~:r:~t:;k of them for you
BADTIME STORIES is all
23
SCIENCE FICTION,
FANTASY ANO HORROR
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films.
20,000 Listings; 50 Countries; 75
Years: Extensive Information :
Thorough Cross-References. For a
content sample send a stamped,
self-addressed envelope to: Walt
Lee, P.O. Box 66273. Los Angeles,
CA9-0068.
in our history, and we have a
place for them on our shelves.
Please send description and
condition of items, plus the
price you're asking; to TMTM,
(THE MONSTER TIMES
MUSEUM),P.O. Box595,OId
Chelsea Station, New York,
N.Y., 10011 ,
, ..THE 06RE €>A51'S
AND 5TRU66LES BUT I
CLlN6 TO HIM LIKE THE
WOLF TO THE BEAR . , ,
THE SWEAT BEADS AND
ENCIRCLES MY 8ROW AND
THE 06RE SCREAMS. ,
MOVEMENTS SLOW
FINALLY CEASE ..
HE PROWNS IN HIS
BLOOD ..
Wright, son! Monster-sized (8W' x
11"), and monster-oriented, with
color paintings on the front and
back covers, and spine-chilling
black and white artwork inside, it's
a steal at the measly 55.00 per copy
we're asking. (Though we won't teU
you who's stealing from whom!)
So fill ou t the coupon below,
and send it into THE MONSTER
TIMES folk. Would we ever steer
r----- .,
you wrong?
Wrighl·on! Wrightson's writhingl),
:i:~~:raf;f~~ ~an::!~g:n~e~orl~ I
Rush---eopies of BADTIME
~~~R!~!8:! $~.O~a~~~in~oP{$:.I;~ I
I ~O~~)~~~STER TIMES
BOX 595
I New York, N.Y. 10011
I NAME_ _ _ _ _ _ __
ADDRESS _ __ _ _ __
- -- --.- -',
~o I CITY_ _ _ STATE _ _ ZIP_I
'!""
~

EC com ics are mu rder on a
collector. They changed titles,
numbers, and classifications as
often as you change channels on a
television set. It was almost a game;
which comics could have more
changes in one year!
Simply, EC ran a line of comics
ca lled OLD TREND_ They ran from
1946 until 1950_ Then EC
introduced their famed NEW
TREND which is what this issue has
talked about. All those great horror
and sci-fi comics came from the
NEW TREND. Some New Trend
titles were new books, but some
just changed their titles from OLD
TREND comics, keeping the same
numbering. Then when the new
TREND was a success, they
changed their numbering, so some
NEW TREND titles have more than
one issue with the same number.
When the NEW TREND died,
the NEW DIRECTION comics
appeared, they were all new titles,
with new numerings. For once EC
Uke any collector, an EC fan is a nutl
He', crazy in a loveable way. Fo.- yean
now, the EC fan has been writing about
the late lamented EC line, reprinting
storin from the comics, and in their
aowning achievement, will hold the first
EC FAN ADDICT CONVENTION in
New Yo.-k in May. For the benefit of the
MONSTER TIMES reader, here's a little
list of some EC products above and
beyond the EC comic books:
PAPERBACKS - The Ballantine Book
Company introduced a series of
paperbacks which reprinted many of the
clas:sic EC stories. When the series was
initilJted in 1965, the price was 15f per
copy, and the publishers planned many
volumes. But, to the everlasting dismlJ'l of
EC fans, only one of each title was
printed. The titles were TALES FROM
THE INCREDIBLE, TALES FROM THE
CRYPT, THE AUTUMN PEOPLE, and
VAULT OF HORROR In TALES FROM
THE INCREDIBLE. ·the flJmed EC !lICe
discrimination story "Judgement Dey"
W8S reprinted in it's entirety. THE
AUTUMN PEOPLE is unique: it reprinted
all the stories thlJt EC tJdapted from the
Unless you've· a small fortune
accumulated under your pillow. you're
not likely to be able to purchase many of
the classic old EC comic books. In
comparison to a few years 890 when the
price of an EC was about a buck. EC's
today rarely go for less than $5 a copy.
An average copy of TALES FROM
The Monster Times
*Weird Fantasy 13-18 (May!Jun OLO Animal Fables 1-6
50-Mar/Apr 51) whi~h changed its TRENO: (Jul/Aug 46-5ep/Oct 47)
numering Animated Comics 1 {Spr
*Weird Fantasy 7-22 (Mlly/Jun 48}
51-Nov/Dec 53) which then Blackstone the Magician
combined with Weird Science to Detective Fights Crime 1
become (FaI47)
*Weird · Science Fantasy 23-29 (Mar Dandy Comics 1-7 (Spr
54-May/Jun 55) which beCame 47·Spr 48)
* I ncredlble Science Fiction 30-33 Land of the Lost 1-9
(Jul/Aug 55-Jan/Feb 56) (Jul/Aug 46-5pr 48)
International Comics 1-5 (Spr Modern Love 1-8 (Jun/Jul
Fat and Slat (Sum 47-5pr. 48) 47-Nov/Dec 47) beCame 49-Aug,tSep 50)
beCame International Crime Patrol (Spr 48) # 6 Tiny Tot Comics 1-10
Gunfighter 5·14 (Sum 48--Mar/Apr. 50) which became (1946-Nov/Oec 47)
which became Crime Patrol 7-16 (Sum 48-Mar/Apr
*The Haunt of Fear 15-17 (May/Jun 50) which then beCame NEW Crime SuspenStories 1-27
5o-Sep/Oct 50) which split in two TREND: (Oct/NOli 50-Feb/Mar 55 )
"
*Two-Fisted Tales 18-41 (NOli/Dec
' Frontline Combat 1-15
(Jul/Aug 51-Jan 54)
5O-Feb/Mar 55) and Mad (comic) 1-23
*The Haunt of Fear 4-28 (Nov/Dec (OctjNov 52--May 55)
50-Nov/Dec 54) Panic 1-12 (Feb/Mar
The Happy Houlihans 1-2 (Fal 47-Win 54-Dec 55/Jan 56)
47/48) beCame Piracy 1-7 (Oct/Nov
Saddle Justice 3-8 (Spr 48- Sep/Oct 49)
54-oct/Nov 55)
which becalTle Shock SuspenStories 1-18
Saddle Romances 9-11 (Nov/Dec {Feb/Mar 52-Dec 54/Jan
49-Mar/Apr SO) which became 55}
*Weird Science 12-15 (May/Jun *New Trend Comics which
50-Jan/Feb 51) which changed its
were originally Old Trend
numbering Comics
*Weird Science 5-22 (Jan/Feb
51-Nov/Dec 53) *The Crypt of Terror 17-19 (May/Jun
Moon Girl and the Prince 1 (Fal 47) 5O-Aug/Sep 50) which then
became became
Moon Girl 2-6 (Win 47/48-Mar/Apr49) *Tales from the Crypt 20-46 (Oct/Nov
which beCame 5O-Feb/Mar 55)
Moon Girl Fights Crime 7-8 (May/Jun War Against Crime 1-11 (Spr
49-Sum 49) which then became 48-Feb/Mar 50) became
A Moon ... A Girl ... Romance 9-12 *The Vault of Horror 12-40 (Apr/May
(Sep/Oct 49- Mar/Apr 50) which
50-Dec. 54/Jan 55)
then became
great science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury. large (10" by 13") size. For you art fans. still another portfolio of EC stories out in
Unfortun8tely, all eopies are out of print! check out the story called "Food For time for the EC convention. This one will
Issues of these paperbacks now cost Thought'~ Replete with monsters of the cost $t5 and will have a color cover by
about $2 from comic dealers. -Also, in garden variety, it boasts what many the incomparable Frank Frazetta. Russ
conjunction with the movie, a new
TALES FROM THE CRYPT has been
published_ It's 75 f and written by
comic-book hack JIICk Oleck from the
screenplay of the movie.
THE EC FAN ADDICT KIT - Ona of the
most unique 8fld bizarffJ items ever to
come from the EC f8fl is a reprint of the
FAN-ADDICT kit The EC FAN ADDICT
CLUB was started back in 1953 by AI
Feldstein and Wi/litJm Gaines. It offered a
semi-regular bulletin direct from the
«Jirors, and often let the member be in
on scoops such as the death of EC, and
the start of it's new Jine. The prize of the
certificate, which w.
kit. however, w. the membership
done in full color
by Jack Davis. It was IJ beautiful piece of
art, and is still treasured. Also included in
the kit was 8f'I EC FAN ADDICT
membership card which exhorted the
holder to avail themSIJIwIs of the privledge
of buying EC comia at the regular
newsstand price (what more could you
ask for in 8 club?). Also, there was a fan
addict material patch. and paper decal. It
was reprinted last year at $2 and is
virtually impossible to find this year. From $QUA TRONT ~ I • •tch for the CCWlr of WEIRD FANTASY #19 done by AI
Willi,mtOn. TM fintl ...... 1'. with '" enlareed monlter. is thl ccwer fOf" WEIRD FANTASY #21.
EC REPRINTS - Reprinting of EC
comics is a flourishing business.. The best consider to be the greatest single splash also is selling prints of an EC cover, hand
of the lot is a $10. mammoth folder page in comics history, done by Roy colored by Mr. Frazetta for $150. It's
called EC PORTFOLIO ONE. It reprints Krenkel and AI Williamson. It's still only for collectors, and mobsters looking
four EC stories and a cover. All stories are available from Russ Cochran, Route One. for places to hide their money from
shot from origin8ls, and IJre left in the Adel, Iowa. Mr. Cochran plans to have Internal Revenue_
mE CRYPT wilt cost about $7 in mint will get you II CRIME. Some of these,
condition. The issue which tells the origin however. run as high as $15 for issues
of the Crypt Keeper will run about $10, containing art by Williamson and Frazetta.
and some really early issues may run as In the science-fiction issues. the prices
high as $20. Copies of the VAULT OF run high. The two original titles, WEIRD
HORROR are much more expensive. An SCIENCE and WEIRD FANTASY have
average issue will run about $11, but any issues that command prices as high as
of the first four issues will cost at least $35. The average issue will 005t you
$20. and as high as $35. Copies of an about $15. with some of the very early
average issue of HAUNT OF FEAR will WEIRD SCIENCE stories costing $25.
run about sa, with the very early issues When the two titles were merged in 1954
about $12 to $30_ to become WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY
CRIME SUSPENSTORIES and the prices did not change significantly.
SHOCK SUSPENSTORlES have a wide An average issue will cost about $12.
variety of prices. $5 will get you ., When EC made it's last gasp, it
average issue of SHOCK. while about $6 introduced INCREDIBLE
The Monster Times
Picture Stories from the Bible saw four
issues In the Old Testament series and it
complete Old Testament Edition, plus
two New Testament Issues and it Ufe of
Christ edition from DC before M.e.
Garnes left to form his own outfit. EC
published two Old Testament reprinfi, it
third New Testament issue, it reprint New
T estament edition (#1) and a Complete
New Testament Edition.
From here on. it's les5 complicated. Other
EC publications were:
PICTURE From American History
STORIES: 1-4 (1945-47)
Other reprints of EC stories were done
by G.B. Love, Alan Li{jlt and Bob
Brosch. " you can't afford $10 you
might check out Mr. Li!/lt's book. which
is devoted to Wally Wood's work on the
SlCience-fiction comics. While the stories
are printed smaller than Russ's version.
Light picks three of Wood's most
monster-fu'-stories. You can pick up this
wnion for only • buck from RR1. Box
291, Em Moline. Illinois.
EC FAN PUBLISHED MAGAZINES-
For as long as EC comics hatle bHn
around, EC fans have published their own
magazines devoted solely to EC comk;$.
They started publishing them on a very
small basis back in the urly fifties. and
they've been proliferating ever si,,".
Some of the earliest were entitled
POTRZEBIE , EC FAN JOURNAL. EC
SLIME SHEET and EC SCOOP. TheY'
were V!'fY small things, and not very
professional. but they were done by fans
who loved EC and what EC stood for.
Archie Goodwin. one of rodey's best
comic book writers, published one.
When comic book. collecting became
popular in the 1960's one of the first
comic books to be tBlked about was the
EC line. Two of the best new EC
fan-magazines were ~a UA TRONT and
SPA FON.
The best single fanzine devoted to EC
was the 4th and final issue of SaUA
TRONT. It cost $5. but it was worth
every single penny of it. A ttempts to
describe the love and work that must
hsve went into it's production would fall
SCIENCE-FICJ10N. An average issue is
1bout $8. An issue of PIRACY ... $5.
EC's war line has a fairly steady price.
Featuring art by the great Harvey
Kurtzman. early issues of FRONTUNE
COMBAT and TW()"FlSTED TAUS run
between $25 and $35. An average issu~
will cost about $ 10.
MAD Magazine was once 8 comic. The
first 23 issues are in that format. The
early issues go from $15 to $30, white an
average issue will cost you about $10 to
$15 a piece. PANlC,will run about $4,
'. When EC introduced it's New
Direction in 1955. the line consisted of
IMPACT, MD, EXIRA, VAWR, ACES
From Science 1-2 (Apr-FaJ
47)
From World History
(Spr-Fal 47)
ANNUALS: Tales of Terror
(l95H953)
TWOoFisted Annual
(1952-1953)
Weird Science-Fantasy 1·2
(1952-1953)
3-D COMICS: Three-Dimensional EC
Classics 1 (Spr 54)
Three-Dimensional Tales
from the Crypt of Terror 2
(Spr 54)
NEW Aces High 1·5 (Mar/Apr
DIRECTIONS:55- Nov/Dec 55)
Extra! 1-5 (Mar/Apr
55--Nov/Dec 55)
Impact 1-5 (Mar/Apr
55-Nov/Oec 55)
M.D. 1-5 (Apr/May
55-Dec 55/Jan 56)
Psychoanalysis 1-4
(Mar/Apr 55-5ep/Oct 55)
Valor 1-5 (Mar/Apr
55--Nov/Dec 55)
PICTO· Confessions Illustrated
FICTION : (Jan/Feb 56-5pr 66)
Crime Illustrated
(Nov/Dec 55-Spr 56)
Shock Illustrated
(Sep/Oct 55-Spr 56)
Terror Illustrated
(Nov/Dec 55-Apr 56)
MAO (magazine 24- (Jul 55-)
t{still published)
miserabl y short. The editor. Jerry Weist.
produced a magazine that was unexcelled
for its graphic excellence. It had four
full-color covetS; Not two, like II normal
magazine but four_ Itsatisfied not only
the EC fan. but would also satisfy the
monster fan. It's mplete with monsters.
horror ..,d 1111 the fun stuff MONSTER
TIMES people love. It is stilllJVlli/abie for
$5 from J_ _ , ,849 So. '27th
StrNt. Em Wichim. K8I1$IJS. 61202.
SPA FON's last issue was- #5. but it
was three ye.8I'$ lI!JO. It remains a
tremendO(ls VIIlue lit two dollars.
InttNviews with Bill .....Gaines. Frank
Frazetta and Johnny Craig. Plus tons of
{Teat art. ArtwoI"k of monsters, nudes,
spacemen. INtItYthing you would
lISIOCilltll with the vest EC comic$..
POSTERS - Everyone loves gory posters.
right} Rit;rtl And the folks lit Graphic
Mllsters hIIve come up with just thllt At
$2.50 II piectl. these posters Br8 the height
of horror. They are 22" by 28". in full
color. They IIftJ the uncensored versions
of covers for EC comics. These are
perfect for all the MONSTER TIMES
readers who love horror and blood ..,d
gore and all that fun stuff. Order them
from the Monster Times, Box 595, Old
Chelsea Station. N. Y.• NY. 1oo1 '-
The prolific rate at which EC materilll
is being produced prohibits IInYone from
producing a complete list of EC products.
but we at MONSTER TIMES feel that we
have let you know about the best ones,
and if you can pick them up, you should.
No fan should be without them.
HIGH and PSYCHOANALYSIS. While
they are good comics, they are not in
high demand. Consequentl~, an average
iSSlJe of anyone of these will cost you
about $3. with VAWR about $5.
The EC three dimensional comics wilt
cost about $7. but these are rarely seen.
And, while you follow these comics'
prices, keep in mind, that the prices
quoted .-e only extimates and you may
find issues higher (that's the breaksl). or
lower (lucky kidlJ. and they are quotes
for MINT condition. l eSser quality
condition comics can be purchased for
roughly 50% of the quoted prices, But
don't bet on itl • one complaint with the book, it
page 2S
was that the covers that were
reproduced with the story were not
done in color. But for only twenty
dollars, this is a book no horror
1·3 Continued from page 6 comic fan can afford to miss.
EC died as the result of a strange
1-2
witch·hunt, one stranger than was
ever presented in E.C!s own pages.
Kamen, Kurtzman, Sever in , When the remaining E.C. horror
Krenkel, Elder, Torres, Krigstein, comics were cancelled in 1954,
Wood and the others. One only Gaines and Feldstein wrote this in
hopes that the accompanying
their editorial:,
illustrations do more justice than "You may neuer read this
mere words. The artistic genius of magazine. For that matter, this
these men cannot be described in magazine may neuer be printed. If
words. You have to look for it is printed, it may never be
yourself. distributed, If it is distributed, it
Mechanically, the book is a deft rrwy be kept in a bundle behind the
production of Nostalgia Press. The counter and will neuer see the light
dustjacket is a reproduction of an of day. But, if through some
old EC cover by Al Feldstein, and miracle, it does reach the
inside over 200 pages of the great newsstand, this will probably be the
art of EC is presented, The process last issue of this magazine you will
for color reproduction was not the ever read."
can ventional four·color process Bill Gaines was wrong. E.C.
used by comics, but the regular books are still being read, still being
1-2 process used for books. The EC admired. The second generation
comics deserved it. Joe Orlando fans have already ferreted through
1-2
illustrated continuity pages of the the comic conventions looking for
1·3 books, and while they lack the E.C. comics. The third generation
creativity that made EC what it of EC fans will soon be upon us,
1-2
• IN MEMORIAM
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Born January 1910 Died November 19H
THE VAULT OF HORROR: Born FdKuaty 1950 Died October 1954
0icd0cr0bet
THE HAUNT OF fEAR: Born Fdmaa.ry 1950 1954
CRIME SUSPENSTORlES: BornAususr 1950 0icd0ct0ber 1954
SHOCK SUSPENSTORlES: Born December 1951 Died Srpmnber 19H
You may nevtt read this mag:uUK. For mac mann. this magazine may nevcz be printed. II it is
printed, it may never be diwibured. If it is disuibured, ic may be kept in • bundle
behind me
counce:r and DI':Vl!r see the light of d.y_ But if, mroughsome mincle, icJeus rncb thenewssa.ad,.
this wiU probably be the lut iaue 01 this m.gnine you will ever read.
A•• tnuh 01 me hysm'ol, injudicious, and unfou.nckd charges leYeled at cri~ and honor
comia, many m:a.ilm and wholnalen mroughout me country Nve hem intimidam:l lDro teo
fusi.n& 10 bandit- mis type of magazine.
. Although we at E.c. still believe, as we have in tile pasc, that the charges .8aiM horror and
crime comics are uner noruoenJe, there's no poine in going into. defen.seof mis kind of literature
.c me present time. Econominlly our situation is acute. Magazines that do not gec ooto me
newssmnds do not sell. We are focad to capitulate, w_ ,",_liP. WE'VE HAD IT!
N.runJly, ...im comic magazine cmsonhip now • fact, we I ( E.c. look fOtW&rd to an i.m.fne..
diate drop in the crime and ;u'ICIlile delinquency race: of the United StiteS. We UUSt there will be
fewer robberies, fewer murders, and fewer rapes!
We .... ouId like to Sly in passing, .. pauing ..... y. m.t is! , , ,that if you h.ve enjoyed reading
horror and crime efforts over the past five years half as m~ch IS we h.ve uuly enjoyed
E.c.',
anting them for you. mm our labors of love have noc hem in vain.
But enough mush! This is not ooly an obiruary ~; it is .bo • binh announcemenc!
BOY •.. WHAT WE GOT IN STORE FOR YOU! (Ya didn't mink E.c. ...as goona die
with the boob, did ya? We got talent we ain't even used yet!)
E.c. is planning the NEW NEW TREND. In j anulty of 1955. we hit! In faa,"'e hic ...ith
five U) Jerultional new citles. TIley .... ~'t be horror maguines ... mey won't be crime maga,
zines! 1bey'U be, u~11 new and different-but in the old reliable EC. tradition! Narurally,
we can'c tell you ...hac they'lI be YET ... we ca n lecl the hot bream of our /laundering competi.
torS .... ho followed us into horror 00 our necks. When the mags are ready to go, chey'll be an-
nounced in MAO, PANIC, WEIRD SCIENCE-fANTASY. PIRACY. and TWO-fISTED
TALES!
We feel it's goona be a HAPPY NEW YEAR ... ith our NEW NEW TREND!
Your gntel...1editors
•
£NO OF AN £RA! Th is ~nOUnolment. included In the 11Ift~" of the E.C_ horror and crime
bo'*'o tumm.-ized the fMli,. of publish... Bill Gelnes, A ~ 'IOU to "I
E.C. ruden. thil
litd. I... tat' is so SlId it still makes the printer's ink "ide down our cftMk..
was, it was nice to see the Old and THE EC HORROR LIBRARY
Witches again. One story, AngE"lo OF THE 1950's will serve as the
Torres' AN EYE FOR AN EVE, record, perhaps the justification of
had never been previously PClIll.ed. E.C.·s existance.
There is a forward by long· time fan Estes Kefauver is dead, and
of E .C. Bhob Stewart (who works Doctor Wenham has recently
for our competition, CASTLE OF concentrated on violence in movies
FRANKENSTEIN) and there is an and television, which has always
"Appreciation" by Larry Stark, been more violent than comic
who, when be was a youngster books. E.C. has outlasted them all,
reading EC comics, was a profuse and if it hadn't, it would have been
letter·writer, and probably holds a terrible mistake in the cosmic
the record for most appearances in order. Yes, E.C. HAS outlasted
the E,C. letter column. It there was them all. and, in many ways, it's a
kind of justice. •
 26
S ome horror movies have been
screened unto death on television. Nary a
week goes by that BRIDE OF THE
GORILLA isn't foisted upon the public.
somewhere. I, like the vast majority of
Los Angeles film buffs, thought that
there was nothing that cou ld make us
tune in for one more sho wing of THE
HORROR OF PARTY BEACH or some
such shloek-shocker. But we failed to
reckon with SEYMOUR .
You may very well be asking yourself,
even now , who this Seymour is-prcof
positive that you don't live in Los
Angeles. Every Angeleno Knows Seymour
as the gaunt , mustachioed weirdo who
has attained a popu larity unmatched by
any o th er l ocal personality. An
ever-growing legion of loyalties is
forsaking all else, come Saturday eve, to
tune in on KTlA. channel five and see
some vintage horror flick Seymortified,
There are, after all, good horror flicks
and others that are to be avoided like Bon
Vivant vichyssoise. '" call t hem the way I
see them," Seymour proclaims and,
indeed, he does. Berore, after, and often
during bad scenes, Seymour pops in with
his special brand of caustic film criticism,
No line of bad dialogue escapes his
meat-cleaver sarcasm. And, if a slipshod
movie director has allowed a casual view
of the boom microphone or erred in some
other technical way, leave it to Seymour
to offer up an instant replay and isolate
the faux pas for all of Southern California
to see. When the film is of the caliber of.
say, ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM
P;EOPlE , (Seymour's own un favorite) the
rum is likely to serve as one continuous
straight line.
H all begins with a sting of eerie music
as the ca mera pans over a slimy,
mOSSocovered green wall. An unseen
announcer delivers the voice-over shpiel
in disjointed fal setto and climaxes with:
" ... and here he is, the Master of the
Macabre, the Epitome of Evil, THE
MOST SINI STER MAN TO CRAWL THE
FACE OF THE EARTH ... Seymour!"
The wall swings open to release a burst of
swamp mistldry ice vapor from the
nether regions, behind. And in strides
Seymour , elegantly attired in
wide-brimmed fedora , ruffled shirt and
undertaker's tuxedo. He proclaims,
"Toni&ht's feature is DR. TERROR'S
HOUSE OF HORRORS, a 1965 bomb
th at Donald Sutherland would like to
forget. Bur WI" ',t' no/ going 10 leI him!"
Mr. Nielsen didn't report if Donald
Sutherland was watching, shame or
otherwise, that night. But a good ly
fragm e nt of Southern Ca lifornia,
stretchi ng as far as New Mexico, was.
Estimates have it that the audience for
such mediocre andlor well,worn movies is
double what such film s would attain, SIlns
S/'ymour. Never berore have such bad
movies garnished such high ratings.
Seymour and his alter-ego, BanjO Billy ,
are the ca use.
Banjo Billy bean a striking physical
resemblance to S~ymour attired in a
blazing-orange marching band outfit and
a pair of glassc:s with a plastic nose
"tlach~d. But th~ similarity ends
lhl' r~ - Banjo Billy ill hrip:'" ~ nd cheery;
S~ymuur i~ s;]r~' 'c ""'cible and
by MIlk Evanier
downrilht insultina. A man named Larry
Vincent confelllCd to the intrepid
MONSTER TIMES Hollywood
correspondent, "I'm really bcginnina to
dislike Banjo Billy, personally. I got so
mad at him once that I burned his
costume and I had to go out and buy
another one, myself."
Larry Vincent, as it happens, is t he
man who plays Seymour and, if the truth
be known, BarUO Billy, as well. Few, if
any, Seymour supporters are willing to
admit, though, that such a person as
"Larry Vincent" exists. " They recognize
me on the street as Seymour and they
ex pect to be insulted or ignored or
treated rudely. I don't disappoint them!"
Seymour ,' with all his splenetic
independence, is fast seizing cont rol of
Vincent's slim body for his own, sinister
purposes.
The body spent some twenty years in
television control booths. " I was a
staff-director and, naturally. had been
associated with many horror film host •.
And they always came out with the
spiders and the coffins ... they'd leave
the frlm alone and try to be funny or
spooky by themselves. To me, there's
nothing amusing about a IUY makin&
himself up to look horrible aMI collliaC
out of a c:offlll. Tilley C*Ied . . ~
with the filM, try. . to do ........
eYed more rantastic witb ... ...
"Poor fISh ... No wonder it died, all wrapped up in dis crummy rag!
Wby, this Monster Thing i<; the trashiest thing I've ever seen
in aU my years of rummaging thru garbage dumps!"
make-up ... 1 thought that, some day, I'd
like the opportunity to try it with a
different approach."
Vincent skipped from station to
station, from Indianapolis to Hollywood ,
and from director to actor. Among other
employs were a few local theatre
productions, several GET SMART
episodes and a forgettable self-sacrifice in
THE INCREDIBLE TWO-HEADED
TRANSPLANT. "I was doing a character
role and was wiped out about ten minutes
into the first reel," he explains. "When
you're too good, the other actors get
jeaJous and they write you out of the
script." Nevertheless, if and when
TRANSPLANT rears its ugly heads on
KTLA, Seymour has vowed to replay his
scene , ad infinitum.
Eventually, KH1-TV, channel nine,
had need of a horror host for their
Saturday night FRIGHT NIGHT. Channel
nine is a station noted for their poor
equipment , its weak frlm libnuy and its
popularizin& of the notion that the VHF
dial stops at eiPt. But Seymour began to
attract viewers while he refmed his skill
and style. ''Toni&ht I have a pair for
you," SeymoLlr announced one evening.
..... MONSTER FROM THE SURF and
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILl. I
never get any swell movies! You can stay
here and watch these turkeys, if you like.
I'm going to go crash the party down the
street - !"
One evening, FRIGHT NIGHT aired
without Seymour. In his stead was an
overly-cndowed Vampirella-type with the
handle of Moona-Lisa. Within moments,
and for days following, the KHl
switchboard was inundated wit h fiery
letters of protest, irrefutable evidence
that a good horror mm fan would rather
watcb an emaciated, cynical ghoullhan a
voluptuous pretty lady with the spiders
and the cofftns and all that Seymour had
broken away from .
Seymour had aDo broken away from
channel nine, as it happened. He packed
his slimy wall and took a 'better orrer
from KTLA . complete with the
oppottunity to show better films and to
use better facilities. Channel five- has the
equipment to combine tape and film,
permitting Seymour's wisecracks to be set
directly into the movie. Vincent's
directorial experience has also paid orr in
the engineering of many remarkable
special errects wherein Seymour, himself,
was actually set into the film as one of
the characters. Horror devotees, tuning in .
on DRACULA for the nth time, found it
a bit different, Seymour's time around. In
. the opera-box scene, where Bela Lugosi is
introduced to several people, he also met
Banjo Billy, wh o had been
c1Homakey-s uperimpo sed into a
formerly~mpty chair, com plete with
opera glasses.
We asked SeymourlVincent if
dyed-in-the-wool horror buffs protested
when he tampered with a classic. "There
aren't enough classics, really. The originaJ
DRACULA was a classic, so we didn't do
much to it. What we tamper with is things
like ATTACK OF THe MUSHROOM
PEOPLE. I get a few nasty letters but so
many are in favor of what we do that I'm
sure the vast majority take it the way we
intend it -as Jatjre.
Seymour fans are plentiful. Seymour
T-shirts are seen often, about town, and
there is a Seymour fan club (officiaJ
newsletter: The Slimy Wall Times). The
fan club's official certificate proclaims:
''To Whom it May Concern (and it
won' t) . .. This is to certify that ( have a
friend help you spell your name) is a
member in bad standing of Sey mour's
Society of FRINGIES ... You are an
idiot of the first order .. :" There are
Seymour posters, s howing him
rummaging through a garbage can,
probably in search of that missing reel
from THE ATTACK OF THE
MUSHROOM PEOPLE. And Seymour is
very much in demand for personal
appearances.
One memorable appearance took place
at the Wiltem Theatre for the West Coast
"Screomiere" of TALES FROM THE
CRYPT. Prior to the feature, Seymour
did his usual brand of shtick, much to the
delight of the audience. And, fulfilling a
brainstorm of some publicity agent for
Metromedia films, held a screaming
contest. The winner was invited up to the ·
mike to give out with his award-winning
shriek and, suddenly, the Wiltern was in
the business of showing silent movies, not
by choice. No one really minded having
to walk out on the fea ture, for lack of
audible soundtrack; they'd seen what
they came for - Seymour!
Despite mounting popularity,
Seymour has no plans to go the
big-budget, giant set route. People tune in
for Seymour and if there was any way to
eliminat e the movie, he might well draw
an even bigger audience. He is planning
guest stars, from time to time, though.
" We 're show i ng HOUSE OF
FRANKENSTEIN next week," he told
us, pointing to a calendar which also had
I WAS A TEEN·AGE FRANKENSTEIN
and HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER listed.
"lohn Carradine will be our guest and I'm
going to give him the same treatment ,
gave Vincent Price, once. We were
showing some Vincent Price film and I
page ?:7
spent the first half talking about what a
terrible job Vincent Price was doing in
the film ... I was really giving it to him
and, then, the phone rang. It was Vincent
Price, of cou.rse, and 1 began tellinl him
what a great actor he was: ' Like I wasjust
telling the people, Mr. Price, you
ce rtainly are delivering a splendid
performance in this movie we're ronni.!'
Then, when we got off the-phone, I went
!:~:t!~a~~i~:t;:~t a ,~tten mm it was,
Seymour is unique. Who else would
splice thirty seconds of a Stan Laurel
silent comedy, non-sequitir, into the
middle of WEREWOLF OF LONDON?
Who else would replay the lift-off scene
from QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE and
point out where one can see the wire on
the space ship? Who else would pop into
the midst of THE RAVEN , when a lady
suggests they aU go off to their nice wann
beds, and say, in Groucho
Man:-intonation, ''That's the best idea
I've hoid all night!"? And, remember the
part of X-THE MAN WITH X-RAY
EYES, where Ray Milland asks Don
Rick les, then an unknown , overwei&ht
actor, what he would want to see if he
had x-ray eyes; and Rickles says, "AU the
undressed woman my poor eyes could
stand! "? Vou can guess what fun
Seymour had , splicing that response in to
other parts of the film, in reply to other
questions.
Desptie his mischief, Larry Vincent
does have a high regard for the craft of
horror movies. "We're in the middle of a
new cycle now ," he says. " People want
escape pictures and that's what horror
movies are." His next project? - A sta&e
production of DRACULA with the title
role altered to suit Seymour's
wise-cracking motif. It could be the local
theatre event of the year and Vincent is
sure the tfme is right.
No closing could be more fittinJ; tban
Seymour's traditi{)na\ one ; I'd lib: to
thank you ... I'd /ike to, but it's just ....
my style' Bad evening'" And on that
note, exits the most popular horror host
Los Angeles has ever seen and, likely, the
rest of the country, as well.
'LASHI EXTRAI SCOOPt
WAIT ... HOLD THE PRESSESI
HANDS OFF THE SWITCHES,
LACKEY, THIS MEAllis
YOUI . . . RUMOR HAS IT THAT
SEYMOUR RECENTLY FOUND
A COPY OF THE MONSTER
TIMES WRAPPED AROuND A
FISH HE HOOKED IN AN LA
GARBAGE DUMP .
AND .. . WELL, TO MAKE A
LONG STORY SHORT AND A
SHORT STORY SHORTER, IT
SEEMS THAT SEYMOUR IS
INTERESTED IN WRITING A
REGULAR COLUMN
FOR ... THAT'S RIGHT, THE
MONSTER TIMES! SEYMOUR'S
BEEN DIGGIN' OUR
GRAVEYARD ANTICS AND
SAYS HE WANTS INI THE FISH
WAS UNAVAILABLE FOR
COMMENT. , , STAY TUNED '
FOR FURTHER DETAILS! •
 The Monster nones

E.C. PORTFOl..tO ONE 1~11971 WlIlI.lm M. Glines

If we were product-testing something in this issue of

The Monster Times, we'd pick this portfolio and give it an "A!"

ONE
BY JOE ALLAN
I In those days you could buy them,
don't remember exactly how many . find them, and swap them with no
years ago it was, but it must bave been IS
or 14 at least. I was trying to sneak out of that we reaJize the enors of our ways, the
the house to play some ball at the Ume,
but my mom was determined that I get a
haircut (most kids in the 50's were
haunted by the ever·present Curse of the . love and luck, into a practical,
Creepy Crewcut) instead. With the money
in my pocket, my mother opened the
front door and pointed imperiously in the
_direction of Louie's Barber Shop, I had
bero~1 knew be would have • new stash
of fright comics waiting for me.
But, like most things, tbe horror
comics. and the science fiction books,
passed into oblivion. There were a lot of
them in those days, but I remember that
some of them stood out stronger than the
r~, and they stayed In my memory in
bold, gruesome colon. All the ones that
were better had one distinguishing mark
in common -all had a small circle
surrounding the initials "E.C." near the
top of tbe cover.
So, (rom that Lime on, I made sure to
look for the ones marked "E.C." and, to
make doubly sure, made it a point to
memorize the titles, which was the easiest
part, since tiUes like THE VAULT OF
HO RROR, INCREDIBLE
SCIENCE-FICTION, and TALES FROM
THE CRYPT were easier to.remember
than to forget.
trouble at all. It's only now, years later,
way we treated those comics-tearing the
pages, smearing them with our sticky
fingers , throwing them away.
money·making endea'o'Our, things really
started happening for Russ-and for all
E.C. fAns.
Two . . .t btI.UI combiMd to rMI<, I
.... .,....,.rtitt" ., AI Williamson end Roy Krenk,1
unitld for " Food For Thought." in
INCREDIBLE SCIENCE·FICTION #32 In
Artist Willy Wood P'II u. I flnt.-tic pictu~ of hi. uniVllf'll in "My World," in WEIRD
SCIENCE #22. A f_ PMlII hom this 1953 mlltlfpi _ _ pictured het-I.
through the infinite mind of Wally Wood
and FOOD FOR THOUGHT boasts of
artwork by Ai, WiIlitJmson and Roy
Krenkel which Include some of the most
spectacular panels comicdom has ever
""n.
Cocbran's collection of
shiver·provoklng parables is bound and
sells for a fast ten bucks. Well worth it,
too, consider,lng the quality of the art,
its size and clarity, and the Important fact
that all these things are now available in a
single book. It's a must for any E.C. fan
with bread enough to afford it.
As for E.C, Portfolio Two, well, you
can have a say In what will go into that
one by filling out the ballot form
contained in E.C. One. Among those
artists included on the ballot are Wood,
Ingels, Jack Dauif, and Harvey KurUmiJII.
Along with the four stories that you can
help select, there will also be a fifth tale,
namely, Frank F rozetto' ,
SQUEEZEPLAY: Plus a color Frazetta
couer, upping the price of the second
portfolio to $15. All orders, comments,
and criticisms can be sent to: Russ
Cochran, Route One, Adel, Iowa 50003.
And remember . .. Death Lives! •

little choice but to go .. , so I went.
When I got to old Louie's, I found
someone sitting in the lofty barber's chair
ahead of me, so Louie turned around,
tossed me a hello, and pointed to the old
peeling, silver.painted radiator, which I
could always count on to be piled a mile
high with ragged, beat·up comic books,
relics In their own time. Louie always had
a fresh batch of old comics on hand , 90 I
never had to worry about finding the
same ones each time I went there, I had
already read the latest Superman and
Batman, and 1 had no love for the :...c."'"-==. .'-_--':.......L.!"-~
true·romance types, so I skipped through
until I reached some horror stuff instead.
The first one I got. my hands on was
about some guy who had a wife who was
always nagging him, who aJways had her
claws kD uckl~p in the poor guys
back. So one day be comes bome, asks
her politely to lay oCf, but she keeps on
talking and nagging him, so he promptly
kills her ... cuts ort her head, to be
exact, and then casually goes bowling
with it! Hmmm ... I looked up and saw
that the guy ahead of me was still in the
chair so I kept on reading, greedy for
more gore - and I wasn't disappointed.
The next one was about a burglar who
steps through this big door, only to find
that it leads straightaway into a furnace,
which literally bums him up. Those were
the first horror comics I ever read, but
after that I wasn't nearly as reluctant
about visiting Louie as I had been
" ~\
THIiIS III' WOII~O . THI I IS THt: WOIILD 1 Loon:. IT II '"
STU"'IHG TIIOP'IC"'~ ,w"'''''.
Df,. . ,uto , T'ItIKII'IGMlO.tUVE
WlfHSCIIU/oIIHGIIIID5IMOKITHIIIIHGLll_lMOlIU-
IMllers "'NO IOI UlTDIIIOUUItS TNn . 'L""H THIIOUGH
ITI SfIoGN.IJIT 'OOU "'NG'LOSH 1'KItOU5tIITS ,UC.III.
~SI Il$lAAQ!C6'OOOTO'ILLfHt:lllewt:JINClU5lOLJ[S..
Although no one is quite sure about
how he managed to do it-probably by
way of some 5e(:ret black magic process
that only he knows-Russ Cochran
pressed for and more lmportatnly got
permission to reproduce the choicest cuts
of E.C. art ... DIRECT FROM THE
ORIGINALS! And what he's been doing
with same is of even greater interest to
E.C. fiends.
Cochran's E.E. Portfolio One contains
four complete stories, printed on big
matte-finished paper, and he exhibits no
prejudices against either horror or sci·fi
material, since this collection features the
titles HORROR WE? HOW'S BAYOU ' ?,
TOUCH AND TO, MY WORLD and
FOOD FOR THOUGHT, The first of
these is one of Graham Ghastly Ingels'
most frightening and bone-chilling art
jobs, filled to the ratters with monstrous
people and deeaying houses sinking
slowly into the swamps. TOUCH AND
GO is illustrated by JohnnY Craig; MY
WORLD features the universe as seen
THROWING THEM AWAY! Mein Gott,
do you know what those comics would
be worth today!
What with all the forgotten lore that
was better otf forgotten that's been
dredged up and glorified by present-day
nostalgla freaks, the E.C. Comics
rep~nt a lost treasure that dese"es to
be remembered, and remembered for the
!a.ntastic treats they were. One of the
People wbo remembers them best is Russ
Cochran of Adel, Iowa, who, unlike most
of our sorry lot, was smart and lucky
enough to save his collection of old
E.C:s, later trading them for mint copies
of the same editions. And seeing the
books In new condition started Russ
down a previously unknown road: he
began wondering about how the original
E.C. artwork might look to us today.
From an original idea that grew, with
 The Monster nmes page 29

FULLCOLOR
POSTERS
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KIRBY UNLEASHED. De pulp mapziMl with
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::.:ct.:,:
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page 30
GAlNESa
FELDSTEIN
Continued from page 18
BILL: Wi ll, y ou must h~. t.."
, ..d ing , lot of that stuff in 1ho.-
lMY*: t oo.
I w_ influen,*, not by ... y of thl
d -,c hOmH" w riten Cllf'Ui nl y. I r...:l
Poe; I couldn' t w i you more th.. 2
ot 3 thl , . of hK thet I r- ' . 10 it
wlln ' . Ill'
that much. I
emluenced mos1iy by the r.dio _
w_
thl p""",
AL: Me too.
BILL : ... .... the _ _ TM
medw of the 1Hy. Who they _ _
inflllMC*! by _ I don" know . Btlt I
. . not Inftuencld by ..y high
Wutint writers.. I _ kI"_nc:m by
low·f8luting ¥llritlwl. And tIM AIM '
wilt! the IICienclI fiction. When I w • •
kid, , ~ the ~ fiction pulP'.
AMAZING a.
ASTOUNDING . There
_ no gil••• in tho. dIyt. WtMn
_ first sun.d pub1bhina. I don 't
think AI a. I klMW 8nY of 1M . . .t
ICiwIm fiction .,thors or _ 8I1Y of
the .....t horror .,ttton. ended W
. form8t of
up kmM'eng who they - .. In fact,
_ di~ 8,.tbury.
A L: I think rhDt thor migh t hol'e
~tn an O(/lIfJnlQge.
8ILl : ~. IIU~it_
JIl L : IUmusc hen IW Wltn dol",
sc~nu fiction In tM comla. If WI!'
hod bun 'nflUlnud by John
' CompIHlI's ASTOUNDING ond 1M
wrltt!fs that _n In It, I think _
would haw bet" WQ)' our of our levtl
of readershIp rhot WIt SfartM with. 1
thInk WI!' _,t hung up In terms of
moltIng this II ""Wally enttrto(nlng
~dlo. So / thlnlt thot my nolllf!ty In
IMu ~ _ flOOd. And Bill's
/mow/tdge of 1M slCKY lines QrJ(/ the
-.Y they worked ~ enough (or us
10 work together on plottfng ond
co m In g u p wI t h so m ething
S/Hcfflcoffy desfgned for the probkm
tJt h ond wh k:h _s 0 vlsuol
presentation o( the story. Loter on .
WI! got 0 little mort! IIf!rbou becouu
WI! CQ~ under the Influent:e of these
wrlters. 1 thlnlt l dfd.
AL : Hon"OI" too. BiN. When you ....t
.... fintTen-ot-
BILL: In
~n""'.nd
thllhon-ot_~_
_ _ _t
beyond it. Bul .;th .tfMI ___
fiction, _ prob8bIy wouldn' t .......
~Md thII 1houtht of doing
..ything .....08dIing ~ of ....
s1uff Nt _ in ASTOUNDING in
thos8 ..,.. Bul _ ...ad up Ooing
IUIff Nt m~1I " - a-. in
ASTOUNDING in thole d8ys. Four
ot fin ......... , a.c.- _ did
deftiop. No qu.-tion maut it.
AL: Wouldn't you soy that the
science fiction -s our ego rrlpl Mine
(rom the wrItIng style IlfId yours
(rom the plotting and Intrlgu, ond
the compllcoted theoretlaJl sturn
BILL : W. "flY'
aid _ _ _
prOUMn of our set.nct fidjon. but
thII d8mn thi,. . . . IoUng money.
AL: W,'d spend hours, Bill tIIId I,
dlJeUSling the theCKet/col s.ituotions
In terms o( them coming up with 0
SlCKY. n"" loops and reVlm time
/cD"," .
BILL: It_,...,ny ....... _of
.. ,....tor_
1VT: Let', lite now. 1be LDustraton
tlilJdto1'illuaizeaDtb.lltUif youdid.
They obviously had it a lot easie r
than most because you did write
heavy d escri ptions. We've hcud it
sajd the captions actually encouraged
people to gel into reading, deve lop
their reading skills and JUch.
A L: I wlJh you _rt oround during
the Invtstlgatlon doys - ho ho ho hD.
BILL: W... I'm IU " yau _ ~t 10
aorM . rtMt btc8u. oUr boc*s - . .
more li.. ,.te. in _ -V rDf.I9h __ •
th8ft most comic$ ~. AI _ 10
hurrty with tn. wonk.. But IhII damn
wonts w ... so beautiful Nt I nw..-
w .. tIId to cut ttMlm down ..
AL: lVe preunted to the orUSI
something thut no t:om;t: book artist
hod evtr gotten up to thot point. We
prtsenttd him with the drawing page,
with the story o/readyon It, with the
bollons already ;n place. Whot I did
_s to write the stories dlret:lIy on
the iIIus/ration boord. It wen/ to Bill
who read it ond edited it ond it _nt
from there to the le tt"" who
lettered it and then we had 0 session
wIth the ortist. We gave hfm the story
and we said, ''Sit down and read it. ..
. 1M pM'I8I • • td1ed in .... Wry
And he would sit do w" and read It
and whatever he dklli't understand
_ would kH him what goes on In
t«h ponti. We did,, 't 511)'-_ didn 't
supply him with the Init/rIllng
w tchn or onythlng like thot.
BILL: AI ~ . . .-till: wUh •
w.. .... of ...... withnc:l'thingon
it ..c.pt ..... I.....
AL: That WIUI'I't blonk.
BILL; I Aid bI-* ..c.pt . .. .
AL: Oh, yeoh. Generally what went
on In eoch pantl ls what I would ttll
him.
w..
BILl:: T ... onty thing ...·d ...1 him
wh.t .... ~ng. H.
The Monster Times
would n't ten h im h_ to pu t wh at BILL : I atw.-,. draw a pllnlllel with
wtt.r. . T "-t'l wtMtn ttMi .-tists _,.
given f r.. r8ftgl. If somebody _
TMT: tr you would have or iginally
conce ived them pretty accurately
because as an artis t and as II writer
Ca-tet Gould i DICK TRACY .-tlst)
t.c:.u. _ 8ft inustnllor. h. a.v..
hi tting tonMbody ovw IhII lINd With you had a strong mental iml8e in much to bIo d esired. but _ a story
........ which Is wh8t h8 Is. he'a '-n .
a Midi,", ttMI ",,'. , h8d to b8 tn.L your head which ...
But from .... y . . . . .M'Id ..y
..me w .. tIId to d.... it. . .
WIlY" AL: Yeoh, but I'm not omnipotent ·
on th8 t op o f thtI fil. for 30 yqn..
And AI w_ the aaIM kind' rJI
ond theft Ofe btUer people oroulft/ ti tu.tion. There m-v haft bIoen
than ~ and Int:luding those guys. 1 blttItr iltustnltoq on th. staff but
feel like I'm the boker who brings In " . . __ oen.int., no bet* .e:ory
the $/XJnge CQlft and leu them put .. I..... Unfortu .....iv. AI couldn' t
the king on their _yo You know ilium... ~ing. · So h8 juJt
whot I meon l As long os the bosk: didn' t. UltilNtet., he iltlll1nttd
ingredients ore there, they're only nothing .xcept • t.W .a.nm fiction
going to odd, not detrot:t. COftf'I to k H phlsh8flds init.
BILL : Of cou ..... on " OIMr hPid.
your point is wMl tM8ft and tha t _
on. of th. othw SUCC81$81 of t ...
thr . . . di t o rs ..... F . ld lte in ,
Kurtzman and Craig. A ll _ . f lnt
and fotamost ",lislI. .
So, "therefo re, mot. than the ..... ragl
com ic lCI'"ipt _iter they think
visually Iftd ....ery1hing in the comial
in those days was thought out
visua lly.
Even as they _ . _it ing it. They
ttI.n up at The Monster Times
Went th inking visually .
offi_
Now. H8""Y, on ttMi other hwMI.
wortc8d In 8ft ..... t i,..ey dfffwwrt wiY .
twrwy .a.o w~ tIM dOr.... ....
btok. it d.m, M'Id he ...... it to them
on bI....k P*- of "..,... 1ettitNd.
';cept Nt ovw MdI "... w_ a
. . . . of ~ngwith the eQct ~ou t
H8rvty W8fttlld It. So. fn Nt _ •.
H.Y.., . dfdn't giW tM IrtiIt M'IY
dl8ftm: .
A'L: Horwy and I wer' ahwlys rIl A L: Yeah, but thot ~ btCQuse I was
writing.
odds obout thot..
BILL: You . . . Wfltint _ .lItint
BILL : H."..., didn't ... th8m ..y
dlanOI to ex..... the~ fn ttMI ' If you WM'It to get tKfIniCII . W.
tu......d out .Imo.t 8ft . . . . w.k In
wn.t tMy w.ntIId to do_
..........., w_ mot8 like 8ft oreMs1nl tha.ldfIY~
C'onduc:i... ettti"lt out of .en
instrurMnt .JLKtIy wh8t he _ .... AL: We wrote four stories 0 _ek
At w
.
Al did 1M compIet8ty opf)OR_ thi""
thoroughly pwfnlllM.
ond one thy fCK goof/ng oround and
writIng a lener poge and stuff like
thot.. But opproxlmately fou r stCKles
A L: Unless they were missing 0 point a week ond then _ 'd hove like a
week off. W, did ?
or kqv/ng out som,thlng importont
CK It WQSff't deor whot _1 going
BILL: Y",," W.~....,ti. . . .
This guy Is H.,-,.y Kurtz_ Why .. .... ~itide.S042 . . . . . . ,...._
BILL: n- "''II
w.ntu.aty lOt to
bIo IUd! pre- h t tfWt k _ wh8t AI
. . .miling? Wouldn' t you ..mi. if
you __ d.-.wing LITTLE ANNIE
... rMd out • book • w.IIk .. n." otMr
........ _'"'*~or
off 01" just extn tiIM to do whft
_tlld. "..,.dju .. bn:Jughthln .... FANNY?
_.YIh.dn·t rMlly cton. on 1M one _
A L: You',. right. Auuaffy th, script A L: You know_I never (elt I ~ (J
rtally good ortlst tIfId BIII-s olwoys
w_ b8ca1. . . ".·t
IWIty
In8intaintlwlttdl.:lu .. ~ ...
~ right there. The dtsuiptlons
_" right the" to a «rlllin point, pottIng me on the /xIcJt ond SQylllf
TMT: WeD, The Monster Ttme$ tanks
you /wow. But they v!suollled what you on a good artist. You tell 0 story
~ written their _ y, And $0 , did vtT)' _II, And I always felt thot you guy. (o r giving us this interview .
there were 0 lot better artlsU oround, I JOtta go now. The Monsb:r Times
nol have stCKI,s thot I wrote and
were drown the woy I would drow You know, Wood to m, WtlS 1;;;t;;UC Old. mobile is coming to plclt me up,
them. I don 't think that _s the and Dovls ond Johnny Crv/g, and if I d on't get back to the office
by midnight, it turns into a boilins
t hi n g. B ecause then I txlm lrtd ) oflnny, 011 of these guys
ca uldro n.
eVf!rybody- Groham IlfId Orlondo or more thon I admired myself. l olways
Wood or {)qvls would be of! doing ftlt I was static. A nd yet this very
BILL; AI tIM Old Witch might ..,.
their renditions of my drawings ond I stotlt: thing ~ople would tell me In
the
didn't belieVf! In thot. And I don't do
thot ttldoy In MAD elth".
retrospect .....,s ...mot made my
materlal1nrl'restlna.
HIt'. going to bIo • hot ti_ in
0IdI town tonight ......
•
ATTENTION: MONSTER MANIACSI
Are you having problems finding THE MONSTER ' TIMES at
your local newsstand? Does your blood boil ~ery time you find
the last copy sold out? Do friends and neighbors sink their talons
into you because they can't get copies of their own?
Well, you can settle matters peacefully and avoid unpleasant
embarrassment and senseless carnage. All you've got to do is fill
out the coupon below and send it our way RIGHT AWAY! that
means NOW! Your problems will be eliminated, we'll feel better,
and even our mutual monster friends will stop turning oyer in their
graves.
I--;:;;;~;;~~N~~-;';;-~;:;-S:;:-E;:;;~;;-O~B:X~;;---I
I Old Chelse. S'otion New York. N.Y. 10011 I
I Store or Newsstand I
I needing THE MONSTER TIMES: I
I
II
I Store or Newsstand's
I ~OO~ I
L
I __________________________
CITY STATE ZIP II
 page 31

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Care to buy. sell or trade movi e stills, old comics or tapes of old
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SENSATIONAL OFFERI Real prehistoric

WANTED FOR THE SHELVES OF
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MUSEUM . . . MT will pay $12. for •
copy of "SEDUCTION OF THE
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M . D~. (we despenl .. ly need it
folks . . . please I.
AdYertise in Gleamiogs M8g1~oe, only10c a
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Want to buy old D.C. Comics before 1964.
Telephooe 15161 PI . l ·57~2,.k for Bob.
teeth - Use for making mooster masks aod
'lour 0Wfl se t of vampire teeth. 20 for
$ 1.00. Kimball _ 871 Marlowe. Oriaodo,
FL 32809.
EC PAPERBACKS FOR SALE: 1. TALES
OF THE INCREDIBLE- Includes ~rk by
Wood . Willi a m s on, and the classic
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yean-S2..50. 2. TALES FROM TliE
CRY PT-MoYie adaptation ooveI by Jack
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depth; price includes po&t.ap. E............et
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Radio Collectors: Inter"ted io plaooed
CnsenE!$ of "C8pIain Roger &: Buccaneers"
(1940 Ad\!eotu,.SeriaU7 Send oote to
creator: Haugtlton Bartow, ~ 95,
Thomaston, CoM .• 067B7.

COM IC STRIP POSTCARDSI Now you QM'I

Will pay top prices for EC's in NMT
condition for pril/llte collection. ht want;
WE IRD SC IENCE No. 19. Have wme 10f"
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Ave, Sao Fraf'C:isco, Celif. 94110
For Sale - Mad agazines 1963 to 1968.
Wanted Old Mons ter M&gazines seod
responses to Vi n<:eot Bossone 14 Novak St.
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faozine that da r" to be different.
Subtcirptions 6/$1.00. Richard Small. 117
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3230 1.
send Flash Gordon, KralV Kat . Little 'Je rno
Felix, Prioce VaI'..,t , and Popeye to 'lour
friends 8Ct'OSS the uniYlrse. Available in a ..t
of 15 full color cards (nine different card&:
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FOR SALE : MARVEL COM ICS from
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PHOTON is the filmzioe that taos fiod

fabulous I Devoted to the serious Study of
the fantasy film. each issue cootaim en
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Wa nt ed: O ld copies of Castte of
Fraokennein, Famous Moosten, .tc. Send
list of titles to Jon Viociguerra. 419
Carrington Aveoue. Wooosocket, Rhode
Island, 02895.

L'INCROYAB LE CINEMA, Britain's finE!$t FILM FANTASY SCRAPBOOK by Ray

faotasy film magazine is now available to
Americao Subscriben at $.80 per cOPY. aod
$2.50 for three issues. Order oow frOl"1
Steve 8Ild Erwin Vertlieb, 1517 Beooer
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#7 GODZILLAI $1. # 8 HAMMER horrors, $ 1.
Comic books. fanzines, stills, posten,
Harryhausen-Here are OYer 300 original
drawiogs, and rare photographs from KING
KONG, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, JASON
AND THE ARGONAUTS, ONE MILLION
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9" x 12". 0\I8t' 200 pages. Available in Juty.
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TMT BACK I~UE Dm

Big· Uttle books, deaters , coltectors; and the AGAINST A PUBLISHER'S PR ICE
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SUNDAYI" at the Statler· HillOo, 33rd SI. & add 754 SaIE!$ Taxi. COLLECTORS BOOK
71h Ave. N.Y.C. 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. STO R E, 6763 Ho llywood Blvd ••

---- --- -----....

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l et 'em while they last! Back

issues of THE MONSTER TIMES
are doing the Invisible Mag
. Mlle. at.cks...,. . . to: ~
THE MONSTER TIMES
••••••••••••••••••••••••
routine, disappearing rapidly from . P.O. "515 Enclosed is $ _ _ for my _ _ word (minimum 25) classified ad.
our sight. Already issues number 1
& 2 are valued at $2.00
. ,
""'..--
.... vortc,. N.Y. 10011 NAME _________________ ADORESS ________________
each . . and for good ZIP _ _ __
reason .. . they're rare collector's
EnclOS«tis S - CITY STATE
for blidt isaI_ No.. _ _ _ _ __
items. All succeeding issues are
$1.00 apiece ... but when we run Name_ _ _ _ _ _ _A/JO.-
Iowan them .. .
In fact, there's a guy who keeps
materializing every other day in Addres:
..' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
something he claims is a "TIME City,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
~ MACHINE," and buying back
issues from us in car·load lots.
Before this guy gets them all,
fill in the coupon.
-------...-- --......
State'_ _ _ _ _ _ z""---
 A T L AST I Our feature next ish
is an overdue epic on PLA NET OF
THE APES, done by our
cor-ape-spondelJt Editor in the
inimitab le MONSTE R TI MES
style . .. It'll be more fun than a
barrel of MT editors. Bur not for
astronaut Charlton Heston; find out
why next rime, folk. And, as a IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE A GROWN APE CRY ...
special fantastic bonus ... never
before seen pix of unused ape Do you go ape trying to find the latest issues of The Monster Times at your
makeups, behind-the-scenes cut·ups fri endly neighborhood newnand? Must you trudge off into the trackless
and other ape rarities. wilderness, ~acing hostile terrain and hoardes of native jungle dwellers, only to
Moving from ape-to-blood (as find ... no Issues? Well, \hen, it's time you put your foot down! And your
opposed (0 soup· to-nuts), next name, too ... right on the conveniently located ooupon underneath thue
issue starts a brand new series on life·saving words. Sign up for a subscription to The Monster Times, and get your
Hemisphere's Blood series. Reael all ~ed hot issues mailed right to your doorstep. No hunting needed I Each and avery
about (he !mbelicvable plots of Issue, brand new, personally send from us to you in .oft, strong envelope I And
w ch "b/oo" tYpes" as MA D DR _ please ... if you see this Kong-sized fellow around trying to find us, tell HIM to
OF BLOOD ISlAN D and BEAST fill out a cOtJpon, too. He'll roar with deft9h.t.
OF BLOOD. We'll have a bloody
good time telling Y0tl about every With every sub of e year or ';"o-re, the subscriber gelS 8 free 25-word classified ed, to

----....---.
ruddy drOll be run on our Fen·Feir page. You can advertise comics or stills Of pulps, etc. or for

-----------
enything else, provided it's in good taste!
SpeaklfJg of /)food, we've JUS t
been ;"forl))('(/ tllat the old blood
conoisseur IIimself, CO Ullt Dracula, I think THE MONSTER TIMES 10
is still alive amI-biting. And to i. jun wh.t I've betn tooking for! Sublcflption r.t.:
prove it to all you intrepid MT Enc::IOHd i. S
$ 6.00 for 13 ..... (6 month.)
readers, we dispa t ched a $ 10.00 for 26 1IIu.11 v.r)
Milke theck or mon ey order pay~le to:
harel-working (thoogh strangely $18.00 for 52 hAl. 12 v.n)
pallid) MT staffer to imerview him. THE MONSTER TIMES,
$ 12.00 for 26 • • CANADA
And we sent Neal Adams to mirror P.O. BOil 595, Old Ch..... St. tion,
$ 18.00 for 26.i11u. FOREIGN
his image. Set: 0/1 the results nex t New Vorlc City, N.V.100n
issue. Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Moving f r em rorp/lsles to As • new subscribet' lIor I sub of one
creatures, don ' t IniSS THE NAV Y VN' or morel. het'e i. my 25·word .d,
to eppee. FREE of ther", in F.n-F.ir AddrtM
VS. TH E NIGHT MO NSTER S.
"lOOn as p01llble.
They're waiting for YOIl (but only City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
after sundown, of course).
And to top off next issue, Conan 51.1' _ _ _ _ _ _ Zl' _ _
th e Barbarian makes lIis first
appcarellces m ollr pages, as we PS: I pl.dae brille lialll olille next full moon 10
cover the Marvel version of the bollill mr 1oc.1 newsduler until he (.) s.hlku in
curialis Cill/lllcnan Be here, by hIs boots.1 th. slahl 0' me .•nd (b) rfaulllly Ind
prom lnenlly dlspl.ys THE MONSTER TIMES.
crom !

------------------------. PIe- , lIow . few weeks for vour tubtoripdon to .;. prooe.ed.
 illiterate!"

~
..