Updated 2 years ago
Before the Comics Code was established in the Red-Scare 50s after Seduction of the Innocent, EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt and many others had wonderfully pulpy covers with gruesome violence, eye injury, bondage, zombies, and all sorts of deviant behavior.
They are strangely compelling to look at.
I’ve spent a year or two sifting through fansites and Pinterest (there are tons of mediocre covers) – the gallery is finally ready to share. If there are any I missed that you think equals this brilliance, send it my way.
Before all the covers I’m going to include below, check out my all-time favorite story out of the whole genre, “Telescope, ” from Tales from the Crypt, issue #45, December 1954, along with a review and narration of the story from Youtube, starting at the 9:18 mark.
It’s pretty morbid!
Here is the read-along:
Now, story time.
Before The Seduction of the Innocent spurred the creation of the Comics Code in the Red-Scare 50s (think Tipper Gore and Rock in the 80s, and Joe Biden and video games in 2019), EC Comics pushed the envelope with titles like Tales from the Crypt sporting wonderfully depraved pulpy covers with eye injury, decapitation, bondage, zombies, and all sorts of deviant behavior.
The Comics Code drove EC Comics out of the horror business, forcing Harvey Kurtzman to launch Mad Magazine.
This genre is a perfect backdrop for an era where doctors smoking cigarettes administered lobotomies or shock therapy to errant housewives.
They are strangely compelling to look at.
The real world was equally frightening. Here are some actual ads from that period:
For more modern horror, check out Neil Gaiman and my Alan Moore section.
Trailers to the best horror films
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