The final volume of EC Archives, The Haunt of Fear is volume 5. From Dark Horse, it contains the collected material from issues 25 to 28, before cancellation.

It’s bittersweet, seeing the haunting and horrific stories collected in this way: we get to ‘enjoy’ the stories, dense with description and jammed with dialogue alongside some of the 50’s best horror art. But included in these last 4 issues are accompanying text articles, recounting the growing resistance to this ‘shocking’ printed material. The US political and social leaders of the day were banding together to ban the more explicitly horrible visual stories being sold on newsstands.

It was a countdown of sorts, we see the frustration and resignation of the EC publisher as we read through the articles in these final issues.

The stories stay remarkably consistent throughout the wind-down of the horror era; philandering husbands, evil witches, greedy people, and all sorts of malfeasance. Oh, the depths that we humans will descend to, and what we will do to dig ourselves deeper from there!

Artists in this volume include Graham Ingels, George Evans, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis and more.

Dark Horse the EC Archives, Volume 5, $39.99 for 156 pages of content. Hardcover.

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!

2 thoughts on “Comic Review: EC Archives Haunt of Fear #5 (Dark Horse)”
  1. Hi Chris, thanks for enquiring. It’s a great read. As reviewers, we receive watermarked digital copies only. This helps the publishers keep their costs down and maintain control.. Best regards

Comments are closed.