Review – EC Archives Tales From The Crypt Volume 4 HC

Posted on October 29, 2013 in Comic News, Reviews

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Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Release Date: 30th October 2013

To say this is a dense tome of terror would be an understatement, Dark Horse has collected issues 35- 40 as well as added forewords and that kind of stuff. So with Tales from the Crypt being an anthology series it does of course mean that there are LOTS of little tales of horror to read.

The stories themselves all follow along the same basic structure of being a morality tale with a twist ending with at times inspired endings. Is this hardback all killer no filler? I would have to disagree since there are the occasional stories for fattening issues or one or two where the idea behind the twist is there, but the journey itself is dull or too formulaic.

But when it is good it is really good and understandably hence why still talked about years after EC’s presses stopped. Mixing funny and gory in equal measures and there are certainly great tales among them like “Only Skin Deep” which involves masked shennagians after a fancy dress party.

The real appeal of reading these stories in this hardback is that the digital coloring in this instance does really add to the look. At times making anachronistic elements appear more modern or other times just looking cleaner. Sidenotes/foreword provided by Russ Cochran (TFTC writer) that really add background to EC and working on the title.

So to conclude there is a a lot here and with every tale having it’s own beat there is certainly something for everyone. But of course this is the 4th volume of Tales From The Crypt that Dark Horse have bound so should also attract collectors alike. But if I had to say having read the slew of horror titles that at times it feels are thrown against a wall there is definitely something about these stories and the way they are styled that appealed to me and I am ambivalent when it comes to horror.

And for those of you who dare enter the Crypt come back on the 31st when we bring you the 13 Best and Worst Episodes from the Tales From The Crypt TV Series