The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #4

In "Split Personality!", the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of deception and dread, where a desperate racketeer named Ed King attempts to exploit the affections of the wealthy Blair sisters, Amy and Susan, by posing as their twin. As his elaborate lie begins to unravel, the sisters’ chilling response turns his scheme into a grotesque punishment—one that leaves him literally divided.

In a chilling tale from The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #4, the Crypt-Keeper introduces a gruesome mystery: seven women murdered with doughnut-shaped wounds, their blood drained and traces of sea brine on their skin. When crime reporter Danny Hughes scoffs at the police’s bafflement, his skepticism turns to dread when his secretary Pat is killed in the same manner—only to be cleared when another victim appears. Haunted by a strange figure near Pat’s home, Danny follows the trail to an aquarium, where he confronts a horrifying, blood-sucking octopus.

In "Practical Choke!", three pre-med students push the bounds of dark humor with a series of gruesome pranks using real cadaver parts—laughing at the shock they provoke until the prank turns unsettling. When they realize the missing parts could be discovered, they rush to retrieve the rest, unaware that something in the morgue is still very much alive. The next day, police find them trapped in a refrigerated unit, their necks wrapped in coiled intestines.

In "Notes to You!" from The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror #4, four men find themselves entangled in a web of anonymous, deadly letters that unravel their lives one sinister note at a time. As Judson Slack, Horton Cox, Averill Minton, and Bert Fields piece together the chilling pattern, they uncover a trail leading to Ambrose Baldwin—and a final, blank page that holds the sharpest truth of all.

A broken man, driven to despair by years of obscurity, finds unexpected inspiration in the wreckage of tragedy—each accident a canvas, each death a brushstroke. When his fiancée is injured in a devastating crash, he’s forced to confront the dark price of his art, chasing a single, desperate moment that could save her. The Vault Keeper warns of the cost of creation, but the artist is already lost in the frame.

In "A Peach of a Plot!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of love, betrayal, and a tree that grows from a secret. When Lieutenant Phil Dolan investigates a strange peach tree on the grounds of a wealthy man’s estate, he finds himself closing in on Michael Lane—whose confession reveals a deadly motive rooted in greed and a fatal dinner with a peach. As the fruit holds a gruesome truth, the line between past and present begins to bleed.

In "The Lake," a grown man returns to the beach with his wife, Margaret, haunted by a childhood tragedy involving his lost friend Tally. The lifeguard’s grim revelation about Tally’s body stirs long-buried memories, leading the man to confront his past by rebuilding the unfinished sandcastle. As the tide rolls in, the weight of what’s left unsaid lingers in the quiet between waves.

In "One Good Turn...", the chilling host The Old Witch sets the stage for a darkly intimate tale of twisted compassion. Jennifer, a woman whose quiet kindness masks a terrifying truth, returns home to her paralyzed husband Edwin, revealing with eerie joy that she’s been helping others—by ending their suffering, one death at a time. When two detectives arrive to investigate Edwin’s sudden demise, they uncover a pattern of sorrow turned to silence, and the unsettling smile of a woman who believes she’s doing the right thing.

In "Whirlpool," a woman trapped in a nightmarish sequence of torment begins to question her sanity—only to learn she’s an inmate in an asylum, her tormentors three employees who claim her suffering was all in her mind. As the Vault-Keeper warns, some horrors aren’t imagined, and the line between madness and truth begins to fray.

In "Out of His Head!", the Crypt-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of guilt and madness, where a lawyer’s murder of his partner spirals into a terrifying psychological torment. Haunted by the relentless presence of his victim, the man drives himself to desperate measures—only to face a final, horrifying revelation when the bandages are removed.

In "An Ample Sample," the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of obsession and decay, where Irwin’s love for his wife Hannah spirals into grotesque fixation. As Irwin confesses his twisted devotion—driven by her insatiable craving for chocolate and his own unraveling—Bert is drawn into a house where the past is literally encased in sweet, horrifying detail. The story lingers on the quiet dread of a man who couldn’t let go, even in death.

In "Funereal Disease!", the Old Witch hosts a chilling tale of revenge and twisted justice, where a grieving gardener named Jasper Milliken, haunted by the denied funeral of his parents, finds himself trapped in a deadly game of survival. When his employer, Niles Fairchild, and his accountant Tom Kelton murder Jasper to steal his savings, the dead man’s final wish takes a horrifying turn—his corpse exacts a grim retribution, reclaiming what was stolen and claiming the funeral he never had.

In "Together They Lie!", the Vault-Keeper recounts a chilling tale of deception and twisted fate: Agnes Wheatley and her boss’s attorney, Alex Fairchild, conspire to manipulate Mr. Horton into changing his will—only to find themselves entangled in a horror far beyond their scheme. When Horton’s corpse crashes into their celebration, the aftermath reveals a grim twist that leaves their fates sealed in a macabre final act.

In a quiet town where curiosity about death runs deep, a group of children becomes obsessed with the idea of justice—especially when a lawyer tells them that robbery and kidnapping don’t warrant the death penalty. As they parade down the street carrying a coffin, their innocent play takes a chilling turn when a mother screams that her son has vanished, having stolen another child’s doll and refused to return it. The townsfolk freeze, eyes locking on the kids just as they finish burying the coffin—leaving the line between punishment and play dangerously blurred.

In "A Slight Case of Murder!", the Vault-Keeper introduces a chilling tale of suspicion and secrets in a remote town, where Doc Sam Swanson investigates a series of gruesome murders with locked-room precision. As the investigation leads him to an abandoned mansion, he uncovers a horrifying truth tied to Sheriff Moulton’s past—and the deformed child of Amelia Bates, whose twisted existence may be the key to the killings.

In "Strung Along!", the Old Witch recounts the chilling tale of Tony Zargono, a once-famous puppeteer whose life unraveled when his failing health forced him to retire. After marrying Nora for love, he discovered too late that her affection was only for his wealth—until a final, heartbreaking kiss sealed their fates. The next day, their bodies were found side-by-side, Nora’s limbs reassembled with strings tied to the hands of Tony’s marionettes.

In "Star Light, Star Bright!", Hartley Quimb finds himself trapped in a nightmarish routine at a remote facility where the guards maintain order by forcing inmates to desecrate a corpse—each act a twisted ritual to keep the others in line. After learning the previous headmaster was killed for trying to end the practice, Hartley retreats to his room, only to be seized in the dead of night and sealed in a coffin with a window cut into the lid, his fate sealed by the very inmates he now fears. When he wakes, still staring at the skylight, he’s left questioning reality—until a face appears above him and dirt rains down, shattering any hope that what he endured was just a dream.

In "While the Cat's Away...", two con artists take a dangerous shortcut, thinking they’ve found an easy score—only to discover a house with a far more sinister secret than stolen valuables. When their scam leads them through a hidden library and a series of terrifying encounters with zombies, vampires, werewolves, and mummies, their greed spirals into madness. Just as they flee the nightmare, the front door opens—and the Crypt-Keeper stands waiting.

In "Smoke Wrings," Hubert Tillings’ ambition turns deadly when he shares a bold new billboard concept with Lorna Jackson, only to be betrayed when she claims it as her own—leaving him with nothing but a corpse. Soon after, the very ad he helped create begins to haunt Lorna, its smoky tendrils weaving a fate far more sinister than any office betrayal.

In "Where There's a Will...", the Old Witch introduces a chilling tale of deception and twisted justice, where Dr. James Crotty and lawyer Millard Walker conspire with the dying Harold Farber to expose the true nature of his greedy relatives. As Farber lies hidden in his coffin, eavesdropping on their cruel words, a shocking twist awaits when the final act of the scheme reveals a charity with a very personal agenda.

In a chilling twist on holiday tradition, a grieving wife confronts a terrifying reality when her husband’s murder coincides with a city-wide manhunt for a woman-killer dressed as Santa. With her daughter Carol missing and a mysterious Santa at her door, she scrambles to secure her home—only to face a nightmare that blurs the line between myth and menace. The Vault-Keeper introduces this bone-chilling tale of fear and deception, where the spirit of the season turns sinister.

In "Tombs-Day!", Professor Burton and journalist Melody Allen brave the Pyramid of Khafra, haunted by the vanished expedition that came before. As they descend into the ancient tomb, the walls close behind them and deadly traps claim their companions one by one. With each step deeper, the legend of the living sphinx grows more real—until the final chamber reveals a truth too monstrous to ignore. The Crypt-Keeper invites you to witness the chilling fate of those who dared to uncover the past.

In "Beauty Rest," Helen Curtis and Joyce Noble share a strange, tense room as Joyce prepares for the macabre "Miss Corpse of 1954" contest, her final night with a mysterious suitor named Mr. Boxer. When Helen drugs Joyce and takes her place in the competition, she wins—only to learn too late that the prize demands more than a costume: it demands a corpse. The Vault-Keeper warns of the price of deception in a tale where beauty is not skin deep, but buried deep.

In "Shoe-Button Eyes!", a young blind boy named Billy experiences a Christmas unlike any other—his first glimpse of the world, just before his life ends. After his mother’s death, his cruel step-father Jed torments him, mocking his "shoe-button" eyes and destroying his beloved teddy bear. When the boy finally sees, it is not in this world, but in the afterlife, where the truth of his mother’s final act and the step-father’s cruelty takes on a haunting new meaning.