Vampire Tales #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeVampire Tales #4 is a dense anthology entry in Marvel's Bronze Age horror magazine line, notable chiefly for introducing the mythological Lilith — framed here as Adam's first wife and the original vampiress — in a one-page prose-and-art feature titled 'Lilith: The First Vampire,' planting a figure who would later become a recurring presence across Marvel's supernatural titles. The issue also carries Satana Hellstrom's third appearance, continuing to build out a character who had debuted just two issues earlier and would go on to outlast most of her contemporaries in the Marvel horror ecosystem. Because the magazine existed outside the Comics Code Authority, Don McGregor's Morbius lead story could explore the living vampire's predatory hunger and moral anguish with a candor that color newsstand comics of the period simply could not. Taken together, the issue is a snapshot of the early Bronze Age horror boom at full creative velocity, with an unusually deep roster of writers and artists for a single number.
In "Somewhere Waits the Vampire," a desperate father confronts the horrifying truth that his attempt to protect his family has led to an unthinkable tragedy—his daughter, bound to a vampire through blood and love, dies after being caught in a trap meant for her monstrous lover. The story unfolds through haunting flashbacks and the weight of grief, as the man grapples with the consequences of his actions and the dark legacy of a love that defied death.
In "The Vampire's Coffin!", a cursed coffin arrives aboard a ship under the brutal rule of Captain Banner, whose tyranny pushes the crew to rebellion. When the mutiny erupts, they stake the captain and seal him within the coffin—only to realize too late that the true horror has only just begun.
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Vampire Tales was published by Curtis Magazines, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics operating under the parent company Magazine Management, which allowed the title to bypass the Comics Code Authority and run black-and-white content with stronger themes than mainstream Marvel color books. Issue #4 went on sale February 5, 1974, with a cover date of April 1974, under editor-in-chief Roy Thomas and associate editor Marv Wolfman, with Don McGregor, Doug Moench, and Carla Conway serving as contributing editors — an unusually collaborative editorial structure that allowed each to shepherd their own strips. The issue assembled several of Marvel's most prolific Bronze Age horror writers (McGregor, Moench, Tony Isabella, and reportedly Chris Claremont) alongside veteran pencillers Tom Sutton and Ernie Chan, plus the painted cover work of Boris Vallejo, who was becoming a fixture on the magazine horror titles of this era.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated April 1974; on-sale date February 5, 1974, published by Curtis Magazines / Magazine Management as a black-and-white horror anthology outside the Comics Code Authority.
- Cover painting by Boris Vallejo. The issue number does not appear on the cover.
- Lead story: 'Lighthouse of the Possessed' — script by Don McGregor, art by Tom Sutton — featuring Morbius (Michael Morbius) and Amanda Saint, and the first appearance of villain Blood-Tide.
- Satana Hellstrom appears in this issue (her third appearance overall, following her debut in Vampire Tales #2 and her first full-length story in #3); Satana was created by Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr.
- Contains 'Lilith: The First Vampire,' a one-page feature introducing Lilith as the mythological first wife of Adam and first vampiress — distinct from Dracula's daughter Lilith, who would debut in Vampire Tales #6.
- 'The Drifting Snow' — script by Tony Isabella, art by Esteban Maroto — is an adaptation of an August Derleth short story, continuing the magazine's practice of adapting classic horror prose fiction.
- 'A Vampire's Home Is His Castle' — script by Doug Moench, art by José Lombardía — is an original story; the issue also reprints two older vampire tales ('Somewhere Waits the Vampire,' art by Paul Reinman, and 'The Vampire's Coffin,' art by Tony DiPreta) alongside a film review of 'Hell House' by Don McGregor.
- The Morbius lead story from this issue was reprinted in Vampire Tales Annual #1 (Summer 1975), the Vampire Tales Vol. 2 trade paperback (2010–2011), the Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus (2019), and the Morbius Epic Collection Vol. 1 (2020).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Mystery Tales #15 (1953), Journey into Unknown Worlds #27 (1954)
Reprinted in Corriere della Paura #8 (1975), Masters of Terror #1 (1975), Vampire Tales Annual #1 (1975), Dracula Lives #56 (1975), Tales of Terror #3 (1978), Castle of Horror #3 (1978), Castle of Horror #4 (1978), Etranges Aventures #61 (1979), Vampire Tales #2 (2011), Jewish Comix Anthology #[1] (2014), Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus #[nn] (2019), Morbius Epic Collection #1 (2020), Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus #[nn] (2020), Marvel Horror Classic Collection #2 (2023), Tales of Horror Dracula #12
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