Vault of Horror #13
In "The Dead Will Return!", a chilling tale from EC's Vault of Horror #13 (1950), a couple’s desperate attempt to hide a murder spirals into terror when the body of Florence’s husband keeps washing back ashore—no matter how far they try to bury it. Written, drawn, and inked by Al Feldstein with lettering by Jim Wroten, the story unfolds in a claustrophobic lighthouse setting, where dread builds with each return of the drowned corpse. The cover by Johnny Craig captures the eerie tension, perfectly framing a tale that turns the sea into a relentless, vengeful force.
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Florence and Bert had just finshed dumping her husband's body in the ocean and made their way back to the lighthouse on the beach. She knew that her husband had a large sum of money somewhere around the house or on the property, and while she was searching outside for it, Bert heard a scream. Rushing to the beach, he saw that the body of Flo's husband has just washed ashore, so he took it and dumped it off the highest cliff in the area.....only to wash ashore again a few days later. Bert decided to take the body this time far up the coast, dump it and return. But Flo was worried and asked him to go back up the coast to make sure the body didn't wash ashore there. While he was gone, Flo remained in the lighthouse....then she saw water seeping under the door, figured it was her dead husband and began climbing the stairs to the top to get away from him. Just as Bert drove up, he heard a horrific scream from the top and the light go out on the lighthouse. He entered the structure, and saw a trail of water leading up the stairs, followed it, and then we hear a scream again. The next day, as government inspectors came to the lighthouse to investigate why the light was out, they found both bodies, covered in seaweed...then they notice a rotted corpse lying on the beach!
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).