Vault of Horror #17
"Terror on the Moors!" in Vault of Horror #17 (1951) delivers a chilling tale of vanity and consequence, anchored in a haunting premise: a man commissions a voodoo bust of himself, only to find it aging while he remains unchanged. Written by Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines, with moody art by Jack Kamen and lettering by Jim Wroten, the story unfolds with a slow-burning dread as the bust’s unnatural decay mirrors the unraveling of George Baker’s life. The cover by Johnny Craig captures the story’s eerie tension, a stark image of a man frozen in horror—perfect for fans of EC’s classic horror anthology style.
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On the island of Haiti, George Baker seeks out a certain shop that will make him a voodoo bust of himself. The owner obliges Baker and begins to work on the bust. Later, Baker has a change of heart and wants to cancel the order, but when he arrives again at the shop, the bust is finished and paid for....and as Baker walks out of the shop, it disappears, replaced by a brick wall! Returning home, Baker places the bust on his fireplace mantel.....and as the years go by, the bust begins to age...but not Baker, who remains youthful, and George hates to even look at it any longer. One day, a girl comes to his door, asking the whereabouts of another person, and George directs her down the hall....but secretly, he wants her. Later he discovers that this girl, Jean, is the daughter of one of his older employees, and he flatly tells the man that he wants to marry his daughter. That evening at dinner, George makes his move and she complies.....but, as the years go by and she ages, George does not, and the horrible bust over the fireplace continues to age. Jean hates it and is ready to get rid of it when George walks in, tells her to leave it alone, slapping her for good measure, and calling her an ugly old hag. While he is out for a walk, Jean gets a machette and severs the bust in two, while elsewhere a horrible scream is heard and a Policeman finds the body of George in the park....split down the middle! Back at the Barker home, Jean suddenly notices that the face of the bust now has taken on the youthful appearance of her husband!
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).