Vault of Horror #29
In "The Mausoleum!", a chilling tale from EC's Vault of Horror #29 (1953), a young whipping boy returns home for Christmas, only to find his father’s plea to the King has set a macabre holiday in motion. Written by Al Feldstein and William M. Gaines, with stark, expressive art by Jack Kamen and lettering by Jim Wroten, the story unfolds with a quiet dread beneath a festive surface. The haunting cover by Johnny Craig captures the eerie mood, setting the stage for a holiday tale where innocence and cruelty collide.
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Long ago in a huge castle lived a King [Irving], his Queen [Matilda] and their only son, Tarby, who was a real brat! The King decides to go into the village and forcibly take another young lad to be the Prince's companion, hoping that would straighten him out. It didn't, but the King gave the Royal order that if Tarby acted up, the other young boy would be whipped instead....and he became the official "whipping boy" at court. With Christmas coming on, the whipping boy was looking forward to what Santa would bring him....but Tarby told him that "bad boys" as he wouldn't get anything from Santa. On the day before Christmas, the whipping boy was returned to his own parents for 24 hours, and he spent time telling them that he was whipped for the bad things that Tarby did. He wanted to know if Santa would still bring him something for Christmas, and his Dad assured him that he would, then went to see the King to beg him to do just that. The King laughed at the man....but the next morning, as the whipping boy woke up and checked out his sock, he saw a presents in his stocking....and the boy's father saw his stocking filled also: with the bloody corpse of the King!
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).