An Interview with EC Comics' Al Feldstein

Hi Al. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
No problem.

The old EC headquarters have been turned into condos. Guess the neighborhood has changed quite a bit since the days you were running EC from that building. I heard Patrissy’s, the Italian restaurant Bill Gaines loved so much, has closed as well. Did you guys used to walk there from work?

Patrissy's was on Spring Street, half a block East of Lafeyette Street, which is one block south of Spring Street, corner of Lafayette Street...which is where the E.C. building stood. So we just had to walk a short block and a half to reach it.

I've read you guys used to do some scripting of comics over lunch, is that true?

As best as I can recall, we did very little "scripting" at Patrissy's. We would take off for lunch at Patrissy's after we had nailed down the plot for the day's required script.  After lunch, I would write it. Lunch at Patrissy's was usually the place for small talk; like whether we should recognize Red China. Just kidding.

To me the best part about the old EC books are the Ghoulunatics. Tell me about creating those characters if you would.

I had been writing and drawing western, crime and romance stories for E.C. and Bill...while continuously bugging him that all he was doing as a Publisher was imitating whatever sold... and imploring him to be an "Innovator" instead of an imitator.

Finally he gave in and asked me what I thought would be an innovation in comics...and I suggested "Horror"...because I remembered as a kid, listening to "The Witches Tale" and "Lights Out" and "The Inner Sanctum" on radio...and loved being scared out of my wits.

So he agreed to try what I had in mind as an experiment in his "Crime Patrol" and "War Against Crime" titles. Recalling that an integral part of those radio shows were their Hosts...I created "The Crypt Keeper" as the host of "The Crypt of Terror" for Crime Patrol and "The Vaultkeeper" as the host of "The Vault of Horror" for "War Against Crime."

The sales checks showed a marked improvement in those two titles when their horror stories appeared...so Bill agreed to change their titles and give The Cryptkeeper and The Vaultkeeper their own books.

Later on, I introduced "The Old Witch" as hostess of "The Witch's Cauldron" in "Tales From The Crypt"... and, based on the success of the other two "Horror" titles, Bill decided to drop another poorly-selling title and give the old gal her own book, "The Haunt of Fear."

Bill lived to see the worldwide success of Tales from the Crypt, with the 1971 and 1973 Amicus films (Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror) and again with the 1989 HBO series. I am sure both he and you must have felt truly vindicated after the way you were attacked by Fredrick Wertham and his Congressional Cronies.

We both were delighted with the recognition of our work given us with the Amicus films, except that I was horrified with the depiction of their hosts.

However, when the HBO version of "Tales From The Crypt" was introduced, Bill's and my relationship has been severely strained because I had retired from MAD. And so he did not allow...or give me credit for the creation of the title, the host...and for the adaptation of all of my stories.  
   

Were you happy with HBO’s interpretation of the Crypt Keeper?

Not at first. I found the cackling, lisping, obnoxious puppet a bit irritating...and not exactly what I had in mind. But he grew on me.

You were born on October 24th. Think having a birth date so close to Halloween had anything to do with your affinity to horror? 

It never occurred to me. I think the radio shows were far more influential.

Tell me more about what you’re up to nowadays. I see from your website that you’ve been spending a good deal of time painting.

That's what I do now...Western, Wildlife, Landscape and Sci-Fi/Fantasy paintings. The Sci-Fi Fantasy paintings are mostly commissions for "Cover-Revisited" versions of my old E. C. covers.

Are you doing any writing nowadays, or pretty much strictly art?
When I retired from MAD, I made a choice between "writing" and "fine art" and my love for art won.


 
I know you do some convention appearances as well. Do you enjoy going to shows and meeting fans?

I love it. It is a great ego-stroking experience...and I am amazed at how the popularity of the E.C. products of the '50's has continued to survive over the decades...with a new audience developing with each generation. I am grateful to Russ Cochran and his "collections" and "re-prints" for that.

 

What upcoming convention appearances will you be making?

I will be at the Motor City ComiCon in Novi, Michigan this May.


Thanks again for spending some time with me and I look forward to meeting you at a show in the future.

The Ghoulunatics

EC Comics weren’t the only company publishing horror comics in the 1950’s, they were just the best, which is why they are remembered to this very day so fondly. Their books featured great stories and terrific art, plus one other major factor -  the hosts of their three books, The Ghoulunatics. They brought a macabre sense of humor to the books; their graveyard gags and putrid puns poked fun at the horrible subject matter within. They were comic book versions of the old radio hosts from such shows as Lights Out and Suspense.

Let me take a minute now to introduce you to our horrid hosts:

The Crypt Keeper – Host of Tales from the Crypt, the flagship book of EC Comics. 

Primary artist for the Crypt Keeper was the one and only Jack Davis, probably the best known and most popular artist of the entire EC stable. The Crypt Keeper looked like an old man with long, unkempt hair, bad skin and bad teeth. He dressed in blue robes, and like all the Ghoulunatics, specialized in bad puns.

The Vault Keeper – Host of The Vault of horror. 

Primary artist for The Vault Keeper was Johnny Craig, a terrific comic book artist who worked in a clean style that really emphasized action. Johnny did the covers for a huge number of EC books, and those covers were another factor that really added to EC’s success. Vault Keeper looked, honestly, a lot like The Crypt Keeper except he wore a green hooded robe. He always kind of looks happier than The Crypt Keeper, who often seems to have a bit of a scowl on his face. In my mind I always sort of wondered if maybe the two were brothers who separated and took up residence in different spooky locales (a crypt and a vault).

The Old Witch – Host of The Haunt of Fear. 

Primary artist for The Old Witch was Ghastly Graham Ingels, the master of drawing undead, rotting creatures. The Old Witch wore red hooded robes, had one squinting eye and one huge vulture eye, snaggle teeth, and of course warts on her face like all the hosts. Skin care wasn’t big on these guys to-do list. She always seemed to fight with the boys, who often teamed up to tease and provoke her in the letter columns of her book.

All three hosts appeared in each other’s books, which was a great way of building familiarity with all the horror books and hosts among readers. They all mocked one another and bragged that their stories were the best, and all the others mere child’s play.

EC offered a set of actual photographs of the Ghoulunatics to readers in the letters pages of the books. For a mere ten cents per photo (or 25 cents for the entire set) readers could get these putrid photos mailed to them. The photos were actually artist Johnny Craig made up as each host. The makeup was done by Al Feldstein, proving yet another skill this jack of all trades possessed. The pictures were taken by a friend of Bill Gaines named Paul Kast, who also handled the mailing and said around 10,000 sets of the pictures were sold!

This wouldn’t be the final time a Ghoulunatic would appear in the rotting flesh – at least not where the most famous of the three was concerned. In 1972 Amicus films released a movie version of Tales from the Crypt. It was an anthology film starring Sir Ralph Richardson as The Crypt Keeper introducing the evening’s spooky offerings, five stories and a wrap-around segment. Richardson actually looked more like the Vault Keeper; He wore robes and a hood that covered his head. Missing, however, were the scraggly long hair and gruesome appearance.

1989 saw the Crypt Keeper make the transition to the small screen with the HBO series TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

With the full blessing of Bill Gaines the Crypt Keeper was again brought to life, this time in animatronic form. And THIS time the producers didn’t make the same mistake as the Amicus folks before them – they designed ole CK to be gruesome, more so even than the comic version. The voice was provided masterfully by John Kassir, the music by Danny Elfman. Actors and directors lined up to work on the series, and it was wildly successful!


The Crypt Keeper wasn’t done, however. In 1993 he returned in cartoon form on the series TALES FROM THE CRYPT KEEPER.

This ran for two years, and this time the other two Ghoulunatics came along with him. In season two the Vault Guard (not exactly sure why the slight name change) and the Old Witch were repeatedly trying to steal the show from CK. The show returned again in 1999 for 13 more episodes under the title NEW TALES FROM THE CRYPT KEEPER.

In 1995 the Crypt Keeper again made the jump from the small screen back to the silver screen in the movie DEMON KNIGHT. Crypt Keeper hosts this film, and appears in the beginning sequence in Hollywood trying his hand at directing. He then tells the story of Demon Knight. After the film we return to CK as he’s at the film premiere.

The following year saw the debut of Bordello of Blood on the big screens. Crypt Keeper again hosts this movie, this time in a wrap around segment with a mummy playing a deadly game of Rock , paper, scissors.

In 1996 a Saturday morning game show premiered called Secrets of the Cryptkeeper’s Haunted House. It featured the Crypt Keeper as the announcer, complete with Crypt Keeper puppet and John Kassir’s voice. It ran for one year until it was cancelled. It featured pairs of kids answering questions and running an obstacle-course in the Crypt Keeper’s house.

So there you have the many incarnations of the Ghoulunatics - something tells me there are many more to come, cause you know what they say... You can't keep a good ghoul down!

Ghastly Graham Ingels

One of the great things about EC comics was that they didn’t force artists work in a “house” style. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Gaines insisted each artist develop his own signature style of art. He even ran bios on the individual artists in the books so fans would get to know them better.

One of the most popular artists of the EC stable was Ghastly Graham Ingels. Graham was born June 7, 1915 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  His father was a commercial artist, and Graham inherited his talent and interest in the arts. Graham was just a teen when his father died unexpectedly. This was something Graham shared in common with EC head honcho Bill Gaines, whose father also suffered an untimely death. I believe this common bond helped keep Ingels onboard during tough times, both in the early days before the horror comics took off and again later when personal problems developed.

According to Feldstein the earliest work of Ingels was a bit disappointing – but they knew the talent was there. Once they began the horror line of comics they quickly discovered Ingels was a master of composition specializing in decomposition – NO ONE could draw rotting corpses like good ole Graham, prompting them to nickname him Ghastly. This moniker stuck, and he began signing his art “Ghastly” with issue #10 of The Haunt of Fear in the story “Grave Business.”

The Haunt of Fear was Ghastly’s signature book – he drew the lead character, The Old Witch, and the feature story in each issue. He also took over the cover duties starting with issue #11. This cover is, to me, one of the creepiest of all the EC covers. There are much more graphic and gory covers, but there is just something disturbing about this old man burying his wife in the dirt cellar of the basement. It’s the face of the old lady, perfectly placed as the focal point of the picture, that is so creepy – killed by her own husband, he is standing there with a shovelful of dirt about to toss it over the face of his wife of decades. Morbid, creepy, and effective – pure EC.

Ghastly Graham Ingel’s work drips off the page. You can always tell his style immediately – it oozes across the page. It doesn’t need any color to emphasize his work – in fact, the black and white reprints of his work actually enhance the impact of the stories. He wasn’t afraid to use darks and shadows and spotted the blacks on his page perfectly. The line quality had a painterly feel to it, and it was a natural progression for him to begin cover chores as well as interior art.

Ghastly was raised a devout Catholic, and apparently struggled internally with his work in horror comics. He began drinking heavily. According to the Digby Diehl book “Tales from the Crypt” (a fantastic resource, by the way), Ingels began having trouble meeting deadlines because of his drinking, so Gaines and Feldstein gave him early deadlines to ensure he’d have his work in on time.

After EC stopped publication Ghastly found himself out of work. Like many folks who are so successful they become associated with their line of work, Ingels became associated with horror comics and it was difficult for him to find work in other fields. He eventually stopped drinking and moved to Florida, where he took up teaching art to students in the area. He focused on teaching art and had nothing to do with EC comics, turning his back on that part of his life completely. Feldstein even had to track him down and force him to accept royalty payments for his previous work.

Graham died on April 4, 1991. Shortly before he passed away he made peace with his past and did a series of commissioned paintings of his old pal, the old witch. Ghastly was one of the most influential artists of the entire EC stable - his style just screamed horror. Take a look at any Bernie Wrightson work and you can definitely see Ghastly's dripping influence.

Here's to you, Ghastly - you were the best.

EC Comics Week

I’m proclaiming it EC comics week here at my blog.

As I mentioned last week, Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein headed up this “New Trend” in comics. They had previously been publishing, ironically enough, wholesome family comics such as “Picture Stories from the Bible” and “Picture Stories from History” under the company banner Educational Comics. They had also been losing money. When Bill took over he changed the company name to ENTERTAINING Comics – thus emphasizing the shift in subject matter while retaining the EC logo.

One of Bill’s first hires was an up and coming young writer/artist named Al Feldstein. One evening the two were discussing their common love of old horror radio dramas, programs such as “Lights Out”, “Suspense” and the “Inner Sanctum”.  They wondered what would happen if they tried the same thing in comics.

They decided to test the market... In issue #15 of their comic CRIME PATROL they slipped in a horror story among the crime fare, and the Crypt Keeper made his first appearance. The story he introduced was called “Return from the Grave” and was, appropriately enough, a shambling corpse story.
In Issue #10 of WAR AGAINST CRIME they inserted another horror story, and the Vault Keeper made HIS debut. He hosted a story called “Buried Alive.”

Sales increased immediately, and the characters were popular with readers. They ran another Crypt Keeper story in Crime Patrol #16, and another Vault Keeper story in War Against Crime #11. Again, sales jumped, and Gaines decided this was proof enough. They changed the name of both books but kept the numbering the same to avoid having to purchase new mailing permit fees for new titles. Crime Patrol became Crypt of Terror #17, and War Against Crime became Vault of Horror #12. Crypt of Terror would go on to change names again slightly to Tales from the Crypt.

 Along with this switch in names, which occurred in January 1950 (April/May cover date), they added a third comic, The Haunt of Fear, hosted by the Old Witch. And thus the EC unholy trinity of Ghoulunatics was born and their three horror titles shambled off into the night, to the delight of fans.

Painting of Bill Gaines, (later in his career with full beard)
and the Ghoulunatics, (left to right): TheCrypt Keeper, The Old Witch,
TheVault Keeper

Rondo Award Hall of Fame

One of my favorite categories in the Rondo Awards is the Hall of Fame. I really like the idea of saluting creative individuals for a lifetime achievement in building a better world of Gods and Monsters. This year I made 3 nominations for Hall of Fame. . .


First and Foremost was TV Horror Host Morgus the Magnificent. 

Morgus was based out of New Orleans, Louisana and was played by actor Sid Noel. Last year marked the 50th anniversary of Morgus as a host – 50 years! His show was syndicated in various cities across the U.S. throughout  the years, and returned to the scarewaves in 1996 for a limited 10 episode run in New Orleans. Sid is alive and well today and still resides in the New Orleans area - I love the thought of him accepting the award in person, if he’s able to make it.


My second nomination was one that I make every year. It is the dynamic duo of doom who worked together to make a huge horror impact on the world of comics – Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein.

Bill inherited EC comics when his father passed away and changed the course of the company, steering it head first into horror. He hired Al Feldstein as his right hand man and creative partner. Al wrote and drew many of the EC stories, and both served as editors. They virtually created their own brand of stories – their “New Trend comics” which were, in actuality, morality tales. Yes they were horror stories, true enough, and oftentimes dripping with gore. But deep down they were revenge fantasies, where not even death could stop those who had been wronged from wreaking vengeance on the unjust.

Upon seeing the wild success of EC’s horror line many competitors jumped on the bandwagon, putting out their own inferior versions of the EC standards: Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Weird Science Fantasy, and Shock Suspenstories among others. To this day EC comics are still inspiring a generation of horror fans… who hasn’t heard of the Crypt Keeper?  Unfortunately Bill isn’t around any longer, but Al is, and again, I’d love to see him accept the award on both of their behalves.




My third nomination was a man who was another one of my biggest influences growing up – Alice Cooper. 

I first discovered Alice Cooper in a box of old cassettes my uncle had lying around. I am pretty sure the first album I heard was Billion Dollar Babies. I was instantly hooked – The makeup , costumes, stage show, and subject matter all came together along with some terrific music to make an impact that is still felt to this day. Just look at artists like Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Wednesday Thirteen – all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Alice for paving the way. Alice is currently touring and will even be playing some gigs with Rob Zombie – man I’d love to be at those shows!!


Now, when it comes to music I also would love to see Screaming Jay Hawkins eventually get in as well as Screaming Lord Sutch, both early predecessors of Alice’s. But Alice was the one who brought horror into the mainstream music industry much like Bill and Al had the comics industry decades before. Appearances with horror legend Vincent Price only further cemented Alice’s spot as the unquestioned king of horror music.

Bill Gaines for the Hall of Fame!

I’ve made this nomination for the Monster Kid Hall of fame each of the past two years, but I'll probably keep making it until he gets elected... I nominate William Gaines for the Hall of fame.

After inheriting his father's floundering comic book company Bill Gaines changed the direction of the company and steered it headlong into horror, turning Educational Comics into the EC comics we all know and love. If William Gaines was the general of the EC army, then Al Feldstein would be his field marshal. Al was right there with Bill, writing and drawing comics in addition to helping Bill plot EC’s financial decisions. In fact, a case could be made that the two should be inducted simultaneously, as they worked hand in hand to turn Entertaining comics into a successful business.

Crypt of Terror, Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Shock Suspenstories, etc. probably had more to do with my becoming a horror host than any other single source. I didn't read Famous Monsters that much as a kid (but I sure would have liked to!), but by golly I sure loved my horror comics! Whether EC comics themselves, reprints, or cheap imitations - I loved them all!

They weren’t officially the first horror comic (see http://www.watt-evans.com/theotherguys.html for a great article on other horror comics of the 40s – 50s), but they were the best. They were a visual representation of the old radio horror tales. Caught in the censorship crossfire of the congressional hearings, thanks to Dr. Frederic Wertham (who should win some kind of Anti-Rondo award), EC eventually was forced to fold. But even that was short lived, as EC crawled from the grave and is more popular today than ever. The Crypt Keeper is a star baby! I actually encouraged Curtis Prather, the webmaster of the website www.horrorhosts.com and one of the founding members of the Horror host Underground, to add the Cryptkeeper to the website of current horror hosts, which he did.

They may be cheap, tawdry, and crass - but they are also entertaining, funny (in a dark sense), and almost always pack a morality tale. They also had some of the most amazing art in comic book history, with contributions from the likes of Jack Davis, Ghastly Graham Ingels, Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny Craig - the list goes on and on! These comics probably had as big an influence on the horror community, (writers, artists and fans alike) as any other single source. Long live EC comics, and here’s to Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, and all the artists and writers of EC comics!!