You can own the EC Comics Headquarters

Or at least a part of it!

 I thought I'd look and see whatever happened to the old EC Comics Building. Entertaining Comics was run out of 225 Lafayette Street (on the corner of Lafayette and Spring), NY NY Room 706.

Well turns out it has been turned into condos called The Spring - and you can own a 2 Bedroom, 2 bth place there for the mere price of $1,735,000!

Wonder if the inhabitants know this was the former site of the EC Grue Factory? If you buy a place there, (and I know you all have that kind of dough just lying around), tell em' Doc Gangrene sent ya' and ask for Room 706 - just be sure to let me come visit and see if the ghosts of comics past perhaps lurk in the building somewhere!

Realtor Info:

This building is two blocks north of the grandiose former Police Headquarters Building and was erected in 1927 for the East River Savings Bank and was designed by Cass Gilbert, the architect of the famous Woolworth Building facing City Hall Park.

The 14-story building has a three-story limestone base with very tall colonnades on both Lafayette and Spring Streets. Its corner is chamfered. The beige-brick building has a nice deep cornice and stringcourses at the third, fourth and 12th floors. A rooftop penthouse with a wrap-around terrace has been added. The building has 40 condominium apartments and 12,000-square feet of retail space.

The conversion was completed in 2004 and was undertaken by Africa Israel Investments, which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and is involved in several ventures in New York City including the River Lofts facing the Hudson River at 92 Laight Street, 15 Broad Street, and 88 Leonard Street in Manhattan and the Empire Stores between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in Brooklyn facing the East River, 85 Adams Street, which is three blocks north from the Empire Stores, and 84 Front Street, also in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.

This elegant building is convenient to the many restaurants and boutiques of SoHo and NoHo as well as Little Italy and Chinatown. It has no garage and no sidewalk landscaping.

For More InformationFor more information about buying an apartment in The Spring, please call us at 212-755-5544, or contact us by email  ª 

Building Summary Features Amenities Building Features
> Condominium
> Built in 1927
> Located in SOHO
> 40 Apartments
> 14 Floors   
> Full-time Doorman
> Hi Rise
> Pre War
> Video Intercom
> Washer/Dryer in building
 > Very handsome building designed by Cass Gilbert
> Taller than most of its neighbors
> One block from great former Police Headquarters building
> Very close to Little Italy, SoHo and NoHo
> Near important architecture center
> Former East River Savings bank building
> Convenient to numerous restaurants
> Subway nearby
> Upper floors have excellent views

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

Recommended Movie of the Week - FROGS

This week's recommended movie is an oldie but a goodie - nature run amuk swingin 70s style with the cult classic, Frogs!

Midnight Movie - The Crazies 1973 at the Belcourt

Just found out the Belcourt theater, our arthouse theater in Nashville, is showing the original George Romero 1973 cult classic THE CRAZIES on:

Friday April 2nd and Sat. April 3rd at Midnight both nights! 

Now this is film, folks - none of that video projection crap - so if you are in the Nashville area April 2-3 make plans now to come to this midnight movie madness!!

Dr. Gangrene's Mutant Killer Bats...

Another of my old cartoons that I thought I'd share. I thought it was especially appropriate this time of year. I dated this one, which I didn't often do - I drew it in 2000, which means I had been doing my show for about a year at this point.

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.