The Haunt of Fear was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics, starting in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue.
The Haunt of Fear
The Old Witch as rendered by Graham Ingels
Steve Fiorilla's latex mask of the Old Witch, as seen on HBO's Tales from the Crypt
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to the demise of many titles and the toning down of others. Black-and-white horror-comics magazines, which did not fall under the Code, flourished from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s from a variety of publishers. Mainstream American color comic books experienced a horror resurgence in the 1970s, following a loosening of the Code. While the genre has had greater and lesser periods of popularity, it occupies a firm niche in comics as of the 2010s.
EC Comics' Tales from the Crypt #24 (July 1951) Cover art by Al Feldstein
Gilberton Publications' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (August 1943), possibly the first full-length comic-book horror story
Avon Publications' Eerie Comics #1 (January 1947). Cover artist unknown.
Beware: Chilling Tales of Horror number 10 (July 1954). Artwork by Frank Frazetta.