Last installment of my EC Archives notes.

Vault Lines

Vault 23

The Vault of Horror 23 (February-March 1952) is unique because it features two stories by the same artist (Jack Davis), a scheduling rarity for EC. (Craig also had two stories in Tales from the Crypt 19.)

One might assume that Johnny Craig had the 1911 Triangle Factory fire in mind when he drew “A Stitch in Time!”, especially since it was the subject of an Oscar-nominated film, With These Hands (1950), directed by Jack Arnold with Sam Levene, Arlene Francis, Alexander Scourby and Rolly Bester (wife of science fiction, radio and comics writer Alfred Bester). The fire resulted in the deaths of 146 garment workers who were trapped in the building or jumped to their deaths during the deadliest New York City disaster until 9/11. However, Craig stated that he only learned about the Triangle fire years later when he saw a different film, probably The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal (1979) with Tom Bosley and Stephanie Zimbalist. To see the American Experience documentary on the Triangle fire, go to PBS.

Craig was unfamiliar with the Triangle fire, but even so,

“A Stitch in Time!” displays several conspicuous parallels with the 1911 tragedy, suggesting that it was scripted by someone who knew New York history. The Triangle fire reportedly began in a scrap bin, the focus of the final pages in the story. The sweatshop owner is named Lasch, and the Triangle fire took place in the ten-story Asch Building place at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place. In the last panel, the Vault-Keeper’s concluding pun is a direct reference: “…don’t asch Lasch.” Although polished in both script and art, the story has an obvious flaw, since the fire begins for no apparent reason other than to heighten the finale with flames. What started this fire? We are never told.

“Dead Wait” and “Staired in Horror” and “99 44/100% Pure Horror!” were all adapted for HBO’s Tales from the Crypt series. During the third season, “Dead Wait” was telecast 3 July 1991 with a cast of James Remar, Whoopi Goldberg, and John Rhys-Davies. In the sixth season of the HBO series, “Staired in Horror” was telecast 14 December 1994 with a cast of Rachel Ticotin, D.B. Sweeney and R. Lee Ermey. Also in the sixth season, “99 44/100% Pure Horror!” was telecast 18 January 1995 with a cast of Bruce Davison, Cristi Conaway and Darin Heames.