Before graphic novels, before Art Spiegelman’s <em>Maus</em> and his cuttingedge magazine, <em>Raw</em>, before manga and Magic cards, there was EC Comics’ <em>Tales from the Crypt</em>, which Stephen King says “ summed up for me the epitome of horror.” Now for all of those fans of comics, retro illustration, and graphic arts—and for the baby boomers who remember reading the original <em>Tales</em> under the covers with a flashlight—comes the <em>Tales from the Crypt Calendar</em>.

Behold! Hatchet-wielding madmen! Rotting corpses rising from the grave! Wild-eyed werewolves amidst gore and goo and spattering blood! Each month, it’s an indelible moment from stories such as “The Sliceman Cometh,” “Lover, Come Hack to Me,” and “Pleasant Screams,” illustrated in extraordinarily vivid, eye-popping style by Jack Davis, Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, and other masters of the genre. Drawing on that fecund period from 1950 to 1955, when pressure from a Senate subcommittee investigating juvenile delinquency—and the resulting anti-comics hysteria—finally forced E.C. to drop its beloved horror comics. It’s the best artwork from the funniest and most fiendish comics the world has ever seen. Open this calendar at your own risk.