Author Digby Diehl’s book Tales From the Crypt: The Official Archives is one of the most comprehensive books on the history of EC Comics and their downfall to the creation of the cult HBO television show Tales From the Crypt, which ran for seven seasons. Diehl’s book starts by giving the reader a background of the EC publishers and how their comics opened the world and the industry to a different kind of comic from the Famous Funnies and Popular Comics titles of the ‘30s and ‘40s to when William “Bill” Gaines inherited the company and started producing what would eventually become the infamous Tales From The Crypt, Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, and Weird Science titles (to name a few), in which Gaines and his company of dedicated artists produced some of the most strikingly original and grotesque comics and stories to ever be committed to page. With the popularity of these comics to pre-teens everywhere came the backlash of parents and religious groups all across America. The book traces this history and causes of what brought down the Gaines Empire and EC Comics eventually leading up to the creation of both the British feature films Tales From the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) and eventually to the American television series Tales From the Crypt (1989-1996).
The book goes into great detail about the creation of the HBO produced television show and how close it honored the source material (all 93 episodes were based on a story from one of the EC comics titles). The book also gives a complete television guide to the series not to mention it highlights the inspiration for every episode. Diehl’s book not only is a library of information but he has extensive interviews with many of the artists involved with the original comics not to mention the people behind the television series giving the book everything a reader needs to know about history of EC Comics and the television series.
An added bonus to the book is the abundance of photos and artwork throughout not to mention that four complete stories from the comics are reprinted with the inclusion of a never before published story hidden away in the EC Vaults that never made it to the printed page. Diehl’s book is a book for any fan of the EC Comics world as well as those who just want to know a little bit of history about one of the greatest (and infamous) publishing companies in the business.
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