When we talk about horror comics we refer to certain plot elements. Things such as; monsters, vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts. and ghouls. In any conversation about horror comics you should start with EC Comics.

The firm, first known as Educational Comics, was founded by Max Gaines, former editor of the comic-book company All American Publications. When that company merged with DC Comics in 1944, Gaines retained rights to the comic book "Picture Stories from the Bible", and began his new company with a plan to market comics about science, history and the Bible to schools and churches. Max Gaines died in 1947 in a boating accident, his son William inherited the comics company. When William M. Gaines became publisher of EC Comics, he inherited a company deep in debt and struggling to survive. Within a few years, he transformed it into the most innovative publisher of comic books in the 1950s. Although EC's brief reign came to an end amid Senate hearings and industry self-censorship, Gaines and his stable of artists and writers created a legacy that continues to inspire American pop culture, in no small part because of EC's notoriety.

Most notorious of EC's comics were its horror books, Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. Other titles included Frontline Combat, Two-Fisted Tales, Shock SuspenStories, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy.

The three horror titles featured stories introduced by a trio of horror hosts. The Crypt Keeper introduced Tales from the Crypt, the Vault Keeper welcomed readers to The Vault of Horror and the Old Witch cackled over The Haunt of Fear. Besides gleefully recounting the unpleasant details of the stories, the characters squabbled with one another, unleashed an arsenal of puns and even insulted and taunted the readers: "Greetings, boils and ghouls…"

William M. Gaines publisher of EC Comics

Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO. The title is based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name and most of the content originated in that comic or the four other EC Comics of the time (Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, Crime SuspenStories, and Weird Fantasy).