2. What did the letters "EC" stand for in "EC Comics?"

3. Why did the third issue of Shock Illustrated become the Hope Diamond of EC Comics?

4. The comics were the brainchild of two individuals - Bill Gaines and whom else?

5. To give his titles the fresh blood they needed, Gaines brought in a few freelance writers. They were found through a series of letters that appeared in what publication?

6. What did Gaines say he relished in the "Do's and Don't's" list he created for his writers?

7. The Crypt Keeper first appeared in which of the following comics?
  A. Crime Patrol
  B. The Haunt of Fear
  C. Shock SuspenStories
  D. Tales From The Crypt

8. Where did the idea for the Crypt Keeper come from?

9. Here's an easy one. What trio comprised the group that became known as "The GhouLunatics"?

10. Which of the following song titles weren't suggested for the Crypt  Keeper's Horror Hit Parade?
  A. Deck the Halls with Parts of Charlie
 
B. I'm Back in the Coffin Again
 
C. Lady of Pain (I Will Gore You)
 
D. Tennessee Vaults

11. One of the three major networks tried to cash in on the Crypt' Keeper's popularity with a series entitled Secrets of the Crypt Keeper's Haunted House. Was it ABC, CBS or NBC?

12. How did that series differ from the HBO series?

13. What was the title of the animated series that was produced for ABC's Saturday Morning cartoon line-up?

14. The Coffin, What the Dog Dragged In and Let's Play Poison - those stories were linked by what common thread?
  A. They featured a character that bore
  an uncanny resemblance to Vincent Price.
  B. They were illustrated by Ghastly Graham
  Ingels
  C. They were adapted from three Ray
  Bradbury stories.
  D. All of the above

15. True or False: A feature entitled The Crypt Keeper's Corner was added to the comics in the 1950s to meet postal regulations.
  Answers

1. 40 cents because each cost a dime.  2. "Educational Comics" became "Entertaining Comics" when Bill Gaines took over his father's publishing business.  3. 250,000 copies of the print had to be destroyed because the company couldn't afford to have the issue bound.  4. Al Feldstein  5. Writer's Digest  6. Contes Cruels (Tales of Sadism)  7. A  8. The old radio thrillers that inspired the comics had a host or some sort of continuing character.  9. The Crypt Keeper, The Vault Keeper and the Old Witch  10. A.  Deck the Halls appeared on the Crypt Keeper's Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas CD.

11. CBS  12. It was a game show.  13. Tales From The Cryptkeeper  14. C  15. True, all second-class mail had to include a certain number of pages of print.  16. The artwork (apart from the covers) was reprinted in black and white, and restored to its original size. The reprints also included anecdotes from Cochran and a number of other "fan-addicts."  17. Walter Hill, David Giler, Joel Silver, Richard Donner and Robert Zemeckis  18. Vosburg drew the comic books covers that prefaced each episode. Kassir came up with the Crypt Keeper's maniacal laugh. He also voiced the character.  19. Russell Mulchay  20. His hooded cloak was replaced with a variety of costumes that were related to the episodes that followed each "bumper."

21. Yellow and Showdown  22. True  23. A  24. Tommy Lee Jones  25. Jenkins (Kim Kondrashoff) had the Crypt Keeper's face tattooed on his arm.  26. Your guess is as good as ours. The mummy (William Sadler) was decapitated offscreen.
16. How did Russ Cochran's hardcover reprints of Tales From The Crypt differ from the original comics?

17. Cochran's hardcover reprints served as the inspiration for at least two of the series five executive producers. Who did the team consist of?

18. What did Mike Vosburg and John Kassir contribute to the series?

19. What director earned the nickname "Buckets of Blood" for the work he contributed to the series?

20. The Crypt Keeper's appearance changed in some way during the series third season. Do you remember how?

21. Three episodes were intended for an anthology series entitled Two-Fisted Tales. One was King of the Road, the story that featured Brad Pitt in the role of a hotshot street car racer. We'll give you three points if you can name the other two.

22. True or False: The series won ten CableAce awards during its five year run, including one for Best Dramatic Series in 1990.

23. The Crypt Keeper became a spokesperson for which of the following products in 1995?
  A. Budweiser
  B. Doritos
  C. Tombstone Pizza
  D. All of the above

24. Val Kilmer and Willem Dafoe were considered for the roles of Brayker and The Collector in Tales From the Crypt  Presents Demon Knight. Tom Holland wanted to cast Chris Sarandon alongside this actor. We'll name three other characters that person played. If you need more than one clue the point value for this question will drop to two and then one if you need all three.
  Dwight McClusky
  William Stranix
  Samuel Gerard

25. How was the Crypt Keeper worked into the story he introduced in Bordello of Blood?

26. If we asked you why the Crypt Keeper let someone chop off one of his hands in the film's wraparound sequence, you'd answer, because he lost a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors," wouldn't you? So try this question instead - which of those three enabled him to get the last laugh… and chop?


Compiled by Philip Cerreta
The year is 1951. You've heard about Tales From The Crypt and EC's New Trend comics, but you can't seem to find them anywhere. Every turn is met with the words, "sorry, kid, what do you want them for, anyway? They'll just rot your brain." To make matters worse, you've also just found out that your dad's new job will take you a thousand miles away from your best friend. During the move, your mom asks your dad to stop in the next drugstore so she can pick up some cough medicine for your kid sister. As luck would have it, there it is, right next to the new issues of The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear and Shock SuspenStories. You can't believe your eyes - they're even better than you imagined. How much money do you ask your dad for so can buy a copy of each?
Think you're smarter than a Couch Potato?
TALES FROM THE CRYPT
26 Cryptic Questions