Tales Too Terrible to Tell

    (NEC, 1990–1993)
™ and © 1990 respective creators

According to the editor, nobody on staff at New England Comics expected to make a dime off a 76-page comic book sporting a $2.95 cover price. But money apparently wasn’t the issue. This was a labor of love—a tribute to the pre-Code horror comics of the 1950s.

EC’s contemporaries—smaller companies, who went out of business years ago and whose material has now become public domain, originally published the stories reprinted within these pages. You’ll also find a cover gallery and “terrology”—a short history of pre-Code horror comics, compliments of the editor and staff at NEC.
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Jan 1990
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Bruce Hamilton, George Suarez, Ben Edlund  ·  A: Gerald Altman, Eugene Hughes, Ben Edlund, Bob Polio, Sal Trapani, Ben Brown
    Reprints from Mister Mystery #13, Weird Chills #1, Weird Chills #3, Mister Mystery #16, Purple Claw #1, Strange Mysteries #7, Mister Mystery #17, Reprints from Mister Mystery #13, 16, 17, Weird Chills #1, 3, Purple Claw #1 and Strange Mysteries #7, Features a unique appearance of The Tick in last story (only original material in book), Winter 1989
    1 copy for $21.00
  • 2
    #2
    Reprints from Strange Mysteries #6, Weird Mysteries #11, Unseen #14, Black Cat Mystery #45, Journey into Fear #5, Ghoul Tales #3, Dark Mysteries #13, Cover reprinted splash page from Head of Horror
    Mar 1991
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Bob Powell, Allan Hopkins, George Suarez  ·  A: Bob Powell, Allan Hopkins
    Spring 1991
    1 copy for $6.00
  • 3
    #3
    Jun 1991
    Cover: $3.50
    W: George Suarez  ·  A: Sal Trapani, Rudy Palais
    Reprints from Weird Chills #1, 3, Weird Mysteries #10, Adventures into Darkness #13, Horrific #5, Ghoul Tales #1 and 2
    1 copy for $8.00
  • 4
    #4
    Dec 1991
    Cover: $3.50
    W: George Suarez  ·  A: Bernard Baily, Ben Brown
    Reprints from Mister Mystery #13, Fantastic Fears #4, 6, 8, Unseen #14, Journey into Fear #12, Purple Claw #1 and Dark Mysteries #19; Reprints from Mister Mystery #13, Fantastic Fears #8, Unseen #14, Journey into Fear #12, Fantastic Fears #6, Purple Claw #1, Fantastic Fears #4, Dark Mysteries #19
    1 copy for $8.00
  • 5
    #5
    Reprints from Weird Mysteries #8 & 11, Weird Terror #8, Haunted Thrills #18, Mysterious Adventures #15 & 18, Dark Mysteries #19 and Purple Claw #2, Cover reprinted from Mister Mystery #6
    Cover: $3.50
    W: George Suarez  ·  A: Rudy Palais, Sal Trapani, Doug Wildey, Jon D’Agostino, Ben Brown
    B&W
    2 copies from $10.00
  • 6
    #6
    Reprints from Journey into Fear #14, Chilling Tales of Horror #2, Black Cat Mystery #36, Weird Chills #1, Dark Mysteries #16, The Purple Claw #3 and Weird Horrors #9, Cover reprinted from Mister Mystery #13
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Allan Hopkins, Bob Powell, Bruce Hamilton, George Suarez  ·  A: Hy Eisman, Allan Hopkins, Bob Powell, Sal Trapani, Ben Brown, Lou Cameron
    B&W; ca. 1992
    2 copies from $8.00
  • 7
    #7
    Reprints from Weird Mysteries #11, Out of the Shadows #9, Web of Evil #1, Strange Fantasy #8, The Unseen #9, Voodoo #16, Mister Mystery #14, The Thing #15 and Chamber of Chills #16, Cover reprinted from Strange Fantasy #2
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Otto Binder, George Suarez  ·  A: Reed Crandall, Tom Feelings, Steve Ditko, Al Eadeh
    B&W; ca. 1992
    1 copy for $8.00
  • 8
    #8
    Cover reprinted from Haunted Thrills #1
    May 1993
    Cover: $3.50
    W: George Suarez  ·  A: Bob Powell, Steve Ditko
    Reprints from Weird Mysteries #8, Web of Evil #19, Chilling Tales of Horror #3, Voodoo #18, Tomb of Terror #3, the Thing #15 and Adventures into Darkness #9; B&W
    1 copy for $8.00