by Brandon Kosters

Many only know “Tales From the Crypt” for the TV show and film series with the ugly puppet who makes bad puns.

It actually started as a comic books series in the fifties, published by EC comics, which was famously banned for it’s macabre content when Congress passed the Comics Code.

No, nearly sixty years later, Papercutz is publishing “Tales From the Crypt” graphic novels with some of the same characters from the 50’s, and all the old fashioned lame puns and heavy handed social commentary, but with a slightly more modern aesthetic.

I just read the most recent installment, the ninth in the new series, and while I don’t dig the look of it quite as much as I do the older stuff, it’s still a hell of a lot of fun.

My favorite story centered around “The Stinky Dead Kid,” who is apparently a recurring character in the new series. TSDK is given a dead dog for the first anniversary of his death. He names it Goner.

There’s a Wicked Parody, where Dorothy ritualistically murders the entire Wizard of Oz cast in a courtroom.

If you have an affinity for ’50’s horror, or if you just dig comics and have a morbid sense of humor, or if you’re just generally really lonely and pathetic, it’s TOTALLY worth checking out.

I’m actually putting serious consideration into checking out some of the other eight issues in this series.