If you were to just to look at the cover, you would think that the title story was about a poor sap running afoul of some death cult. In order to win his freedom, he must find an enchanted item placed inside a bottomless cloak.
Instead the title story is about a vagabond who is caught shoplifting. But the police are stymied when they can't find his stolen goods. Turns out that the coat he found has a special pocket that connects to another dimension.
What's so scary about that? Then again, what do you expect from a story published right after the comics scare?! It's not that the story was bad. It's just compared to the frightening scene on the cover, the story we get is extremely tame. Not to mention unexpected.
Among collectors of horror comics, this mid-seventies anthology series from Marvel is a cult favorite. It only ran for 21 issues and was comprised entirely of reprints. That alone is why the series was so short lived and yet reflected upon so fondly.
Crypt of Shadows wasn't what 1970s fans were expecting in an era that was opening to meatier horror stories after nearly 20 years of oppressive rules by the Comics Code. However, as these issues contain do contain a number of tales from when Marvel was Timely Comics as well as some very early Marvel stuff. For some fans of the modern era, finding these books are the only way that can get those nearly impossible to locate (and often pricey) stories as these comics are occasionally peppered in bargain bins.
A good issue that is proof of the adage: never judge a book by its cover!
Worth Consuming.
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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