Twisted Tales was a horror comics

Horror comics

Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...

 anthology

Comics anthology

Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...

 published by Pacific Comics

Pacific Comics

Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...

 and, later, Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

, in the early 1980s. The title was edited by Bruce Jones

Bruce Jones (comics)

Bruce Jones, whose pen names include Philip Roland and Bruce Elliot, is an American comic book writer, novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work included writing Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk from 2001-2005.-Early career:...

 and April Campbell.

Publication history

Twisted Tales was published on a bi-monthly schedule by Pacific Comics

Pacific Comics

Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...

 from November 1982 to May 1984 (eight issues). After Pacific went bankrupt, two final issues were published by Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

 in November and December 1984. In August 1986, Blackthorne Publishing

Blackthorne Publishing

Blackthorne Publishing, Inc. was a comic book publisher that flourished from 1986-1989. They were notable for the Blackthorne 3-D Series, their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products...

 released Twisted Tales 3-D #1 (#7 in their 3-D series), with reprints of stories taken from earlier issues. In November 1987 a Twisted Tales trade paperback was released by Eclipse Comics with a Dave Stevens

Dave Stevens

Dave Stevens was an American illustrator and comics artist. He is most famous for creating The Rocketeer comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, especially of model Bettie Page...

 cover, featuring previously unpublished stories and art.

With three exceptions (William F. Nolan

William F. Nolan

William Francis Nolan is an American author, who wrote stories in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. He is best known for coauthoring the novel Logan's Run, with George Clayton Johnson. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1976 horror film Burnt Offerings which starred Karen Black and...

’s “The Party” in Issue # 8, Dennis Etchison

Dennis Etchison

Dennis William Etchison , is an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. Etchison refers to his own work as “rather dark, depressing, almost pathologically inward fiction about the individual in relation to the world.”Stephen King has called Dennis Etchison “one hell of a fiction...

’s “Wet Season” in Issue #9, and David Carren's “If She Dies” in issue #10, which was later adapted into an episode

If She Dies (The Twilight Zone)

"If She Dies" is the first segment of the fifth episode of the first season from the television series The New Twilight Zone.-Opening narration:-Synopsis:...

 of the 1980's revival of The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...

), all of the stories in the entire run of Twisted Tales were written by Jones, who had shown a knack for horror a decade before when he was employed as a scripter for Warren Publishing

Warren Publishing

Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...

, writing for their Creepy

Creepy

Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...

and Eerie

Eerie

Eerie was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host...

titles. Jones, a self-described "child of the 50’s", was heavily influenced by the horror and science fiction movies of that decade

1950s in film

The decade of the 1950s in film involved many significant films.----Contents1 Events2 List of films: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.-Events:...

. But as noted in his editorial in Issue #1, his chief inspiration was the bloody and ironically moralistic tales of the EC

EC Comics

Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...

 horror comics. His work in Twisted Tales, often utilizing twist endings, added huge dollops of graphic violence

Graphic violence

Graphic violence is the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as literature, film, television, and video games...

 and sexuality to the EC formula, complete with copious female nudity, making the title a definite “adults only” item; several issues sported a “Recommended For Mature Readers” warning on the cover.

Probably the most gruesome and controversial story to appear in the comic was “Banjo Lessons” in the April 1983 issue (#5), with artwork by former underground comics

Underground comix

Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...

 illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 Rand Holmes

Rand Holmes

Randolph Holton Holmes was a Canadian artist and illustrator probably best known for his work in underground comix....

. A story about the murderous violence that ensues one summery day when a repressed memory

Repressed memory

Repressed memory is a hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall; also called motivated forgetting in which a subject blocks out painful or traumatic times in one's life...

 is innocently triggered, it was a shocking mix of extreme gore, cannibalism

Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...

, homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, and borderline racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

. The tale was prefaced by special commentary by Campbell apologizing in advance for any accusations of bigotry

Bigotry

A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...

 the story might spark, but readers’ emotional responses to the story still filled the next issue’s letters page

Comic book letter column

A comic book letter column is a section of a comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns , letter pages, letters of comment , or simply letters to the editor...

.

Front covers for the comic were by, among others, Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

, John Bolton, and Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson

Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...

. Contributing interior artists included Corben, Bolton, Wrightson, Mike Ploog

Mike Ploog

Michael G. Ploog is an American storyboard and comic book artist, and a visual designer for movies....

, Val Mayerik

Val Mayerik

Val Mayerik is an American comic-book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of Marvel Comics' satiric character Howard the Duck.-Early life and career:...

, Bill Wray

Bill Wray

William York Wray is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show...

, Tim Conrad, Alfredo Alcala

Alfredo Alcala

Alfredo P. Alcala was a Filipino comic book artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the Alcala Komix Magazine. His 1963 creation Voltar introduced him to an international audience, particularly in the United...

, and Rick Geary

Rick Geary

Rick Geary is an American cartoonist and illustrator.-Biography:Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. Geary was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the Heavy Metal and National Lampoon magazines...

, as well as one story written and illustrated by editor Jones himself.

In 1985, soon after the cancellation of Twisted Tales, Eclipse began publishing The Twisted Tales of Bruce Jones, featuring science fiction, fantasy and horror stories written and illustrated by Jones. Although the cover of the initial issue noted that it was to be "Part 1 of 2", the title was expanded to a four-issue run and ceased publication in 1986.

In January 2005, Todd McFarlane

Todd McFarlane

Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....

 announced that he was set to produce

Produce

Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...

 a half hour anthology television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 series for Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 called Twisted Tales, based on the comic book to which McFarlane had purchased the rights. However, according to Bruce Jones, Twisted Tales was a creator owned property and does not belong to McFarlane.

Issue guide

#	Date	Cover Artist	Story	Story Artist	Plot
1	November 1982	Richard Corben Richard Corben Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...	Infected	Richard Corben	Sleazy credit collector seduces beautiful woman who warns him beforehand that she has "crabs"
			Out of His Depth	Alfredo Alcala Alfredo Alcala Alfredo P. Alcala was a Filipino comic book artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the Alcala Komix Magazine. His 1963 creation Voltar introduced him to an international audience, particularly in the United...	Stupid but rich man returns from the grave to kill the wife who murdered him
			A Walk in the Woods	Bret Blevins Bret Blevins Bret Blevins is an American comic book artist, animation storyboard artist, and painter. He is perhaps best known for his stint as the regular penciler of New Mutants.-Career:...	Couple vacationing in Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...  find themselves trapped in an increasingly horrific fairy tale Fairy tale A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
			All Hallows	Tim Conrad	A group of boys help a mouldering corpse seek vengeance every Hallowe'en Halloween Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
2	April 1983	Bernie Wrightson Bernie Wrightson Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...	Over His Head	Mike Ploog Mike Ploog Michael G. Ploog is an American storyboard and comic book artist, and a visual designer for movies....	Loser's daydream Daydream A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake. There are many types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition amongst psychologists. The general public also uses the term for a... s about love affair with beautiful woman result in her "murder" and his drowning death
			Night Watch	Ken Steacy Ken Steacy Ken “Value Added” Steacy is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of Astro Boy and of the Comico comic series of Jonny Quest, as well as his graphic novel collaborations with Harlan Ellison and Dean Motter...	Warfare between members of a platoon Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...  and giant rat Rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...  turns out to be a child playing with toy soldier Toy soldier A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, pirates, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic... s
			Infant Terrible	Val Mayerik Val Mayerik Val Mayerik is an American comic-book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of Marvel Comics' satiric character Howard the Duck.-Early life and career:...	Young woman's aborted fetus dumped into polluted river mutates into monster that rapes her
			Speed Demons	Rand Holmes Rand Holmes Randolph Holton Holmes was a Canadian artist and illustrator probably best known for his work in underground comix....	Ghostly couple force taxi driver to drive recklessly fast
3	June 1983	Richard Corben	Me an' ol' Rex	Richard Corben	Boy's imaginary friend Imaginary friend Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They...  dinosaur Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...  is really his cannibal father chained up in a wood shed
			Off Key	Doug Wildey Doug Wildey Douglas S. Wildey was a cartoonist and comic book artist best known for his co-creation of the 1964 animated television series, Jonny Quest for Hanna-Barbera Productions.-Early life and career:...	Young couple find their lives inadvertently controlled by a friend's constantly changing screenplay Screenplay A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...  draft
			With Honor	Bill Wray Bill Wray William York Wray is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show...	Japanese soldier convinces his friend to remain behind on an island for years following World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...  so he can steal the man's wife
			Sunken Chest	Bret Blevins	An abusive fisherman left in the ocean to die by his wife's lover is consumed by a large shark
4	August 1983	John Bolton	The Well	John Bolton	A young woman follows her husband into a well and is raped and impregnated by a hideous monster
			Nick of Time	Don Lomax	Lesbians concoct an elaborate plan to rid themselves of their husbands
			The Secret Place	Bruce Jones	Lonely boy develops a friendship with a creature hidden in a lake
5	October 1983	Richard Corben	Terminated	Richard Corben	Villagers shotgun-murder a horribly diseased man, whose bloody remains fall into the town's water supply
			Scritch...Scritch...Scritch	Bill Wray	Man devises an ingenious plan to force his friend to commit suicide, so he can seduce the dead man's wife.
			Majority of One	Val Mayerik	In a world populated by werewolves, "normal" men and women are routinely hunted down and killed.
			Banjo Lessons	Rand Holmes	Man on trial for the gruesome murders of his three best friends reveals the circumstances leading to their deaths
6	January 1984	John Bolton	You, Illusion	John Bolton	Old man can control other people's lives in his dreams
			Evening Walk	John Totleben John Totleben John Totleben is an American illustrator working mostly in comics.-Biography:After studying art at a vocational high school in Erie, Totleben attended The Kubert School for one year...	A man walking in the city at night turns into a dog, while the man's dog transforms into a woman
			Home Ties	Mike Hoffman	In a haunted house, a man sees a murder and suicide reenacted by ghosts
			Roomers	Attilio Micheluzzi	Decrepit old man sits in his apartment and waits to die
7	March 1984	John Bolton	Holly's Hobby	John Bolton	Eccentric old woman murders visitors and keeps their decapitated heads to talk to
			Hooked!	Bill Wray	A gigolo encounters his latest target's murderous mutant son
			Sasquatch	Ian Aiken & Brian Garvey	Cannibalism, murderous vengeance and the Abominable Snowman Yeti The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
			Shut-In	Tanino Liberatore Tanino Liberatore Gaetano Liberatore , better known as Tanino Liberatore, is an Italian comics author and illustrator. His best known fictional character is RanXerox.- Life and work :...	Mute old man incapable of movement daydreams about murdering his sexy teenaged babysitter and her boyfriend
8	May 1984	John Pound	Way down there in the Dark	Thom Enriquez	Abused young boy has a telepathic connection with a mutant-thing in the sewer
			First Impressions	Butch Guice Jackson Guice Jackson "Butch" Guice , is an American comic book artist who has worked steadily in the mainstream comics industry since the early 1980s.-Biography:...	After desecrating his obnoxious professor’s grave, a young college student steals the dead man’s watch only to have the corpse bite his leg, leaving teeth permanently imbedded in the flesh
			An Unsettling Incident	Rick Geary Rick Geary Rick Geary is an American cartoonist and illustrator.-Biography:Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. Geary was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the Heavy Metal and National Lampoon magazines...	In 1735, a young man murders his wife and her sister with an axe
			The Party	Mike Hoffman	Man trapped for eternity in a hellish party
9	November 1984	John Bolton	Warped Panels	Thom Enriquez	Writer and his artist friend find themselves trapped in a comic book story
			Deadlights	Bill Wray	Ghostly 1950s teenagers haunt a highway
			Spade, the Werewolf, and Me	Val Mayerik	After being bitten by a monstrous wolf, a boy’s beloved pet dog becomes a werewolf Werewolf A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
			Wet Season	Mike Hoffman	Numerous human shaped female-things from a watery world marry eligible men in a small town and transform the area into a rain-soaked place of horror
10	December 1984	John Pound	Beer	Berni Wrightson	Newcomer in a snowy Canadian village stops off at a bar for a beer and is told an outlandish story about Sasquatch
			One for the Money…	Bill Wray	Thief robs a house during a costume party, and murders a guest in a bear suit who has found him in the act. Stealing the dead man’s costume, he escapes into the woods and is killed by hunters
			Hatchet Job	Gray Morrow Gray Morrow Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...	Time traveler thinks he will act as a witness to the Lizzie Borden murders, ends up committing the crimes himself.
			…Two for the Show!	Bill Wray	At a costume party, man in a bear suit accidentally kills a burglar during a struggle. He pockets the stolen loot himself, then escapes into the woods and is killed by a grizzly bear.
			If She Dies	Attilio Miceluzzi	Father struggling with the imminent death of his daughter is visited by the ghost of a young girl.
			Poison in the Pantry	Rick Geary	Woman kills new husband and his family with "Rat-Pruf" poison.
1	August 1986	Steve Huston	Terminated	Rich Corben	3-D rendering of story reprinted from issue # 5
	3-D Issue		Way down there in the Dark	Tom Enriguez	3-D rendering of story reprinted from issue # 8
			First Impressions	Butch Guice	3-D rendering of story reprinted from issue # 8
			Evening Walk	John Totleben	3-D rendering of story reprinted from issue # 6
			You, Illusion	John Bolton	3-D rendering of story reprinted from issue # 6
NA	November 1987	Dave Stevens	Termites from Mars	Rick Stasi	1950s small town boys love science fiction movies and experience an unforgettable evening in a haunted house
			Fraternity	Scott Saavedra	Lonely fat man picks up women in bars by telling them sob stories about non-existent dead brother
			Night Dive	Henry Mayo	Ambitious young man joins exclusive yacht club and finds its his one way ticket to Davy Jones' Locker Davy Jones' Locker Davy Jones's Locker is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors. It is used as an euphemism for death at sea ....