Vampire Tales was a black-and-white horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

-comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 series published by Curtis Magazines

Curtis Magazines

Curtis Magazines was an imprint of Marvel Comics that existed from 1971 to 1980. The imprint published black-and-white magazines that did not carry the Comics Code Authority seal. Initially, page counts varied between 68,76, and 84 pages....

 (an imprint of Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

) in the 1970s, featuring vampire

Vampire

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

s as both protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

s and antagonist

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

s.

In addition to publishing anthological stories, the magazine starred Morbius the Living Vampire, in a feature written primarily by Don McGregor

Don McGregor

Donald Francis McGregor is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics, and the author of one of the first graphic novels.-Early life and career:...

, with pencilers including Pablo Marcos

Pablo Marcos

Pablo Marcos Ortega, known professionally as Pablo Marcos is a comic book artist and commercial illustrator best known as one of his home country's leading cartoonists and for his work on such popular American comics characters as Batman and Conan the Barbarian, particularly during the 1970s...

, Rich Buckler

Rich Buckler

Rich Buckler is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four in the mid-1970s and, with writer Doug Moench, co-creating the character Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25...

, Tom Sutton

Tom Sutton

Tom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...

, and Mike Vosburg

Mike Vosburg

Mike Vosburg is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the Tales from the Crypt TV series.-Biography:...

, and later by Doug Moench

Doug Moench

Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...

, with artist Sonny Trinidad. The vampire hunter Blade

Blade (comics)

Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...

 starred in two stories by writer Marv Wolfman

Marv Wolfman

Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...

 and artist Tony DeZuniga

Tony DeZuniga

Tony DeZuniga is a Filipino comic-book artist best known for his work for DC Comics, where he co-created the characters Jonah Hex and Black Orchid.-Early life and career:...

, in issue #8-9 (Dec. 1974 - Feb. 1975). Steve Gerber

Steve Gerber

Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....

 contributed a Morbius, the Living Vampire

Morbius, the Living Vampire

Morbius, the Living Vampire, is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane, the character, a living human suffering from vampiric abilities resulting from scientific rather than supernatural means, first appeared as...

 story to the first issue and Lilith

Lilith (Marvel Comics)

Lilith is the name of two fictional American comic book characters owned by Marvel Comics. Both characters exist in the Marvel Universe.The first of these two to appear was Lilith, the daughter of Dracula. Like her father, she is also a vampire, although her powers and weaknesses differ from most...

 stories to issues #10-11.

Issue #2 (Oct. 1973) introduced Satana

Satana (Marvel Comics)

Satana is a fictional character, a comic book half-demon appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. She is the sister of Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan.Satana first appeared in Vampire Tales #2 in October, 1973...

, the Devil's Daughter, in a four-page teaser by writer-editor Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas

Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...

 and artist John Romita Sr.; and detective Hodiah Twist, created by Don McGregor and penciler Carlos Garzon.

Stories reprinted from Marvel's 1950s predecessor Atlas Comics

Atlas Comics (1950s)

Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...

 included pre-Comics Code work by such artists as Bill Everett

Bill Everett

William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...

 and Carmine Infantino

Carmine Infantino

Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (born May 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York is an American comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books...

. Modern reprints included writer-artist Jim Steranko

Jim Steranko

James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....

's "At the Stroke of Midnight" from Tower of Shadows

Tower of Shadows

Tower of Shadows was a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by Marvel Comics under this and a subsequent name from 1969-1975. It featured work by such notable creators as writer-artists Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, and Wally Wood, writer-editor Stan Lee, and artists including...

#1, and the 11-page Morbius origin sequence from The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...

#102.

Writer Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.The prolific Goulart wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson , Con Steffanson , Chad Calhoun, R.T...

 and Roy Thomas and artist Win Mortimer

Win Mortimer

James Winslow "Win" Mortimer was a comic book and comic strip artist best known as one of the major illustrators of the DC Comics superhero Superman...

 adapted the seminal vampire short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 "The Vampyre

The Vampyre

"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...

", by John Polidori

John Polidori

John William Polidori was an English writer and physician of Italian descent. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. His most successful work was the 1819 short story, The Vampyre, the first vampire...

, in issue #1. Other adaptations included writer Don McGregor and artist Vicente Alcazar

Vicente Alcazar

Vicente Alcazar a.k.a. Vicente Alcazar-Serrano is a Spanish comics artist best known for his work for the American comic-book publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics, including a 1970s run on the DC Western character Jonah Hex....

's "Bat's Belfry" and writer Tony Isabella

Tony Isabella

Tony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath, DC Comics' first major African American superhero, Black Lightning, and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Marvel Comics:Before he joined...

 and artist Esteban Maroto

Esteban Maroto

- Career :Born in Madrid, he began his career in the 1960s with series like Cinco por infinito, published in English by Continuity Comics as "Zero Patrol" ....

's "The Drifting Snow", both from August Derleth

August Derleth

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...

 stories.

Published bi-monthly, the magazine cost 75 cents, a typical price for the time.

The 1975 annual reprinted seven stories from the magazine.