Twisted Tales

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Creative team
Twisted Tales
The cover of Twisted Tales #2, illustrated by Bernie Wrightson
Publisher	Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics
Schedule	bimonthly
Publication date	November 1982 - December 1984
Number of issues	10
Creator(s)	Bruce Jones

Twisted Tales was a horror anthology comic book published by Pacific Comics and, later, Eclipse Comics, in the early 1980s.

1 Publication history
2 Issue guide
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Publication history

Twisted Tales was published on a bi-monthly schedule by Pacific Comics from November 1982 to May 1984 (eight issues). After Pacific went bankrupt, two final issues were published by Eclipse Comics in November and December 1984. The title was edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell.

With three exceptions (William F. Nolan’s “The Party” in Issue # 8, Dennis Etchison’s “Wet Season” in Issue #9, and David Carren's “If She Dies” in issue #10), 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, writing for their Creepy and Eerie titles. Jones, a self-described "child of the 50’s", was heavily influenced by the horror and science fiction movies of that decade. But as noted in his editorial in Issue #1, his chief inspiration was the bloody and ironically moralistic tales of the EC horror comics. His work in Twisted Tales, often utilizing twist endings, added huge dollops of graphic violence 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 illustrator Rand Holmes. A story about the murderous violence that ensues one summery day when a repressed memory is innocently triggered, it was a shocking mix of extreme gore, cannibalism, homosexuality, and borderline racism. The tale was prefaced by special commentary by Campbell apologizing in advance for any accusations of bigotry the story might spark, but readers’ emotional response to the story still filled the next issue’s letters page.

Front covers for the comic were by, among others, Richard Corben, John Bolton, and Bernie Wrightson. Contributing interior artists included Corben, Bolton, Wrightson, Mike Ploog, Val Mayerik, Bill Wray, Tim Conrad, Alfredo Alcala, and Rick Geary, as well as one story written and illustrated by editor Jones himself.

In January of 2005, Todd McFarlane announced that he was set to produce a half hour anthology television series for Fox called Twisted Tales, based on the comic book to which McFarlane had purchased the rights.^[1] However, according to Bruce Jones, Twisted Tales was a creator owned property and does not belong to McFarlane.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Issue guide

#	Date	Cover Artist	Story	Story Artist	Plot
1	November 1982	Richard Corben	Infected	Richard Corben	Sleazy credit collector seduces beautiful woman who warns him beforehand that she has "crabs"
			Out of His Depth	Alfredo Alcala	Stupid but rich man returns from the grave to kill the wife who murdered him
			A Walk in the Woods	Bret Blevins	Couple vacationing in Germany find themselves trapped in an increasingly horrific fairy tale
			All Hallows	Tim Conrad	A group of boys help a mouldering corpse seek vengeance every Hallowe'en
2	April 1983	Bernie Wrightson	Over His Head	Mike Ploog	Loser's daydreams about love affair with beautiful woman result in her "murder" and his drowning death
			Night Watch	Ken Steacy	Warfare between members of a platoon and giant rat turns out to be a child playing with toy soldiers
			Infant Terrible	Val Mayerik	Young woman's aborted fetus dumped into polluted river mutates into monster that rapes her
			Speed Demons	Rand Holmes	Ghostly couple force taxi driver to drive recklessly fast
3	June 1983	Richard Corben	Me an' ol' Rex	Richard Corben	Boy's imaginary friend dinosaur is really his cannibal father chained up in a wood shed
			Off Key	Doug Wildey	Young couple find their lives inadvertently controlled by a friend's constantly changing screenplay draft
			With Honor	Bill Wray	Japanese soldier convinces his friend to remain behind on an island for years following World War II 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	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
			Sasquatch	Ian Aiken & Brian Garvey	Cannibalism, murderous vengeance and the Abominable Snowman
			Shut-In	Tanino Liberatore	Wheelchair-bound mute invalid 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	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	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
			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	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.