'A Little Stranger!'

[cyberghostface]

This is originally from The Haunt of Fear #14.

The story (which is narrated by the "Old Witch") opens with two villagers discovering a dead body. One man notices there are puncture marks on the man's neck and deduces it is the work of a vampire. The other notices that the corpse is partially devoured, and therefore believes that a a werewolf is responsible. It is quickly deduced that both monsters are responsible.

We then have a little flashback in which we see the werewolf and vampire first meet after arguing over a victim.

Comments

[captainbellman]

I fairness, she was pretty damned adorable a baby.

[alicemacher]

Ingels's art looks so, so good in black and white. I've stayed away from these Fantagraphics reprint collections because there's no colour (neither the original Marie Severin colouring nor the digital remastering for the Russ Cochran / Dark Horse reprints), but I might just have to make an exception for the Ingels volumes.

[fra080389]

This is actually a story pretty heart warming.
Even worst monsters can find peace and happiness after the death.

I'm surprised the narrator was a old witch, I have always believed she was an old man. Ops.

[full_metal_ox]

And "A Little Stranger" inverts a frequent convention of EC horror comics: instead of the monstrous relationships often portrayed between glossy and respectable-seeming characters (Jack Davis's horror characters parodied his advertising characters), we have a loving and steadfast relationship between monstrous characters--with a supportive community into the bargain.

[kamino_neko]

One wonders why more vampires and werewolves don't hit on a similar solution (if not necessarily the romance part). It's a better deal for the vamp than the wolf, I guess, but there's no real downside for the wolf - sharing their kills mean fewer victims, thus less chance of overhunting or the humans realizing they're something other than random animal attacks.

[full_metal_ox]

As a Cranky Old Fan, I keep feeling the obligation to remind Kids Today that the Great Vampire-Werewolf War that's existed since the beginning of mythic time is maybe thirty years old--I'd say World of Darkness can take credit for codifying the trope.

(The scenario above is simply a matter of a couple individual predators arriving at a Jack Sprat solution and subsequent hunting and romantic partnership--note the absence of anything resembling Romeo-and-Juliet angst.)

[kamino_neko]

Yeah, I kinda hate that trope.

[cygnia]

I remember the episode of "Tales From the Crypt" when we got the origin of the Cryptkeeper in a similar vein. :)

Wait....

[silverzeo]

Funny you should post about a Wolf-man and Vampire giving birth to a witch...
https://youtu.be/YR6rz9dGP4g

Re: Wait....

[full_metal_ox]

It wouldn't surprise me if a famous comic story like "A Little Stranger" was among the animators' inspirations--along with Bunnicula.