Vault of Horror #21 (1951)

At the local zoo, people crowd around the newest attraction: a pit with four crocodiles in it, and along comes Mr. Coogan, the zoo keeper and lover of these ferocious animals, to feed them their daily ration of meat. But when a young boy reminds him that these animals are MAN eaters and maybe they don't like being fed other types of meat, it makes him stop and think. That evening, he heads to town and kills someone and feeds them to his charges. Meanwhile, at the home of Norman Simms, family members discover him to be missing and they begin to backtrack his steps to locate him, without success. Back at the zoo, "Crazy" Coogan is over-seeing the cleaning of the crocodile pit when one of the men, Lou, discovers a ring on the floor and pockets it secretly. Later, in town, Lou stops in for a drink and sits down next to Norman Simm's relative, who has just learned others have disappeared in town mysteriously....then he sees Simm's ring on the finger of Lou, who tells him where he got it. Two and two are added together, and the angry men in the bar head for the zoo to confront Coogan. When Coogan sees them coming, he jumps into the crocodile pit, thinking these creatures will protect him.....instead, they devour him!

Lt. Edward Cragg’s submarine, "The Dolphin," was stuck in the muck 40 fathoms below the sea. But Cragg was determined to survive this situation, even if the others didn’t. There was just enough compressed gas to fire the torpedo tube once more, and he ordered his crew to fire him to the surface to get help. They did as he requested, but his speed slacked off to get to the surface. As he looked back, he discovered to his horror that the blast had freed his sub and it was rising to the surface. And the last thing saw through the glass into the ship were his men, in formation, saluting him!

In this issue's column, VK first pushes the photos of the three GhouLunatics for 25 cents, then provides results of reader's voting on the last issue's stories. Then letters from Laurence Finley, Joan Shaffer and Al Munchen are printed, followed by a plea NOT to buy other company's imitation mags.

As a group of boys were playing football in front of Mr. Collin's house, they were rudely told by him to get away from the front of his home or he'd call the Police. So they moved down the street, but when the football accidently fell into his yard, he wouldn't give it back. Later. Collin's wife, Emma, gave it back to the boys when Milton was asleep.....but he found out and slapped his wife around. The next day, as the boys were passing by the Collin's home, they yearned for some apples off his tree, but when they attempted to get a few, he came out, took his belt off and was going to hit them when his wife came out to put a stop to it.....and Collin's struck her instead. The next day, feeling sorry for Emma Collins, the boys waited until Milton left and then went to the door to surprise her with some candy.....but they were told she was dead. The next day, they watched the funeral and interment from a distance....and then plotted to scare the pants off Mr. Collins. That night, as Collins was resting on his backporch, he glimpsed movement in the darkness and an eerie voice, purporting to be that of his wife, began calling to him. As he walked out into the yard, a ghostly apparition suddenly appeared, asking him why he had killed her. He apologized for doing it, then pitched forward....stone dead!

Inside a moving railroad boxcar, Marty encounters an old hobo, who informs Marty that the Smoky Mountain area is haunted. Soon a railroad policeman forces them to jump off the train, and the hobo dies. Marty makes his way to a farmhouse inhabited by an old man, whom Marty kills and buries. A mysterious, screaming fly follows Marty back to the house, so he decides the place is cursed, grabs his bag of swag, and runs out, getting caught in the sticky earth of the grave.....just like a fly gets stuck on flypaper!