Scariest Comic Story EVER

It's debatable, of course, but it's very possible that the single scariest comic book story ever published was in Dell's Ghost Stories #1 (Sept-Nov. 1962). Written by John Stanley and drawn by Ed Robbins, "The Monster of Dread End" is one creepy yarn.

It's about a nice neighborhood that becomes not-so-nice. Something is snatching children out of their bedrooms at night, then leaving their corpses in the street in a condition described as "balled-up things."

Eventually, the street is abandoned and becomes known as Dread End. But a kid named Jimmy White--whose sister was one of the victims, is determined to find out what was killing children.

He finds out.

It's such a simply creature design--just a long, sinuous arm stretching out of the man-hole, extending farther and farther as it searches out its victims. We never see the rest of it. In fact, it's never made clear that there actually is a "rest of it."

Jimmy is soon running for his life. But there doesn't seem to be any escape.

At no time does the story show us any gross-out imagery--the dead children are described rather than shown. The terror inherent in the story does not depend on blood and guts, but rather on the gboulish idea that the endless and snake-like arm is going to get you no matter how far you run or where you hide.

You can read "The Monster of Dread End" online HERE.