In the genre's peak period (1951-1954), before it almost destroyed the comics industry, before the watchdog groups and Congress, over fifty horror titles appeared each month, and Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume. EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror: therefore, for the average reader there remains unseen quite a batch of genuinely disturbing, compulsive, imaginative, at times even touching, horror stories presented from a variety of visions and perspectives, many of which at their best can stand toe to toe with EC. In Four Color Fear, the better horror companies are represented, and artist perennials contribute both stories and covers, with many of the forty full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox. (35**)