Guy de Maupassant is a master of the short story. He wrote several Horror story classics as well including his masterpiece, “The Horla” (1881). These stories often ended with a horrific twist. During the early days of Horror Comics it would be a given that de Maupassant would be well represented in EC comics or others like Beware or Black Magic. This simply is not true.
De Maupassant appeared only rarely in early comics. The first is “The Flayed Hand” in 3 Famous Mysteries in Gilberton’s Classics Illustrated #21 (July 1944). The story was adapted by Dan Levin and drawn by Allen Simon. It seems a strange choice to add to The Sign of Four by A. Conan Doyle and “The Murder in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe. These two stories have weird suspense in them but no real monster. De Maupassant’s tale is outright supernatural.
“The Necklace” appeared in Seaboard’s Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated #13 (March 1951). The writer is not known but art was provided by former Weird Tales artist Henry Kiefer. Mathilde loses her fortune trying to replace a necklace she lost, only to find out the jewelry was a cheap imitation.
“Epitaph” appeared in the Stanley Morse comic Weird Mysteries #9 (March 1954). The adapter is not known but the artist was Sal Trapini. This story is about a husband who laments his wife who died from illness after getting wet in the rain. The supernatural element is her ghost reveals that she was waiting for her lover in that rainstorm.
“The Diamond Pendant” again adapts “The Necklace” in EC Comics’ Impact #1 (March-April 1955). The story was scripted by Carl Wessler and drawn by Graham Ingels. Based on de Maupassant’s most famous non-Horror tale, Wessler gives what is a delightful tale of a wife lying to her husband about a necklace into a Noir crime drama.
The question I kept asking is “Where is the Horla?” That classic tale did not get an adaptation until February 2012 and Inner Sanctum: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Suspense. Thanks to Ernie Colon for finally getting it done.
