In EC’s Haunt of Fear #28 (Sept 1954), a story called “The Prude” tells how Mr. Forbisher, a twisted council member with ties to powerful businesses in an 18th century town, tries to establish a law against kissing in public. The council members stand up to him, so he vainly attempts to coerce the press to start a campaign slandering the councilman who led the opposition. The press refuses, calling him a petty tyrant who is trying to blacken an honest man’s name.
The tyrant takes to the public, and because he was powerful, some of the people listened:
Once his law is passed, the tyrant proceeds to pass another law stating that husbands and wives should be buried in separate cemeteries. But it seems the corpses get up in the night and move themselves back to their spouses. We then learn that Mr. Forbisher, the tyrant, was guilty in the past of cheating on his wife with a lover, and that lover had committed suicide. But don’t worry, the tyrant was a corrupt, twisted, sick individual who got his comeuppance in the end.
Speaking of tyrannical behavior and swaying the public, EC also announces in this issue that it has been forced to shut down its most popular magazines because of claims they are responsible for “juvenile delinquencies”.
