The first volume of THE HAUNT OF HORROR represented Marvel's 1973 attempt to produce a magazine of prose horror fantasy in the tradition of successful science fiction digests. The stories were both new and reprints. None of the tales were established in the Marvel Universe. Although featuring stories by Harlan Ellison, Anne McCaffrey, Lin Carter and Robert E. Howard among others, and illustrations by such acclaimed Marvel artists as Mike Ploog and Frank Brunner, poor sales limited the run to a mere two issues. A second volume of THE HAUNT OF HORROR, a black-and-white comics anthology starring Marvel Universe characters Satana and Gabriel, along with stand-alone tales, was launched two years later.