In 1950, EC publisher Gaines and his editor Al Feldstein discovered they shared similar tastes in horror and began experimenting with horror tales in their crime titles. "Tales from the Crypt" traces its origin to a Feldstein story, "Return from the Grave!", in EC's "Crime Patrol" (#15, December 1949/January 1950) with the Crypt-Keeper making his debut as host. Issue #16 featured more horror tales than crime stories, and, with issue #17, the title changed from "Crime Patrol" to "The Crypt of Terror". Due to an attempt to save money on second-class postage permits, the numbering did not change with the title and continued as "The Crypt of Terror" for the next two issues.