I post on an EC Fan-Addicts forum on Facebook, and a friend wrote the following today. I was wondering if anyone might remember this:
Was recently watching a French tv series on Netflix about people who return from the dead in the same state as they were right before they died. Its called Les Revenants. Thought of a story I read in one of the EC comics (I think) about a guy who had a significant girlfriend when he was very young, probably early teens. She disappears while swimming. When the guy is in his 20s he or someone else finds this girl's body, perfectly preserved, and he sees her as a little child and he has become a man. Anyone remember this? It's not pure horror but the whole premise struck me hard even though I was a teenager at the time.
BUDDO
Sounds like a good story. If your story came from Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror or The Haunt of fear, I'd assume some EC fan would've posted the answer already. I think there's a strong possibility it was perhaps some other horror comic. If EC site and this site can't ID your comic try asking at The Horrors of It All blog.
http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/
I don't know about a comic, but the plot sounds exactly like "The Lake", a Ray Bradbury short story, first published in Weird Tales, and anthologized several times later. Like a lot of Bradbury, it's a little heavy handed but still very affecting – as shown by the fact that I remember it years after I last read it.
Your description sounds an awful lot like a Ray Bradbury short story entitled "The Lake." I found this link: https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/3792125.html. It looks like it was published in "Vault of Horror,"though I don't know the issue.
If Treecat and abbysomeone don't have your story/issue, I would be beyond shocked.
Using their information, I see that it is Vault of Horror issue 31.
http://www.comics.org/issue/223246/
I looked at Mile High Comics and they don't seem to have a copy for sale.
Gemstone did reprint them in the 90s. If you want a reprint it would Gemstone Vault of Horror 20 I believe.
http://www.comics.org/issue/263569/#589366
Looked on Ebay and they have a copy for a few bucks.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vault-of-Horror-1992-Gemstone-20-NM-/361496946301?hash=item542ae5a67d:g:H0EAAOSwUuFWzS0F
You were all right on the money! I actually found out the answer just after I wrote unk, but wanted to see what some of the responses would be. Thanks, everyone!