Craig A. Taillefer's Gold Fever, a short story from his "Unknown Vistas" collection, is a gem of classic pulp illustration and plotting.

"Gold Fever" is a modern science fiction story told in the style of the pulp heroics of the 30s and 40s, but with an EC-horror-style twist ending. 

In the story, an fortune-seeking astronaut lands on an uncharted planet where he's met by a seemingly primitive tribe whose village abounds with gold. Eager to discover - and plunder - the source of the gold, he tricks the tribespeople and follows them to a cave full of gold - and monsters!

Though he escapes with his treasure, he escapes with something else, something deadly, too.

Taillefer employs a beautifully rendered classic pulp illustration style here. I don't know my illustration history well enough to cal out the homages, but his page composition and sheer rendering skill are impressive and attractive. 

And, to boot, the story uses one of my favorite EC Comics sound effects: "choke."

Anyone who enjoys a good pulp or SF yarn ought to check out Gold Fever.