Adventures into the Unknown #31

When a cursed tribal mask surfaces in a curiosity shop, its dark legacy follows it through the centuries—from a murdered native god's vengeance to a modern nightclub where a dancer unknowingly becomes the supernatural spirit's latest target. Phil finds himself racing against time and impossible odds to save Stella from Mumbo's otherworldly wrath, which spreads terror and death to all who possess the mask. Written by the creative team behind this 1952 entry in *Adventures into the Unknown*, "The Mask of Mumbo" weaves a haunting tale of ancient curses colliding with the twentieth century.

When Ted Walton asks his girlfriend Betty to retrieve a tape recorder he left at the creepy, abandoned Moonlight Ridge, she discovers something far more sinister than sound effects—a set of inexplicable clawed tracks and a spine-chilling howl captured on the tape itself. That night, as Betty plays back the recording, she's drawn into a supernatural nightmare where her own spirit becomes enslaved to a creature that's been luring victims to their doom for centuries. Ted arrives just in time to witness a horror beyond reason: a werewolf whose midnight wail has reached beyond its cursed lair for the first time, and now both their fates hang in the balance.

Professor Donald Clark, a supernatural scholar, arrives at the Cartwright ranch to investigate a mysterious plague killing the rancher's cattle—a malady no veterinarian can explain. As Clark and Mr. Cartwright examine the eerie black forest bordering the property, they sense a diabolical presence: the Witch of the West, a spectral demon from a century past, now claiming victims among the herd and threatening to turn her murderous attention to humans. With the help of Donna Cartwright, Clark attempts an ancient Scottish ritual—a need-fire—to repel the witch, but the supernatural battle takes a dire turn.

In "The Devil's Pact," John Blade, desperate and cornered by debt, strikes a terrifying bargain with the Devil for money—his soul in five years. When the reckoning arrives, he and his son Bob flee to a church, seeking refuge in its sacred walls. The story's quiet tension builds as faith and fear collide in a moment that could break the pact forever.

In 1665 England, Lord Jeffrey Craven was the vainest dandy in the realm—until his extravagant lifestyle burned through his fortune in just four years. Now his ghost haunts the roads and halls of Ashdowne House near Coxwell in Berkshire, still raising phantom toasts and entertaining invisible guests, apparently unable to abandon the lavish revels he loved in life.

In the sweltering West African jungle, a wealthy and impatient man named Craven clashes with his safari guide Ferris, escalating tensions until Craven's reckless violence against a native worker invokes the wrath of the spirit Ukpong. When the terrified natives abandon them, Ferris realizes they're facing something far worse than any jungle animal—Yoruba magic that the witch doctor Tashilli has set in motion to exact revenge. As the curse tightens its grip on Craven, Ferris races against time to stop a supernatural force that transforms a man into something neither fully human nor beast.