Adventures into the Unknown #86

When Phil Sutter's estranged inventor brother Charles dies in India, Phil inherits a single mysterious object: a peculiar watch marked with 25 numbers instead of the usual 12. That same evening at a party, the watch strikes past midnight—and the entire world suddenly freezes in place, with time ceasing to exist for everyone but Phil himself. As he discovers the extraordinary power hidden in his brother's final invention, Phil must grapple with what this strange gift truly means for his idle, purposeless life.

When Swedish skier Dirk Svenson takes a nasty spill high in the mountains and injures his ankle, he stumbles upon a mysterious ski lodge that seems to offer him everything he needs—shelter, food, books, even a working radio. A week later, recovered and ready to descend, he's shocked to discover that search parties found no trace of the lodge, and his own footprints appear to materialize from thin air. "The Ski Hut!" from *Adventures into the Unknown* #86 (1957) is a ghostly puzzle that'll leave you wondering what really happened on those snow-covered slopes.

When the brilliant physicist Byron Brannin dies, he leaves behind an astonishing legacy—a scientific process designed to transfer his genius to an unknown recipient. Jim Hardin, a simple factory riveter, suddenly finds himself possessed of Brannin's intellect and begins to reshape his life around the dead man's work and ambitions, leaving his devoted wife Lucy bewildered by his rapid transformation. As Jim grows increasingly absorbed in his new genius and contemptuous of his former simple pleasures, he must grapple with the question of whether he's truly become a greater man—or merely a prisoner in his own mind.

Archeological explorer Kurt Andrews heads to Syria to investigate centuries-old legends of the Lion with a Man's Head—a creature feared as a curse that may have spawned an ancient evil religion. When he uncovers a tale of Prince Rolbana, Princess Astarella, and the mysterious Volero, Andrews must piece together what really happened in the forest where the prince vanished a thousand years ago. His dig yields artifacts and bone-chilling proof that the legend may have been rooted in something terrifyingly real.

Luke Yerka, a stubborn old prospector who's spent three decades hunting gold in Death Valley, finds himself stranded in the harsh desert when a plane spooks his burros away. Desperate and nearly defeated by the scorching heat, Luke's survival depends on a miraculous rainstorm—and a discovery in the mud that follows that may be far more valuable than any ore he's ever sought.