Astonishing #9

A ghoulish, skeletal creature in a purple suit lunges menacingly inside a U.S. Post Office Dead Letter Office, sending a man recoiling in terror while a woman in pink backs away in horror — Russ Heath's cover art for this February 1952 Atlas anthology delivers a genuine chill. The lead story, "The Little Black Box!," is written by Hank Chapman and illustrated by Bob Fujitani, promising exactly the kind of supernatural dread the title advertises. Rounding out the issue are three more tales — "Who Dares to Enter?," "Where Is Death?," and "The Scientists!" — making this a satisfying package of eerie, imaginative storytelling from the early 1950s horror boom.