Astounding Stories #158

In "Scare at Sea!" from Astounding Stories #158, a group of Chinese communists deploy a submarine disguised as a sea serpent to drive fisherman from their waters, but their deception draws the attention of something far older—and far more dangerous—lurking beneath the surface. The story unfolds in three tense pages, blending Cold War tension with mythic dread as the deep ocean reveals a threat neither the fishermen nor the operatives could have foreseen.

In "The Illusion!", Cole recounts to his psychiatrist a world-ending comet that wiped out all life—leaving only him. But when the doctor calmly insists Cole is the delusion, the truth begins to unravel in unsettling ways.