Astounding Stories #20

In "Portrait of Father," a young man named Marc is visited in a dream by the spectral presence of his father, Elgin Manley, who appears within the portrait that once hung in their home. Through the dream, Elgin reveals the chilling truth behind his own murder, implicating Jerome Courtny in a crime that has long remained hidden.

In the jungles of Vietnam, a mysterious infant becomes the unlikely key to a dangerous infiltration as Agent A-214, a Communist Chinese spy, slips into Cargill’s Army post disguised as a baby. When the real Magicman arrives, he must unravel the deception before the disguised agent succeeds in his mission, all while a young man named Kilkenny—mistaken for the hero—faces capture.

In "The House of Fear!", a young woman and her skeptical companion enter a decaying mansion on a storm-lit night, drawn by whispers of the unknown. As a ghostly figure materializes before them, the man dismisses it as trickery—until he reaches out to touch it, only to find the house suddenly unchanged, and himself transformed beyond recognition. The woman’s scream echoes as she realizes the terrible truth: the horror isn’t in the house, but in what’s become of the man beside her.