Astounding Stories #52

In "The Scarecrow Walks!" from *Astounding Stories #52*, a greedy landlord’s scheme to profit from nuclear testing on farmland takes a chilling turn when radiation breathes life into a forgotten scarecrow. Now a spectral figure of straw and vengeance, it stalks the man who betrayed the farmers—demanding justice before its unnatural existence fades.

In "A Giant There Was!", a desperate criminal steals magical beans that sprout into a towering stalk reaching into the realm of giants. He climbs to the top, only to be captured and imprisoned in a giant’s castle, where he discovers he’s not the first — nor the last — to be lured by the same beans, now trapped as a slave among other criminals.

In a remote prison where trust replaces chains, a warden’s unorthodox rule hinges on a single sealed door no inmate dares open. When a new prisoner breaks the code, he’s not punished—instead, he’s whisked away to a hidden alien world to toil under unfamiliar skies.

In "Mister Black," a young Japanese man tries to avoid conscription during World War 2, only to be rescued by a mysterious figure named Mr. Black—whose motives remain as enigmatic as his presence. Drawn into a fate he never chose, he finds himself in Hiroshima in 1945, caught in the shadow of an event he cannot escape.