Forbidden Worlds #45

Charles Bannister, a theoretical physicist recovering from a breakdown triggered by his own bold ideas about time's illusory nature, is sent to a remote Scottish cottage for rest and isolation. While walking the moors near Kenniston Crag, he encounters the mysterious and enchanting Anne Dicey, who seems drawn to him—yet when he investigates, he discovers her family died nearly 150 years ago when Dicey Manor burned during a grand ball. As Charles grapples with whether Anne is a hallucination born of his fragile mind or something far stranger, her pull on him grows irresistible, and the boundary between past and present begins to blur in ways he cannot fully control.

Pilot Lloyd Morgan's routine flight across the Middle Eastern desert takes a harrowing turn when he crash-lands near a shimmering oasis—a lush, impossible paradise filled with exotic vegetation and fruit that sustains him for days. When rescue planes inexplicably fail to find him, Morgan makes a desperate trek across the burning sands, only to be rescued by villagers who insist the oasis never existed. Back at base, experts make discoveries that challenge everything: the leaf he brought back defies botanical classification, and mysterious tests reveal Lloyd has somehow gained knowledge of multiple languages and advanced mathematics he never studied—suggesting his week in the garden transformed him in ways no one can explain.

When anthropologist Prof. Alfred Carleton leads an expedition to study the Drahili tribe in the Upper Congo, his photographer Sloan finds himself captivated by the tribe's vast wealth in jewels and gold—riches the natives seem to undervalue. After witnessing the witch doctor perform a miraculous healing ritual and discovering a sacred cave filled with treasures, Sloan's greed begins to overtake his better judgment, and he makes a fateful decision that will test whether ancient magic truly has the power to reach across the miles.

In "Vera, My Dark Star!" from Forbidden Worlds #45 (1956), Robert Foster seeks answers from Alonzo Spade after years of birthday misfortunes, only to learn the curse may stem from the malevolent influence of the star Vera. When the star is destroyed, Foster believes his torment is over—until he realizes Vera’s reach extends far beyond the sky.