Mister Mystery #13

In "The Gossips," three sinister old women wield words like weapons, spreading vicious rumors that push innocent people to despair. When their cruelty leads to death, the victims rise from the grave—not to forgive, but to exact a chilling retribution.

Four hoboes shelter from a downpour in a barn and pass the time with stories—but one tale about a woman who emerges from a coffin in the night hits far too close to home. As the storyteller recounts how a creature with fangs and terrible strength preyed on sleeping men, his companions dismiss it as pure fiction, yet something in his account of survival against impossible odds suggests he knows this horror firsthand.

In "The Clock Maker," Jo and Lois find themselves caught in a web of betrayal and eerie precision. When Jo’s wife Lois conspires to end their marriage with murder, Jo turns to his witch woman watchmaker for a chilling revenge—using enchanted timepieces to make the killer pay.

In "Custom-Made Murder!" from Mister Mystery #13 (1953), a desperate man hires a mysterious assassin known only as R. Sennic to eliminate his unfaithful wife—only to learn the contract comes with a chilling condition: he must die too.

In "The Picnic!", Hugo Brandt’s appetite takes a deadly turn when a charming woman invites him to a secluded picnic—only to reveal a hunger far more dangerous than his own. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, this 1953 horror-suspense tale turns a simple outing into a chilling test of survival.