Mysterious Adventures #23

In "The Man Who Beat the Devil," a desperate man trades his soul for wealth, securing a loophole: he can only die by drowning. Twenty years later, the Devil arrives to claim him, tracking him to Death Valley—the driest place on Earth. But when the Devil removes his cloak, the land floods, fulfilling an ancient legend and proving even the cleverest escape can't outwit fate.

Andrew Todd's greed devours him whole in "Pandora's Bucks," where he hatches an elaborate scheme to drive his wealthy Aunt Sara to madness using a rigged trunk and a mechanical arsenal of frights—only to find himself caught between a blackmailing accomplice and the very trap he's set. As his plan spirals beyond his control, Andrew discovers that some boxes, once opened, can never be closed again.

Dr. Johnathan Wakesly's experiments with a life-restoring formula yield extraordinary results—he brings a dead chimpanzee back to life—but his triumph sets in motion a tragic chain of events when his assistant Dan Carter attempts to use the same technology to resurrect Rhoma Andrews. What emerges from the grave is not the woman he loved, but a withered, decaying shell ravaged by time and decay, and her return unleashes consequences neither of them could have anticipated.