Mystery Tales #16

In "The Thing in the Pool," a jilted architect exacts a twisted revenge by luring his former secretary and her new lover to a grand estate he’s built—complete with a deceptively serene swimming pool. What he doesn’t know is that beneath the water’s surface lies a prehistoric horror he once tried to bury, now awakened by the very gift meant to destroy them.

In "The Hand of Jao Tze," a desperate sailor steals priceless jewels from a towering statue of Jao Tze, killing the temple’s lone guardian in the process. Haunted by his crime and pursued by ruthless thieves who sever his fingers one by one, he flees across treacherous terrain—only to find himself drawn back to the very temple he betrayed.

In "The Ripper's Return," a deranged doctor at a secluded sanatorium pushes the boundaries of science, using a radical procedure to transfer the consciousness of dead historical figures into living patients—reviving Napoleon Bonaparte and Confucius in new forms. When he attempts the same on his assistant, the experiment goes horribly wrong, awakening the infamous Jack the Ripper in a modern body, with deadly consequences.

In "Love from a Plant," a meek horticulturist, tormented by his brutish wife, discovers a mysterious spray that brings a vine to life—capable of feeling both love and hate. After using it to turn the vine against her, he finds himself trapped in a greenhouse with the only creature he’s ever truly connected to. As the vine wraps around him in what seems like affection, his fate hangs in the balance.