Mystery Tales #9

In "The Specimen!" from Mystery Tales #9 (1953), a desperate scientist traps a mermaid from Atlantis, pretending love to manipulate her—only to find she’s been playing a far more dangerous game. As he builds his sealed tank to cage her, she quietly plans her own escape, turning his obsession into her ultimate weapon.

In "Hunger," a vengeful butcher sabotages his ex-partner’s meat locker, only to find himself trapped inside when the door locks behind him. Left to endure days of isolation and starvation, he resists the rotting meat around him—until his body is discovered, leaving the owner puzzled: why didn’t he eat?

In "The Man in the Morgue," a desperate hoodlum bets his final coin on a psychic’s promise of better luck—only to find his fate twisted by a single, fatal choice. After killing an elderly man in a back alley, he’s hunted down by police, leaving behind a mystery that unravels only when his victim’s papers reveal a shocking truth.

In "Lost!", a man released after two decades in prison returns to a forgotten cave, driven by the memory of a crime long buried. There, he confronts a family who’ve been trapped inside for years—only to find their son has grown into a stranger with a deadly secret.