Mystic #1

From 1951, this Atlas-era horror anthology kicks off with a cover that wastes no time setting the mood: a man named Roger wages a desperate axe assault against a monstrous, writhing tree whose roots coil like tentacles and whose sap runs red with blood, while a woman nearby recoils in horror. Speech bubbles crackle with dread as onlookers warn Roger to flee while there's still time — and the tree itself taunts that he'll never escape. Cover pencils by Sol Brodsky and inks by Christopher Rule give the scene a lurid, energetic menace that perfectly suits Mystic's promise of "the most eerie stories ever told," with additional tales — "The Man Who Didn't Exist," "Trapped in Time," and "The Hollow Men" — teased in the sidebar to round out a full night of supernatural chills.