Nightmare #22

In "The Bat - Mercy, Mercy Cries the Monster," archaeologist Brock Stans returns to New York after a harrowing encounter with bats in the jungle, only to find himself changing in ways he can't control—transforming into a creature driven by a thirst for blood. As the line between man and monster blurs, his past terror takes on a new, monstrous life.

A young boy, tormented by the cruelty of adults, finds solace in the wild, believing he shares a bond with a pack of bloodthirsty wolves he secretly watches at night. Though he never joins their hunt, he feels a deep kinship with them, seeing himself as different from the "greedy, selfish killers" he despises. As he grows older, his isolation deepens, and the line between his imagined connection and something darker begins to blur.

Simon Ingels, a man who lived a life of perfect virtue, now serves as one of Satan’s elite assassins—his soul long lost, but his mind still sharp. Disguised as ordinary men throughout the day, he infiltrates others’ minds, unleashing his inner darkness through their actions, leaving destruction in his wake. His mission is clear: kill, maim, and destroy, driven by a twisted devotion to evil as relentless as his past devotion to goodness.

In a remote cave system, a group of students and their skeptical professor, Edwin Wallach, investigate mysterious tracks that defy explanation—tracks that suggest a creature standing on two legs with cloven hooves. As the professor dismisses the idea of werewolves as delusion, the students grow uneasy, especially when they spot a shadow in the dark that might not be human. The story unfolds as the line between myth and terrifying reality begins to blur.

The funeral of Queen Khafre is a solemn, meticulously observed ritual in 1015 B.C., as her husband, Pharaoh Nefercheres, mourns her passing with devotion, though her final days were marked by turmoil. Centuries later, in 1883, archaeologist Professor Peter Flinders and his assistant Tom Fortiss uncover her tomb, unaware that she was mummified while still alive—a secret Fortiss plans to exploit for personal gain.