Pre-Code Classics: This Magazine Is Haunted #2

In "The Dance of the Dead!" from *This Magazine Is Haunted* #2, a haunting tale of peril and passion unfolds as the mesmerizing dancer Tanya is seized by three grotesque, corpse-like beings and dragged into a realm beyond the living. With every step, her grace becomes a weapon, her movements a defiant rhythm that defies the darkness—and leads her back, not to the abyss, but to the arms of her beloved on Earth.

In "Devil's Mask!", Jack Karven trades his conscience for a devil's mask at a masquerade, only to find the line between performance and possession blurring dangerously. As he acts out his darkest impulses, the mask begins to claim him in ways he never expected.

In "Lady or the Tigress?", a lonely zoo owner finds himself entangled in a haunting obsession when a mysterious tigress arrives at his estate—only to reveal a chilling secret beneath her feline grace. As the line between beast and beauty blurs, Donald Matson is drawn into a dangerous romance that threatens to consume him.

In "The House of Doors," two men wake from a crash with no wounds, only to step into a labyrinth of endless doors—each a portal to unknown realms. Trapped between life and death, they must navigate the shifting corridors, searching for a way out before the house claims them.

In "The City of the Dead!", a desperate photographer ventures into a cursed desert ruin, driven by obsession and willing to risk everything for the perfect shot. Pushing past the limits of life, he poisons himself in a reckless bid to enter the forbidden city—only to find he’s crossed over too far, and now walks among the dead.

In "Phantom of Disaster!", engineer Roger Ellis finds himself haunted by a terrifying black phantom that foretells impending doom—until a sorcerer helps him trap the creature. But when the phantom breaks free, its return brings chaos and dread once more.

In "The Fat Man!" from *This Magazine Is Haunted* #2 (2016), artist Leo Main finds himself trapped in a nightmare when his landlady, Mrs. Tyran, threatens him. After painting a chilling scene of her murder by a looming, shadowy fat man, Leo is horrified to see the figure step out of the canvas—alive, and growing more real with every passing moment.

In "Lover," from *This Magazine Is Haunted* #2 (2016), actor Raymond Lawrence’s string of affairs takes a deadly turn when one of his lovers takes her own life. Her grieving ex, consumed by rage, constructs a lifelike female robot programmed to hunt him down—no matter the cost.

In "Touch of Death," the reclusive witch Mudga struggles to live in peace, haunted by a curse that kills anything she touches—no matter how gently. When the townsfolk can't resist drawing near, her quiet isolation begins to unravel in ways she never expected.

In "The Store at the Cemetery," a society lady ventures to a secluded graveyard to commission a one-of-a-kind piece of pottery for her dinner party, drawn to the eerie skill of a ghoulish potter rumored to work beyond the veil. The story unfolds with quiet dread, where every twist feels just a breath away from something unspeakable.

In "The Wall of Flesh!", nurse Sheila finds herself trapped in a nightmare when the sinister Dr. Quantrell betrays her, hurling her into a grotesque, living wall of writhing flesh. With time slipping away and Johnny racing to save her, the line between life and consumption blurs in this chilling tale of terror and desperation.

In "Ready-- Action-- Camera!", a studio's desperate stunt to boost a failing sci-fi film backfires when a fake Martian invasion draws the real thing—actual Martians landing in Hollywood to launch their true attack, turning a studio prank into a very real crisis.

In "The Tapestry of Tolchime," Oscar Tolchime, the last of his line, finds himself ensnared within the decaying halls of Castle Tolchime, where the weight of a four-hundred-year-old curse rises with every shadow. Haunted by the vengeful spirit of Lady Constance, whose fate was sealed within these walls, he must confront a past that refuses to stay buried.

In "The Man Who Lost His Head!", a rising movie star’s ascent to fame is fueled by a witch’s dark magic—until a broken promise unleashes a gruesome curse. When his head vanishes, Jackson Blair must confront the vengeful Madame Dazong in a showdown that leaves him with a new, terrifying face.

In "Where Do We Go from Here?" from *This Magazine Is Haunted* #2, Warren Hopkins finds himself caught between life and the afterlife, drifting from his deathbed toward the pearly gates—only to return, briefly, to the world he left behind. As his family confronts the eerie sight of him rising from the grave, the line between the living and the dead blurs in a quiet, haunting moment of reunion.

In "The Formless Shadows," newspaper reporter Allen Drake stumbles upon a chilling secret when Professor van Bohm reveals evidence of an alien invasion—only to die seconds later. Now hunted through a city that feels increasingly wrong, Drake must outrun forces he can't see, as the line between reality and invasion blurs.

In "The Greatest Secret on Earth," Steve Drummond awakens after a suicide jump to discover a chilling truth: humanity is not free, but controlled by unseen supernatural beings known as Ids. As he races to expose the horrifying puppetry behind human lives, he becomes a lone voice in a world blind to its own manipulation.

Barber Louie’s pride takes a hit when his customers mock his baldness—so he crafts a solution from the fast-growing hair of a werewolf he accidentally kills in his shop. But the wig he wears soon begins to grow beyond control, twisting into something far more dangerous than he ever imagined.

In "Death Fish," a group of big game fishermen chase the legendary enchanted marlin, drawn by tales of its size and mystery. What begins as a hunt quickly turns into a brutal fight for survival when the creature reveals its deadly nature.

In "Gaunt Gray Cat," Tyler Spence inherits his aunt Tabitha’s eerie estate, only to find himself trapped in a household ruled by her many cats—until she returns, not as a woman, but as a spectral gray cat, her presence a chilling reminder of a debt unpaid. Written by an unnamed author and illustrated by an unnamed interior artist, this haunting tale unfolds in the shadows of a forgotten home, where guilt and memory take feline form.