Strange Suspense Stories #32

When Mark Harris purchases a mysterious painting from an estate sale, his daughter Sherry claims she can step through it into another world—and returns with precious gems to prove it. As the impossible becomes undeniable, Mark must grapple with the reality of this doorway and the dangerous greed it awakens in those around him. Created by S. Ditko, this 1957 tale explores what happens when a man discovers he holds the key to unimaginable wealth—and decides he must lock the door forever.

Joe Sawyer, the campus prankster, recruits brilliant physics student Lester to build a time machine—but it's all part of an elaborate joke at the genius's expense. When Sawyer decides to "test" the supposedly incomplete device in front of a crowd, things spiral catastrophically out of control, leaving Lester to grapple with consequences far beyond any laugh. A sharp tale of how a prank can backfire in ways no one anticipated.

Robert Hines, a farm machinery salesman, takes shelter in a barn during a storm and has a vivid nightmare about his wallet being stolen—only to wake and discover a mysterious stranger who looks exactly like him has switched their identification papers. As Hines travels from city to city, a man using his identity commits a series of holdups, framing him for crimes he didn't commit and sparking an intense police manhunt. Now trapped between a criminal double and closing in law enforcement, Hines must find a way to prove who he really is before it's too late.

A cruel tyrant who rules through manipulation discovers a liberation plot against him and devises what he believes is a brilliant counter-scheme—using a makeup artist to disguise an informer as himself for a parade, certain he'll trap the rebellion's elusive leader. But in this tale of chess-like machinations, the tyrant underestimates the very artist he summons as his final pawn, and freedom makes its own checkmate move.

Punchy Pete heads into the boxing ring for what should be a winning match, but his opponent has other ideas—and Pete keeps finding himself on the canvas wondering how he got there. With his manager urging him on and the crowd behind him, Pete's got to figure out how to land a punch when he can barely stay on his feet. A scrappy, laugh-out-loud tale of a boxer whose best fighting happens on his way down.