Strange Suspense Stories #53

Dr. Eustace Walpole Ackerman, a brilliant scientist, trades his research for the racetrack after building a machine that predicts winning horses—at first with remarkable success. Obsessed with recovering his mounting gambling losses, he pushes his invention further, developing a device that could broadcast tomorrow's race results today, leading him to seek expertise across the globe. When he finally perfects his audacious machine, an unexpected interruption during a crucial moment sets in motion consequences far beyond what even a mathematical genius could have calculated.

When a brilliant scientist with perfect credentials appears at a West Coast laboratory, his revolutionary designs for space travel and food production seem to offer humanity's salvation—until an expedition beyond charted space reveals his true nature. As Ludvig Ling pilots a vast fleet of colonists toward what he promises is humanity's new home, a doctor discovers the shocking truth: this "fabulous man" is no human savior, but an ancient alien collector preparing Earth's people for his own mysterious purposes. The passengers aboard the fleet must grapple with the horrifying realization that they've been herded into the cosmos by a being far older and more powerful than anyone imagined.

John Jones, an ordinary man consumed by an overwhelming need to prove himself, discovers a newspaper account of a Tibetan mystic who claims the human mind holds the power to traverse time and space. After a grueling journey to the mystic's monastery and two years of rigorous training, John finally masters the ability to transport himself across dimensional worlds—only to find himself stranded in strange realms, each more alien than the last. When he arrives at a world where time moves differently and his body becomes frozen, he discovers an unexpected form of the greatness he so desperately sought.

Lt. Comdr. Guy Summerall's supersonic jet goes down over the polar ice cap, and when he melts through the ice to land, he discovers a mysterious frozen castle—and inside it, a girl preserved in ice for over a thousand years. As Summerall attempts to revive her and escape the castle's hostile inhabitants, he finds himself racing against time to get her to safety.