The EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories #3

In "Only Skin-Deep," a man with amnesia and reconstructed features is welcomed by a woman who claims to be his lover and partner in a murder plot—only to have his memories return when a fall triggers a shocking revelation. As the truth unfolds, the line between victim and perpetrator blurs in a story where identity is as fragile as skin.

In "Upon Reflection," a troubled boxer haunted by guilt over a fatal fight sees his own face twist into something monstrous—though a psychiatrist insists it’s all in his mind. As he confronts his fractured self in a street mirror, the weight of his past and the echoes of a life lived in the ring push him toward a final, desperate reckoning. The story lingers on the thin line between perception and reality, where a single reflection holds more truth than any confession.

In "Squeeze Play," a desperate young man tries to outrun the consequences of a violent act, fleeing from the scene of a brutal murder and the terrified witnesses who heard the victim’s screams. As he seeks refuge with a group of girls on the beach, his panic and lies begin to unravel—especially when they drag him into the surf, unaware of the dark secret he’s trying to bury.

When a small town erupts in fear over a new group of Mexican-American residents forming a vigilante society, old tensions boil over—especially for Ed, whose daughter Amy marries a man from the new community. As the town fractures under suspicion and hate, a violent act of prejudice sets off a chain of consequences no one saw coming.

In "You, Murderer," you're drawn into the twisted mind of a TV repairman whose life unravels after his lover, Mrs. Galby, leaves him for the Professor. As the hypnotist’s influence takes hold, you’re forced to confront the chilling reality of being used as a weapon—your own hands becoming instruments of violence, all under the Professor’s cold command.

In "As Ye Sow...", Laird Kimball sets a deadly trap for his wife Nora, hiring a killer to eliminate the man she’s been seeing. When Nora returns to him, believing their marriage is saved, Laird is struck by the horrifying realization of what he’s orchestrated—just as the killer’s shadow fills the doorway and the gun fires.

In "The Confidant," a traveling priest arrives in a tense, suspicious town where fear of a past murder runs deep. When the locals mistake him for a threat, a mob turns on him after he refuses to betray the secret of a killer—Jimmy, a boy they all thought was innocent. The weight of silence and the cost of loyalty hang heavy in this gripping, morally charged tale.

Marty Bordman, a fugitive embezzler hiding under a false name, finds himself drawn to Millie Belson—only to have his carefully constructed lie unravel when she reveals she knows his true identity. When she demands $25,000 to stay silent, he kills her, but the weight of the act drives him to an unbearable need to confess, no matter who’s listening.

In "Well Trained," police detective Sergeant Tom Gibson confronts the man who murdered his wife, descending into a relentless obsession with vengeance. As he tortures the killer in the hospital and fixates on the electric chair, the man flees—only to vanish beneath a subway train. Tom is left haunted by the uncertainty of how his wife’s killer died, trapped between justice and torment.

In "…My Brother's Keeper," Mark Doran, a man haunted by his own monstrous twin, watches helplessly as his brother’s life unravels—first with the murder of Frank’s wife, Alice, then with the grim reality that justice cannot claim Mark without destroying the good twin. As the weight of his brother’s evil grows unbearable, the line between guilt and survival blurs, leading to a desperate act that may be the only way to end the torment.

Warren Fuller is determined to join a fraternity, so he spins a dangerous lie about Professor John Millstone being a communist—only to face the shock of his sister Selma Fuller Millstone marrying the very man he accused. As tensions rise among the students and the campus, Warren must confront the consequences of his deceit, caught between loyalty, pride, and the truth he’s buried.

In "4-Sided Triangle," Abner Hester’s dark obsession with his wife’s servant, Annie, takes a chilling turn when she claims to have a secret lover—someone she meets each evening at the scarecrow in the field. When Abner decides to impersonate the scarecrow to take advantage of her, the night spirals into a tense, haunting confrontation. Hester Yates, awakened by the sounds of the farm’s strange rituals, rushes out with a pitchfork, only to face a truth far more disturbing than she could have imagined.

In "In Character," Bela Kardiff, a once-celebrated horror actor, turns the spotlight on his Hollywood tormentors during a farewell dinner at Magnus Pictures—where the roles of performer and predator blur in a chilling act of revenge. As the night unfolds, the men who cast him aside and defined him by his genre meet their ends in ways that mirror the very films they once exploited.

In a chilling twist of fate, an unnamed assassin enters a theater to carry out his mission—only to find himself in the middle of a play depicting the assassination of President William McKinley. As the curtain rises, the line between performance and reality blurs, and the assassin’s deadly act becomes part of the very drama he never knew he was in.

In "The Operation," a ruthless surgeon and smuggler named Doc Slater devises a chilling plan to smuggle a $250,000 diamond into the country by hiding it inside his two accomplices, Allie and Bimmy. He tells them he’ll operate on only one, promising the diamond to the survivor—but when he delays the procedure, he knows their greed will drive them to kill each other. The twist is far more deadly than either man could imagine.

In "Cadillac Fever!", a young woman driven by desperation and a twisted dream of luxury manipulates the justice system to claim her father’s final, ironic reward—a Cadillac hearse—after he’s executed for a crime he didn’t commit. With the town’s sheriff and a local man named Mr. Evans caught in the web of her deception, the line between vengeance and obsession blurs in a tale of greed, grief, and a very specific kind of posthumous fulfillment.

In "The Trap," Matt Hall finds himself ensnared in a deadly scheme orchestrated by his wife, Irene Hall, and the cunning funeral director Larry Grover, who conspire to fake his death and collect on his life insurance. As the plan unfolds, Matt’s desperate attempt to expose the truth leads to a chilling twist that traps him in a web of deception he never saw coming.

In "Rundown," a desperate gambler named Mr. Farrell, driven by obsession and heartbreak, makes a deadly move to reclaim his wife’s love—only to walk into a trap set by her and her lover, Wally, with the help of her husband, Joe Harris, and his wife, Marsha. As the tension builds, a chilling collision unfolds, leaving the fate of the gambler—and the true cost of betrayal—hanging in the balance.