The Steve Ditko Archives #1

In "Stretching Things," a young man with brittle bone syndrome finds a shocking cure in an experimental serum, only to discover his body has become unnaturally elastic. As his condition spirals beyond control, he eliminates those who know his secret—first the doctor who created the cure, then another scientist who might reverse it. When the police close in, the truth of his transformation is left chillingly unresolved.

In a twisted retelling of the classic tale, Cinderella endures a nightmarish existence under the cruel rule of her vampire sisters. When she dares to leave home without permission, her journey takes a desperate turn as she races to warn the prince of a looming vampire attack.

In "Library of Horror," a desperate horror writer ventures into forbidden rituals to fuel his craft, discovering that murder opens doors to the Netherworld. As his fame grows, his obsession with dark inspiration leads him down a path he can't escape—until he crosses a line he never intended to.

In "Avery and the Goblins," an old prospector named Avery Calhoun ventures into a decaying castle rumored to house a hidden treasure, unaware that the ruins are infested with cannibal goblins. As he navigates the crumbling halls, his cautious progress begins to unravel when he finally reaches the fabled hoard—only to face a danger far more insidious than he imagined.

In "You Are the Jury," an alien guard named Ogu, stationed in the void of space, grows curious about a small, blue planet he observes—Earth, though he doesn’t know its name. When he descends to investigate, he stumbles upon a traveling circus where he outplays its performers in a high-stakes poker game, winning not just their money but the sky above them. Realizing the sky is essential to their survival, Ogu tries to return it, only to be arrested for abandoning his post and brought before a tribunal. Now, he must make his case to a jury—before it’s too late.

In the vast silence of space, Airman Andor answers a call that leads him to a tense standoff between an irate old man and his young, blonde maid, Kyt. When the man attacks her with an electric whip, Andor intervenes—shooting him in self-defense—and then shares a sudden, charged moment with Kyt before walking away from the law. Drawn by something deeper than duty, he leaves the force behind, chasing a map to the distant asteroid Klaxon, where legend says a long-lost treasure waits.

In "Dead Right!", two ambitious newspaper reporters chase a sensational lead that takes them to Mr. Mord’s eerie wax museum—what starts as a routine assignment quickly spirals into something far more sinister. Behind the lifelike figures and flickering lights, the museum hides a reality too grotesque to believe.

In a shadowed tale from The Steve Ditko Archives #1, the ancient demon Rumpelstiltskin lures a desperate miller’s daughter with a promise that twists into a deadly bargain. Drawn into a web of whispered secrets and creeping dread, she must confront a horror that feeds on flesh and fear.

In "The Evil Eye!", Warren Cairo schemes to kill his wife Gerda, unaware she’s a witch with secrets of her own. As his plot unfolds, the tables turn in a chilling twist that leaves him at the mercy of forces far beyond his control.

In "Doom in the Air," the ghost of Wes Brewster—wrongfully lynched by the Jones brothers—rises again after an atom bomb test awakens him from the grave. Now a vengeful specter, he stalks the men who destroyed his life, leaving behind a chilling trail of radiation poisoning.

In "Day of Reckoning!", three sailors seal their fate by murdering the shipbuilder Jezab Grimm and trapping him aboard his own vessel, the Mermaid. Years later, the ship returns from the depths, a ghostly prowler hunting down each of its former crew with relentless, supernatural vengeance.

In the shadowy glow of the carnival, Flexo the rubber man makes a deadly move—eliminating the Snake Lady, Satana, for her fortune. Months later, drawn back to the scene of his crime, he finds himself face to face with a presence that refuses to stay buried.

In "If Looks Could Kill!", a desperate surgeon named Gustave Savage is kidnapped by the enigmatic hypnotist Merlin. After a violent struggle leaves Merlin blind and dead, Savage transplants the man’s eyes—only to discover that his new sight comes with a terrifying power: his gaze now kills.

In "Bridegroom, Come Back!", a man haunted by his past makes a terrifying vow to return to his bride—only to find she’s already come back to him, far sooner than he expected. When a bride’s sudden return from the grave upends a wedding day, the man must confront the chilling truth behind her final moments.

In "Von Mohl vs the Ants!", the ruthless plantation owner Hugo von Mohl faces a terrifying swarm of killer ants that threaten his control over his African estate. Armed with dynamite, guns, and fire, he wages a desperate war against the relentless insects—only to realize too late that one small hole may be his undoing.