Unusual Tales #40

Tailor Gustave Griml has recreated a legendary cloth with crushing power passed down through his family, and he's determined to find a man strong enough to resist it—making police detective Steve Hale an unwilling test subject when Hale investigates strange noises at Griml's shop. As the cloth's vice-like grip tightens around Hale, the outcome of this dangerous trial hangs in the balance.

Byron B. Blasst is a cantankerous man who despises door-to-door salesmen—until one mysteriously persuasive peddler shows up while he's away and offers Mrs. Blasst an otherworldly contraption with cryptic instructions. When she activates the strange device, she discovers the salesman's true nature and purpose, setting events in motion that neither of them can control.

Two small-time crooks break into a museum after hours to steal paintings, only to discover the place is inhabited by living statues—including the beautiful Cleota and her father, Emperor Herus—who demand the thieves stand trial before a citizens' court for their crimes. When one of the burglars confesses the truth while the other refuses to cooperate, the supernatural tribunal must decide their fates, leading to a twist that leaves the would-be robbers scrambling to explain the impossible to the museum's night watchman.

A Korean War veteran haunted by a $600 debt owed by a fallen comrade finds himself struggling with civilian bills and regret—until a supernatural encounter offers him a chance at peace. Written with genuine heart, this 1963 tale explores how the ghosts of war, and the debts we carry, sometimes refuse to stay buried.

In "Ring of Smoke," Georgina schemes to keep her brother Ray’s fiancée Joan from inheriting their family plantation, but when strange, smoky omens begin to appear, it becomes clear the tribal gods may have their own plans for the estate’s future.