Unusual Tales #5

Meet Fido, a talking dog with big dreams—the greatest canine talent ever to speak human language—stuck in a lonely shack in the backwoods with the one person who could ruin everything: his master, a man who only barks. This 1956 fantasy tale from *Unusual Tales* #5 spins a darkly comedic yarn about talent, bad luck, and the cruelest twist of fate imaginable.

In Depression-era New York, a desperate vagrant named Frank Nichols discovers a tattered coat in a trash can—only to find that when he wears it, everyone around him sees him as a wealthy gentleman, though his reflection tells a different story. Using this miraculous illusion to his advantage, Frank parlays the coat into a luxury hotel stay, an entire new wardrobe, and a lucrative business deal, all while keeping his true circumstances hidden and desperately avoiding his old acquaintance Barney Goodrich. But as Frank prepares for a grand banquet to finalize his newfound fortune, the coat's power and his mounting deceptions threaten to unravel everything.

A desperate convict accepts an incredible offer from an inventor: a chance to escape his ten-year sentence by traveling five hundred years into the past—with a promise to return in just two days. Once transported to fifteenth-century England, Vincent Rand discovers freedom, beauty, and love in the arms of a young woman named Marian, but his newfound happiness collides violently with the girl's family obligations and the demands of her betrothed. When the machine calls him back to 1955, Rand must grapple with a choice that will reshape everything he thought he wanted from life.

For centuries, the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa has captivated the world—but one figure knows its true secret. When Leonardo da Vinci attempts to paint a portrait that will finally expose the hidden nature of women's hearts to mankind, a mysterious guardian intervenes to protect the very essence of love itself. This 1956 tale reveals the divine intrigue behind art history's most famous mystery.

When a mysterious lake appears on a farmer's property near Mayville, he tries to contain it—only to discover the lake is alive and deeply offended by his efforts. As word spreads through town, the creature demands respect and cooperation, and the citizens of Mayville must learn to coexist with their strange new neighbor or face the consequences of its wrath. Written with a folksy charm and illustrated with period horror-suspense style, "The Lake That Lived" turns a geological oddity into a cautionary tale about community and acceptance.