Adventures into the Unknown #17 (1951)

In the quiet town of Arsdale, a mysterious spectral figure begins judging its residents by their thoughts, sparing the pure-hearted while condemning those touched by evil—only to be thwarted when a radio alert warns the townspeople to cover their faces. Meanwhile, Gary Hawthorne reveals that the ghost is his father, the late Egyptologist, whose cursed Ring of Isis has bound his spirit to a mission of judgment after his death.

In the dead of night, two conspirators attempt to stage a murder to claim a man’s fortune, only to find themselves trapped in a haunted cemetery where the dead may not stay buried. As paranoia sets in and the line between ghost and grave blurs, one of them realizes too late that their plan has awakened something far older—and far hungrier—than a mere corpse.

In the heart of the Ozarks near Mena, Arkansas, a skeptical city man scoffs at local tales of witches and dares to spend a night in a notorious witch’s shack, armed only with a pistol loaded with a silver bullet. As darkness falls, strange sounds and eerie visions unfold—first a cat that yowls in a woman’s voice, then a trail of blood leading to a bleeding hag in a wooded grove, and finally the unsettling sight of an old woman who vanishes from a photograph.

In the eerie silence of Whispering Gables, Janice and Martin arrive under the guise of a family reunion, secretly plotting to claim the estate by framing Uncle Roger’s death as suicide. As shadows lengthen and old fears stir, a chilling presence seems to watch from the dark—leaving Janice to wonder if the ghost her great-grandfather claimed to see is returning, not as a specter, but as a warning.

On a remote Arctic icecap, a research team discovers a frozen, otherworldly creature encased in ice—only to debate whether to thaw it for study despite warnings from one member who fears it may not be dead. As strange events unfold and a dog transforms into a monstrous beast after being touched, the expedition begins to question what they’ve truly awakened.

In the coastal village of Merigomish, Nova Scotia, a ghostly pirate ship reappears every autumn, sailing through the strait in a glowing, eerie reenactment of a centuries-old tragedy. Witnesses on shore watch in stunned silence as the phantom vessel crashes on the rocks, bursts into flame, and sinks—only to vanish, returning the next year to repeat the cycle. The story hints at a mysterious force that brings the ship back each equinox, leaving behind charred wreckage as proof that the event is more than just legend.

Jo, a pilot on vacation in Rome, wanders off from his guide and becomes lost in the vast, oppressive depths of the Roman catacombs. As darkness closes in and eerie whispers echo through the tunnels, he stumbles upon a crypt inscribed with the name Lemura—and a haunting voice that claims to be her, offering a strange promise of salvation. Drawn by a flickering light and a mysterious creature that seems to guide him, Jo finds himself racing toward the exit, only to face a choice that will test his sanity and his word.