Forbidden Worlds #31 (1954)

In the isolated, decaying Castle Morosco—now a refuge for exiled, decadent royalty—a mysterious masked stranger arrives, claiming to join their twisted circle of macabre entertainment. As the former kings and rulers welcome him, they soon realize his invitation may be a trap, and their own cruel pasts are catching up with them in the most terrifying way.

In the ruins of an ancient city, Gordon and his love, Joyce, uncover a mysterious idol carved from alien stone—its inscription warning of Ummu, a god whose power can be awakened by heat. When the idol activates, they are pulled into a terrifying journey through a black spiral to the lost continent of Mu, where Joyce is consumed by the idol’s influence and her father has been enslaved by Ummu’s evil rites.

In a playful twist on supernatural tropes, a boastful boy named Danny challenges the Dark Demon to a showdown of bravado, only to find the demon’s terrifying claims of victory over mortals matched by Danny’s own collection of marbles, comic books, and bubble gum pictures. As the night unfolds, the two trade escalating boasts—each trying to outdo the other in triumphs over humanity—leading to a showdown of wits and absurdly competitive pride.

In the eerie tale "Masquerade," sculptor Boone Forbes becomes obsessed with creating a statue so lifelike it must be real—driven by scorn from critics and a need to prove his genius, he goes to extreme lengths, using his own hair, nails, and even eyes to perfect the work. As the statue takes on an unsettling resemblance to him, strange sensations begin to stir, blurring the line between art and life, until the unthinkable happens.