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Web of Evil #17 (1954)
Free to read · restored edition by comicbooks.com · Issue details →
In "Return of the Dead," Serge Lamont, a curious inventor, constructs a device to speak with the dead—only to awaken the vengeful spirit of the late magician Zendali. When Zendali returns, not as a ghost but in full, living form, Lamont discovers too late that some secrets are better left buried.
In "The Fiend Who Lived Forever," a scientist's quest for eternal life through cruel experiments leaves him physically broken and unaware of his monstrous appearance, even as he steals to fund a life with his beloved. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, the story follows his relentless pursuit of immortality—unaware that his body bears the scars of every wound he survives.
In "Terror in Chinatown," collector August Lamont becomes obsessed with acquiring a fabled Chinese "book of the dead," driving him to commit murder in pursuit of its dark secrets. As he finally opens the tome, he's tormented by horrifying visions of past atrocities—visions that culminate in a chilling glimpse of his own demise.
In "The Avenging Ghosts," two escaped gangsters, Pete and Joey, flee their prison island in a motorboat only to wash ashore on the eerie "island of honesty," where theft is impossible and the very air hums with moral consequence. As their criminal pasts catch up with them, they face a haunting truth: steal, and your spirit will be doomed to sail the coast forever as part of a ghostly ship.