Mystery Tales #8

(February 1953)

The Madman! (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ? (see notes)

Pencils

Tony DiPreta (signed)

Inks

Tony DiPreta (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Job Number

B-688

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

George Wright; Henry Roscoe; Helen Wright

Synopsis

A serious actor, portraying Hamlet, sees his star begin to lose some lustre when nepotism rears its head and the producer's cousin is made his understudy. The understudy proceeds to sabotage the actor to the point where he accidentally kills the actor's wife by mistake. Driven mad by his loss, the actor kills the understudy, finally giving him the perfect part to play, as we see his decapitated head being used as Yorick's skull in the play.

Indexer Notes

Per Ger Apeldoorn via atlastales.com: "Unsigned, but the subject matter, the Shakespeare opening, the use of `thru' instead of `through', the length of the story suggest it could be a Stan Lee story. The job number is iffey, though. B-685/6 and 7 are all Al Jaffee stories. B-689/90/91/92 and 93 are all still missing, but B-694 is a signed Stan Lee story: B-694 Adventures Into Terror #16 My Name Is Death!"

Danger - Quicksand! (Table of Contents: 2)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Russ Heath (illustration)

Inks

Russ Heath (illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Job Number

B-587

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Slade Lansing; The Hermit; general store keeper

Synopsis

A thief decides to lay low in a small town and learns that an old hermit miser has a fortune in his shack somewhere in the dangerous swamp. He lets The Hermit find a pair of new shoes with soles that he's coated with phosphorescent paint. That night, he proceeds to follow The Hermit to his shack and kills him, taking all the money. On his way out of the swamp, he becomes trapped in quicksand. As he's sinking, he realizes his fatal error. Instead of the luminous footprints, he's been fooled by the light of fireflies.

A Killer in the Street (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Arthur Wallace ? (signed) (see notes)

Pencils

Paul Reinman (signed)

Inks

Paul Reinman ?; Arthur Wallace ? (signed) (see notes)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Job Number

B-601

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Detective Steve Braddock; Mrs. Christine Braddock; the Chief

Synopsis

A police detective is obsessed with a serial killer whose victims are all young pretty women in red dresses. When his wife buys a red dress, he insists that she take it back and she reluctantly agrees. Working late on the case, he has no time to go home and they agree to meet downtown for dinner. He sees she's wearing the red dress after all and flies into a rage. Too late, she realizes that he is the killer.

Indexer Notes

Cover story. Nick Caputo suspects the Wallace signature may be for script, not inks, since he is aware of an Art Wallace who presumably wrote some comic scripts before going in television.

This House Is Haunted! (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Ed Winiarski (signed)

Inks

Ed Winiarski (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Job Number

B-652

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Adam Benson; Josiah Benson; Hank; Lem

Synopsis

Josiah Benson's son Adam inherits his dilapidated property where four squatters play poker. Adam gives them notice, to no avail, because they know the place is haunted and unrentable. They tell Adam that his father was crazy. (The place was like a Hotel California: guests went in but not out.) Skeptical, Adam searches, despite strange noises and is killed by several creatures, chained and devolved humans that were originally Josiah's guests. Then we learn that the squatters are ghosts, having been similarly killed, and who know they'll soon have a fifth player joining them soon.

The Wooden Man (Table of Contents: 5)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Bill Benulis ?

Inks

Bill Benulis ?; Jack Abel ?

Colors

?

Letters

?

Job Number

B-789

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Chick Black; a little girl; Aggie the babysitter; Bill and his girl friend; Mr. Monroe; John the guard; two young boys and their mother

Synopsis

Chick Black is a midget who looks like a wooden dummy. His modus operandi is to let people find him and take him in, whereupon he robs them, using his unique appearance and size to elude capture. On his latest heist, Chick shoots and kills a guard. Escaping to a train, Chick is found amongst the luggage by two boys who argue over ownership of the dummy. The mother suggests that whoever guesses what the toy is made of, wood or sawdust, gets to keep it. Using a hacksaw, the mother prepares to use it as Chick starts to sweat. The last panel asks, "What would you do if you were in Chick's place?"