DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17 is an issue of the series DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1982.
Synopsis for "A Carnival of Dwarfs"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #119.
Two carnival owners come across an old man and group of dwarfs, so they threaten to harm the old man unless the dwarfs perform for the show. What they don't know is that the old man and dwarfs are a pack of vampires.
Appearing in "A Carnival of Dwarfs"
Narrator:
- Abel (Host)
Featured Characters:
- Hans Grettel (Single appearance)
- Fritz Koosman (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Inspector Marek (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- An old man (Revealed as vampires) (Single appearance)
- Dwarfish people (Revealed as vampires) (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Josef (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
Synopsis for "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty!"
This story is reprinted from The Witching Hour #8.
An old man fantasizes about being young again so he may re-live his past glories and marry his young maid, Maria. Overhearing his wishful mumblings, the butler offers the old man his body in exchange for his soul. Initially the old man dismisses the butler's offer as a cruel joke but when his urge to be young again becomes too great he agrees to accept the butler's strange offer. Sure enough, the old man is indeed transformed into the youthful body of his butler and while delighting in his new vigor, cruelly kicks the "useless old husk" of his old body down the stairs. Suddenly, the devil appears and makes a phone call to the local police department reporting that the old man was just pushed down the stairs by his butler, killing him. As the devil and Maria walk off together the "butler" is dragged off to jail by the police.
Appearing in "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty!"
Narrators:
- The Hecatae (Host)
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "He Who Laughs Last..."
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #221.
Two circus owners murder a clown so they can get his share of the business. He comes back as a ghost to wreak his vengeance.
Appearing in "He Who Laughs Last..."
Narrator:
Characters:
- Rick Dillon (Single appearance; dies)
- Amos Martin (Single appearance; dies)
- Ben Nash, Vikki's uncle (Single appearance)
- Vikki Nash (Single appearance)
- Punchinello, clown (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Widow's Walk"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #179.
When her unloving sailor husband abandons her for the sea, a wife curses him that he shall not put into port as long as she lives. He is lost at sea, and with her dying breath, she allows him to dock. The rotted hulk rises from the bottom, and the zombie captain sails into port at last.
Appearing in "The Widow's Walk"
Narrator:
- Cain (Host)
Featured Characters:
- Angus Beame (Single appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
- Mary Bourne (Single appearance; dies)
- Mr. Bourne (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Homer Clyde (Single appearance)
- Mildred Clyde (Single appearance)
Locations:
Vehicles:
- The Mary B., a ship
Synopsis for "Message from Beyond"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #223.
An old woman gets a con man arrested when he attempts to defraud her out of her savings by pretending her dead husband is using spirit writing to communicate with her. On her way to the bank she remembers that her husband never learned to read or write so she informs the police.
Appearing in "Message from Beyond"
Narrator:
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Monster"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #96.
A couple builds a house on a plot of land where a plantation used to stand but burned down and the owner's ghost stills haunts the land. After the couple's house is built the ghost is dissatisfied and starts adding on rooms. This annoys the husband because the couple think the additions are tacky, which annoys the ghost, but he doesn't want to leave because all their money is tied up in the house. Eventually the wife becomes fed up since she feels like she's living in a museum and gives the husband an ultimatum whereby the ghost reveals himself to the couple since he's really tired of them insulting his handywork. The couple flee in terror and the ghost disposes of them. When another couple comes to look at the plot of land the ghost thinks to himself sitting in his rocking chair, here we go again.
Appearing in "The Monster"
Host
Featured Characters:
- Jim Maguire (Single appearance) (Apparent Death)
- Marie Maguire (Single appearance) (Apparent Death)
Antagonists:
- Amos Whittaker (Dies in flashback) (As a spirit)
Other Characters:
- Real estate agent (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
- Phil (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Amos's land
Synopsis for "Nightmare"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #186.
Appearing in "Nightmare"
Narrator:
- Cain (Host)
Featured Characters:
- Judy (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Pan (Single appearance)
- Judy's dad (Single appearance)
- Miss Winter (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- A doctor (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Judy's mansion
- Pan's dream realm
Items:
- Statue of Pan
Synopsis for "A Bottle Of Incense... A Whiff Of The Past!"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #94.
An old woman who lost a man she fancied in an auto accident fifty years ago uses an occult ritual to return him to her, but he returns as a hungry zombie who devours her.
Appearing in "A Bottle Of Incense... A Whiff Of The Past!"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- Cecilia Graves (Single appearance) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Silas Griffin (Single appearance)
- Osmodeus (Dies in flashback) (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Tad (Flashback only)
- John (Flashback only)
- Peter (Flashback only)
Locations:
Items:
- Bottle of mystic substance
Synopsis for "The Game"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #178.
A boy survives a flood by playing Scrabble with a child who looks identical to him in a mysterious house on top of a four-post bed. His playmate suddenly vanishes after the lad's father locates him.
Appearing in "The Game"
Narrator:
- Cain (Host)
- Gregory the Gargoyle (Pet)
- Oskar the cat (Pet)
Featured Characters:
- Jamie Markus (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Jamie Markus lookalike (Possible spirit) (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mrs. Prentice (Single appearance)
- Mr. Markus, Jamie's dad (Single appearance)
Locations:
- House of Mystery (Only appears in intro)
- The Unger House (Destroyed)
Items:
- Word Game
- A four-post bed
Synopsis for "Death on Cue!"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #127.
A pool hall bum steals a magic cue from an old man and beats him to death with it. He plays well until he has only one more guy to beat and then he will be champion, but the ghost of the dead man shows up before the match. The ghost challenges him to a game, and even though the killer is using the magic cue, he plays terrible like he used to play. After the ghost defeats him, he shrinks the killer and leaves him on the table. When the current champion shows up to play the match, he figures that he will shoot a few balls until his opponent arrives. The killer attempts to avoid the deadly rolling balls but he ends up getting crushed between two of them.
Appearing in "Death on Cue!"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- "Eightball" O'Brien (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Shirley O'Brien (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Charley (Single appearance)
- "Slim" Scarfield (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Max (Single appearance)
- An old man (Unnamed) (Single appearance; dies) (As a spirit)
- Jonesy (Single appearance)
- Marty (Single appearance)
Locations:
- An undisclosed city
- Various Pool Halls
Items:
- Magic Pool Cue
Synopsis for "The Symbionts"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #90.
A man is left on a prison planet for ten years and when his sentence is up the computer that was assigned to keep him alive tells him it loves him and doesn't want to let him go. Since the men who have come to pick him up have brought a female prisoner to leave behind, the computer absorbs the man and adopts his personality to care for the woman.
Appearing in "The Symbionts"
Featured Characters:
- Lawrence Herndon (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Adams (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Janet Welch (Single appearance)
Locations:
- A prison planet
- T-4, a home cell
Items:
- Laura, a computer intelligence
Vehicles:
- Rocketship
Synopsis for "Born Losers"
This story is reprinted from House of Secrets #98.
An old scientist discovers a man in the alley named Rapp Rankin that has been beat up by thugs. He drags him back to his laboratory where he finds that the Rapp is a former boxer with failed dreams of becoming a champion. The scientist then reveals that he has been working on a formula that would transfer the proportionate strength of an ant to a human body. He injects Rapp with the formula which causes him to want fresh air. He stumbles out into the street where he runs into a foul-mouthed thug named Joey. The two men exchange insults and begin fighting. Rapp is surprised that he can take a powerful punch that doesn't even phase him. He then makes short work of Joey with his boxing skills. Rapp comes into contact with his old boxing manager Max, and he resumes his old boxing career with fabulous results. Rapp is enjoying his success but one night he starts to get edgy before his next fight. The old scientist shows up at the arena demanding to speak to Rapp, but he is stopped by security. The old scientists insists that he must give Rapp an antidote to prevent a horrible transformation caused by the injection he had given him the year before. The old scientist is prevented from seeing the champ and is turned away. Max then enters the champs dressing room right before his next match and he is horrified to see a giant ant lurking on the floor. Security is called and the giant ant is shot dead. They search for Rapp but find that he has disappeared. The manager surmises that Rapp had cracked under pressure just like a lot of losers in the world.
Appearing in "Born Losers"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- Professor (Single appearance; dies)
- Rapp Rakin (Single appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
- Max (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Marty (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Joey (Single appearance)
- Barney (Single appearance)
Locations:
- An undisclosed city
Items:
- Strength Serum
Synopsis for "The Dead Can Kill"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #183.
Appearing in "The Dead Can Kill"
Narrator:
- Cain (Host)
Featured Characters:
- Charles Power (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- William Rawley (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- George Woodfall (Appears only as a corpse)
Locations:
Notes
- In all of the stories that originally had a host (Abel, Cain, Mildred, etc.), the art has been redrawn and the narration has been rewritten to replace that host with Squire Shade, the host from the later issues of Ghosts. Squire Shade was not added to stories that were originally hostless.
- This issue also includes "The Big Burp", a one-page humor story by Dave Manak.
See Also