House of Mystery #23 is an issue of the series House of Mystery (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1954.
Synopsis for "The Flying Dutchman"
Appearing in "The Flying Dutchman"
Featured Characters:
- Mike Dillon (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Jan (Single appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Freen (Single appearance; dies)
- Crall (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- The coast guards
Locations:
- Unnamed ocean
Items:
- Yellow paint
Vehicles:
- "Flying Dutchman", counterfeiters ship HQ
- Coast Guard cutter
Synopsis for "The Phantom Highwayman Rides Again"
Appearing in "The Phantom Highwayman Rides Again"
Featured Characters:
- Minerva (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Grace (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Derek Drew (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Henry (Single appearance)
- Hawkins (Single appearance)
- Peters (Single appearance)
- Richard (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Gangster and the Ghost"
Appearing in "The Gangster and the Ghost"
Featured Characters:
- Earl Crandall (Single appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
- John Brighton (Flashback only)
- Percy Jarvis (Single appearance)
- Mr. Stark (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Tony (Single appearance)
- The first Earl of Crandall (Dies in flashback)
Other Characters:
- Deborah (Flashback only)
Locations:
- England
- Middlesex
- Crandall Castle
- Crandall Castle
- Middlesex
Synopsis for "Stamps of Doom"
Stamp collector Alex Manning has gotten over his head in debt, while seeking to find an infamous, legendary stamp collection, called the "Stamps of Doom," and supposedly assembled by none other than Hitler's Hangman, Von Cramm. In the ruins of a former concentration camp, Manning discovers Von Cramm's hidden quarters, and successfully retrieves the stamp collection intact, before the booby-trapped lair blows up. The collection is composed of thirteen stamps that depict infamous events in history. One stamp shows the collapse of a French arena in 1905, another shows the execution of a killer as well as another that depicts the President of Bovania falling to his death. Manning presents the stamps to his fellow stamp collectors, in hopes that his debts to them will be forgiven. The stamp club members dismiss the stamps as being fake, since all evidence of their former owner was lost in the blast. They greedily divide the stamps amongst themselves and give Manning a leftover stamp depicting the 1902 sinking of a ship known as the Jolly Star.
The next day, Manning boards a ship to leave England, but falls overboard and is supposedly lost at sea. The stamp collectors are shocked to learn that Manning perished in a way similar to that depicted on his stamp. Fellow collector George Bath gets up to leave when an arch way collapses and crushes him to death. One of his stamps reflected the French arena collapsing. In the meantime, the collectors' field several offers from buyers who wish to purchase the Stamps of Doom, but they greedily hang on to them in hopes that the price for them will go up. Another collector by the name of Carter mysteriously meets his demise when he is strangled just like one of the stamps in his possession. The final member meets his doom when he falls from a balcony in a similar fashion depicted on yet another stamp. At the end of the story, we learn that Alex Manning did not actually perish at sea but was rescued and returned back to England to impose his revenge on the stamp collectors. It was he who was actually responsible for their deaths. Manning is examining the collection when his tie gets caught in a ceiling fan and he is strangled. As two policemen examine the death scene, they notice a Death Stamp clinging to Manning’s palm. It depicts a hangman execution, and they surmise that this was Von Cramm's personal stamp.
Appearing in "Stamps of Doom"
Featured Characters:
- Alex Manning, philatelist (Single appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
- George Bath, famous philatelist (Single appearance; dies)
- Henry Carter, famous philatelist (Single appearance; dies)
- Lindquist, famous philatelist (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
- London
- World Stamp Club Headquarters
- Liverpool
- steamship docks
- Germany
- Site of Gottwald Concentration Camp
- Bovania (Mentioned only)
- Atlantic Ocean
Items:
- Stamps of Doom
Vehicles:
- The "Atlantic Queen", steamship
Notes
- "The Stamps of Doom!" is reprinted in House of Mystery #228.
- Other features appearing in this issue of House of Mystery:
- "Binky in: "The Best Present of All!" (PSA)
- "Body Possessed" by Morris Waldinger, reprinted in House of Secrets #9 and The Unexpected #108.
- "The Man Who Made Gold" by Jack Miller, illustrated by Raymond Perry.
- "Voice from Nowhere!" by Morris Waldinger, reprinted in Tales of the Unexpected #36.
See Also
Links and References
Look at how sad this is making Batman. You did this.