House of Secrets #126 is an issue of the series House of Secrets (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1974. It was published on September 19, 1974.
Synopsis for "The Haunter and the Haunted"
A nine-year-old boy is dared by his older brother to stay overnight in a supposedly haunted house and his brother and friend to try scare him away. They succeed, but when they leave through the cellar and go home, the younger boy is nowhere to be found. Eventually, they find him sitting on the porch of the haunted house. They tell him to come home but he replies he cannot. The three boys enter the house once more and see the younger brother's body sprawled at the foot of the stairs. The boy's ghost explains to them that when they frightened him last night, he dropped his flashlight while he ran, fell down the stairs, and broke his neck. The angry ghost menacingly approaches the two terrified boys.
Appearing in "The Haunter and the Haunted"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- Pauly Gibbens (Single appearance; dies) (As a spirit)
Supporting Characters:
- Brian Gibbens (Single appearance)
- George (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Mrs. Grenly (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Mr. Grenly (Dies in flashback)
Locations:
- Grenly Manor
Synopsis for "The Long Run"
Cain makes Abel run on a treadmill to provide power to a generator attached to a lamp, so that his pet gargoyle Gregory is able to read comics at night.
Appearing in "The Long Run"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Treadmill
Synopsis for "On Borrowed Time"
A thief steals a battery powered watch which can transport a person one week into the future by setting it one minute forward. He uses the watch to commit crimes until he gets the idea to steal a large number of diamonds and set the watch five years into the future so that he can fence them without difficulty. When he sets the watch, the building around him disappears and he finds himself hanging onto a girder of new construction. He realizes that they must have torn down the old building and he tries to reset the watch to a period after they've completed the new building, but moving forward five years into the future has caused the battery to corrode the watch's internals so that it no longer functions, and the thief falls to his death.
Appearing in "On Borrowed Time"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- Eddie Malloy (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Old Jewelry Store Owner (Unnamed) (Single appearance; dies)
- Tim (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Time Travel Watch
Synopsis for "Weird Wanda"
The business partner of a skating rink owner attempts to get out of a gambling debt by embezzling money but is caught by the other partner. The thief kills him and disposes of the body. The killer leaves a note for the wife saying that her husband has run off with another woman and the wife becomes mentally unbalanced. She skates out alone on the ice talking to her dead husband and her weird behavior drives away customers. After the dead man has been uncounted for seven years, the killer decides that it's time his wife had an accident as well. He loosens some equipment so that it comes crashing down onto the rink, but the woman moves so fast out from under it that it almost appears as though she were pushed. When the killer goes out onto the ice the dead man's ghost confronts him. The next morning, the wife is found skating in the rink with the killer's body frozen beneath the ice.
Appearing in "Weird Wanda"
Narrator:
Featured Characters:
- Wanda Whitman (Single appearance) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Horace Whitman (Dies in flashback) (As a spirit)
Antagonists:
- Ben Grant (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- Arnold (Single appearance)
- Alf (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Ice Rink
Notes
- "Quico Redondo" is a pen name for Frank Redondo.
See Also