The Unexpected #131 is an issue of the series The Unexpected (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1972. It was published on November 23, 1971.
Synopsis for "Run for Your Death"
Lance Ervin travels from America to France in hopes of joining an exclusive hunting club. As he arrives he falls into a trap apparently failing his initial test. Club members explain that they only track the most cunning and elusive game. The members accept Ervins application for membership but they inform him that he has to go through an initiation. He is subjected to physical and mental tests that take his stamina to the edge. As the initiation comes to an end, Ervin is declared eligible to enter the forbidden trophy room. Upon entering Ervin is shocked to find that it is full of human corpses displayed as trophies. The club members reveal that they hunt humans and that Ervin will soon be one of the hunted. They give Ervin a six hour headstart and advise him to run. At this point Ervin thinks that this is just a joke and does not run to the police but once the six hours are up, the club members begin hunting Ervin with rifles. Ervin runs across the country in hopes of dodging his predators but the hunters are relentless. He soon becomes trapped on a snowy slope as his hunters approach. Ervin yells at them in desperation to come and kill him. This triggers an avalanche which kills the deranged hunters leaving Ervin as the lone survivor.
Appearing in "Run for Your Death"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "The Beast of Bristol"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #20.
A talent agent by the name of Alex Kent tries to convince English horror actor Elliot Smathers to come to America. The talent agent is informed that Smathers could make personal appearances earning lucrative sums. Kent is offered $5000 if he can convince the actor to travel. Alex Kent pays a visit to the star, and he learns that Smathers has been having bad nightmares. Smathers reveals that his dreams make him feel like he is actually living the role of the monsters in his movies. Kent listens and declares that Smathers is overworked and that a trip to America would make him forget his nightmares. Smathers refuses stating that his fans expect him to do all of his work in England. Kent then gets the idea to hire an expert actor by the name of Meekers to make appearances in public dressed as monsters from films that Smathers has played. The public is soon frightened by appearances from the Spectre of Lansbury, the Museum Monster and the Ghost of Gainsborough. Kent hopes that the appearances will scare Smathers into leaving the country. Sure enough, Kent receives a visit from Smathers one night. Smathers explains that he is afraid that he himself is the one that is making the monstrous appearances in his sleep. Kent quickly visits Meeker the actor to inform him that he is overdoing his act. He arrives at the actor's home and finds that he is dead. A policeman declares that the actor has been dead for days. Kent reasons that if the actor had been dead for days, then it couldn't have been him making the monstrous appearances. As Kent walks home, he is attacked by a film monster known as the Beast of Bristol. As he awaits his inevitable death, Kent realizes that it was indeed Elliot Smathers that had been turning into the monstrous roles in his sleep.
Appearing in "The Beast of Bristol"
Featured Characters:
- Alex Kent (Single appearance)
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- Elliot Smathers (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Meeker (Single appearance; dies)
- Grace (Single appearance)
- Alf, a patrolman (Single appearance)
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Synopsis for "If Time Runs Out!"
Ian Cheevers is a bitter old man that awaits outside a church while his nemesis is being carried away in his death casket. Cheevers recalls an event 26 years earlier when he was outbid in an auction for an antique clock by fellow millionaire Carter Cavendish. The humiliation of losing the clock and losing a woman named Lenore to Cavendish became a gnawing obsession. Now that Cavendish has died, Cheevers is determined to break into his home and steel the clock that he feels should rightfully be his. As Cheevers carries the clock away, he is confronted by a servant that tries to warn him that the clock is cursed. If the clock ever stops running then he who possesses it will die. Cheevers dismisses his warning and pushes the servant down the stairs seemingly to his death. He loads the clock into his vehicle and hauls it away to his own home. Days pass, Cheevers dwells on the curse more and more. He imagines that he sees the dead servants ghost taunting him but Cheevers is determined not to give in and decides not wind the clock to show that the curse is false. In the meantime it is revealed that the servant that Cheevers pushed down the stairs has actually survived. News spreads through the town and a group of vigilantes decides to go after Cheevers in light of his murderous act. At the same time, Cheevers is taking a walk and he is almost crushed by a falling tree. He also avoids a close call on a bridge as it falls into the water with him still walking across. Cheevers then manages to escape an oncoming car that hits him and knocks him to the ground. He surmises that this is all the result of the clock that is winding down to a complete stop. He decides to rush home to wind it but he runs into the vigilante group that is hunting him down. The vigilantes use their rifles to shoot into Cheevers house and they shatter the old clock breaking it forever. Cheevers is then shown lying at the bottom of his cellar, dead from an unexpected heart attack.
Appearing in "If Time Runs Out!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "We Cruised into The Supernatural!"
This story is reprinted from My Greatest Adventure #30.
A club of four wealthy men discuss their passion for adventure. Their past adventures include flying in a rocket and traveling into the deep ocean in a diving bell. Their discussion is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious figure who promises to take them into a fantastic adventure to the supernatural world. They board a small boat that carries them to the lost port of the supernatural. Upon arriving they are met by four figures that vanquish their guide Maki as punishment for trespassing on their domain. The four wealthy men are declared to be innocent victims and are allowed to live but they would have to spend the remainder of their days in the lost world. The four men realize that they will be stranded forever and they start looking for a way to escape the supernatural land. They witness mythical creatures such as dragons, the Lochness monster and a flying horse. Determined to escape the lost land, they lasso the winged horse and ride on it until they jump into a lake where they ride on the back of the Lochness monster as it swims into the depths through a tunnel back to the land of mortal men. They wind up back on Maki's boat and wonder if they had just experienced an illusion or an unexpected adventure.
Appearing in "We Cruised into The Supernatural!"
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Synopsis for "The Upside Down World of Harry Updyke"
Harry Updyke lives a dreary existence living with an unbearable wife that berates him on a daily basis for being lazy and unambitious. He also works at a monotonous job that he hates. He escapes daily into a dream world where he lead a glamorous life, savoring each moment before he is forced to wake up to resume his torturous daily routine. One morning, Harry finds himself fed up and smothers his wife with a pillow after she rudely awakes him for work. He stuffs her dead body into a closet and heads to his office. Upon arriving he is berated by his supervisor for his lack of punctuality and laziness. He murders his boss with a knife and heads home. He goes to bed but cannot sleep over his guilty conscious. He runs outside and summons a police officer to confess the murder of his boss. They arrive at the office but find that his boss is alive but wants to file a complaint against Harry for threatening him with a knife. Apparently the murder of his boss had only been a dream. The police officer sees that Harry is not well and decides to take him home. When they arrive at Harrys house, the officer decides to check the premises for any dangerous weapons and discovers the dead wife's body stuffed in the closet. Harry Updyke is sentenced to death for committing murder. As he is strapped to the electric chair he realizes that he doomed himself to a permanent sleep for having committed a crime in his dream world and unexpectedly confessing to an imaginary crime in real life.
Appearing in "The Upside Down World of Harry Updyke"
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See Also