The Unexpected (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1972.
Synopsis for "The Edge of Madness"
A babysitter finds herself in the middle of a dysfunctional family situation where the mother suspects her husband of evil intent towards her baby. The man has recently been released from an institution and takes advantage of the sitter's anxiety to seize the child and rush out into the cemetery. He trips and cracks his head against a tombstone, killing himself. The mother and babysitter follow outside where it is revealed that, in his hurry, he grabbed the baby's doll instead of the baby.
Appearing in "The Edge of Madness"
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Diary of a Dead Man"
Assistant State Attorney Barney Roberts arrives at the Crawford estate where he finds Old man Crawford himself dead. He begins to read Crawford's diary which recants the details of how Crawford had recently sold his cotton mill and retired a rich man. He looks forward to spending more time with his wife Heloise and their children. Crawford arrives at his plantation one day only to find that his eldest son Clay has been murdered. He immediately goes to the sheriff and informs him that Rod Hathaway is responsible for the death of his son. Apparently Hathaway was jealous of him for marrying Heloise and had threatened his family in the past. The Sheriff hears out Crawford's accusations but refuses to arrest Hathaway without evidence. Crawford decides to take matters into his own hands and confronts Rod Hathaway at his home but the Sheriff arrives just in time to run Crawford off. Crawford then decides to go back to his home and contact the state attorney. He writes down all the details in his journal before he is found dead at his estate. State Attorney Robert's finishes reading the journal and approaches the Sheriff for more answers. At this point the Sheriff produces a woman by the name of Heloise Hathaway who explains that she has been married to Rod Hathaway for 30 years. She explains that Crawford had once asked her to marry him but she refused. Crawford then proceeded to make up his imaginary family in his head and eventually died of a broken heart.
Appearing in "The Diary of a Dead Man"
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "To Will A Kill"
A dying man summons his three unscrupulous nephews Bernard, Seymour and Arnold to his hospital room. He informs them that he plans to leave his vast fortune to his sole surviving nephew. He has a year to live and he is going to enjoy watching his three nephews eliminate each other. Seymour devises a plan where he moves out of his home and moves into a hotel room to go into hiding. He breaks it off with his wife in anticipation of inheriting his uncle's fortune. The other two Bernard and Arnold conduct a surveillance of Seymour's house and notice that he has disappeared. They finally track Seymour down to his hotel room and seemingly stab him to death while he slept in his bed. Bernard and Arnold then spend the next few weeks terrified of being murdered by the other. After months of terror they call a truce. They meet in a coach and begin to take a ride when they discover that they neither of them had called for a truce. They had both received an invitation to take a coach ride. Discovering that they have both been duped they try desperately to open the coach door to jump out but the doors are securely locked. In the meantime the coach is driven off a cliff and the two men are instantly killed. The third Nephew Seymour is seen witnessing the event from a nearby perch. He is apparently still alive revealing that his two cousins had stabbed a bundle of hay under the bed covers and not himself. He arrives gloatingly at his uncle's hospital room announcing himself to be the winner of the contest. At this point the sickly uncle reveals that Seymour's ex wife has delivered a baby. Seymour had left her before finding out that she was pregnant and now the child is a legitimate heir to his fortune too. Seymour realizes he cannot kill his own son. He is soon arrested for his murderous crimes, bringing an Unexpected winner to this diabolical contest.
Appearing in "To Will A Kill"
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Experiment 1000"
Professor Ralph Scott arrives on Haven Island where he is greeted by Dr Kittridge who gives him a tour. Kittridge demonstrates how he is keeping wild animals alive with concentrated food tablets that satisfy their nutritional needs. Scott questions whether the tablets satisfy the animals instinct to hunt and kill on their own. Kittridge also explains that he has a formula X which renders humans immune to radioactive poisoning but it is too valuable for one person or one country to possess. The pair then views a gorilla which has somehow obtained incredible amounts of intelligence. Kittridge theorizes that the intelligence gained by the gorilla might be a result of the different mixes of concentrated food tablets he is receiving. The gorilla shows signs of human speech and he is provided with books and learning materials to enhance his intellectual abilities. One night Kittridge opens up his safe and discovers that Formula X is missing. He also notes that the gorillas cage is empty. The professor concludes that the gorilla has taken the formula for unknown intentions. Given the gorillas intelligence, the professor fears he has created a dangerous situation. Kittridge hunts down the gorilla to a nearby hut where he overhears a scene playing out. The formula had been stolen by a colleague Professor Simms and the gorilla was actually trying to prevent the theft. The beast is shot by Simms and dies. Simms is apprehended leaving the fate of Experiment 1000 in doubt. reprinted from House of Secrets Vol 1 6
Appearing in "Experiment 1000"
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Sorcerer's Handcuffs"
reprinted from House of Secrets Vol 1 1
A private detective has been assigned night duty at a local museum. He ponders over the relics located inside wondering if the stories revolving around them are true. A thief suddenly appears with a gun intent on stealing the objects. The detective warns the thief that some of the objects are cursed especially a golden pair of handcuffs that was cursed by a wizard that specified that the cuffs would stay on any pair of individuals until love triumphs over evil. The thief ignores the warning and slaps the cuffs on the detective and himself in hopes of using him as a hostage to escape. The pair gets away and they visit a locksmith to remove the handcuffs but the locksmith is unable to get them off. The detectives reminds the thief of the curse and encourages him to give himself up. Two days later they show up in the 71st precinct to surrender to the police. They immediately notice that the cuffs have come undone on their own. The next day a magician named Gregory the great receives a pair of golden handcuffs in the mail. He goes to observe his rival Winston the Wizard as he performs his show. At one point Winston asks for a volunteer from the audience to demonstrate his handcuff trick. Gregory slaps on the handcuffs he received in the mail and the pair of magicians are bound together unable to set themselves free. A carpenter tries to set them free but he is unsuccessful. The pair wander around the city handcuffed together when they run into a newspaper article describing the missing cuffs and their curse. The magicians sit down and settle their differences on a park bench and the cuffs come undone. The cuffs are then picked up by a transient that recognizes the cuffs from the newspaper story. He decides to shackle himself to a supposedly rich individual in hopes of forcing him to share his wealth but the cuffs have a drawback. According to the wizards curse, you should not use then to bind yourself to a treasure or else there will be no release. The two men remain handcuffed together as the rich man reveals that he too is a poor transient that was only playing the part of a rich man thanks to a game show called millionaire for a day.
Appearing in "The Sorcerer's Handcuffs"
Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also