The Unexpected #140 is an issue of the series The Unexpected (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1972.
Synopsis for "Anatomy of Hate"
A man named Greg Roberts is dealing with an egotistical overbearing father. The father, Cort Roberts, insists on controlling every aspect of his son's life. Greg is married with his own family and his wife Karen tries to intervene on her husband's behalf but Cort Roberts easily bullies her and his son into submission as they seek to strike out on their own. Greg's sickly mother eventually passes away but his father Cort shows no remorse or pity towards his own wife's demise. Greg's wife Karen tells her father in law off and decides to leave on her own. She packs up and takes the kids but her husband Greg refuses to accompany her. He stays behind with his cruel father to help run the family business. He encourages his son to leave his wife alone and not chase after her. Greg agrees but after a couple of weeks he relents and goes to retrieve his family. In the meantime Cort Roberts is spending the evening alone in his empty house. He is disgusted by the weakness of his sentimental son. He suddenly hears a noise and discovers a fearsome glowing monster in his room. Cort Roberts jumps out of his window to escape the fearsome monster. He runs towards the caretaker's house to retrieve a rifle. He shoots the glowing monster but the monster is relentless and continues to come towards him. Suddenly the monster speaks in a familiar voice. Cort Roberts looks up and sees the face of his son emerging from the monster's glow. Gregory emerges from the bright glow and reveals that his wife and sons are gone forever. They despise their father and he is left with nothing good in life. The only thing left in him is a mass of living hate. Gregory dies of the gunshot wound inflicted by his father and Cort dies of fright.
Appearing in "Anatomy of Hate"
Characters:
- Cort Roberts
- Greg Roberts
- Karen Roberts
- Mona Roberts
Synopsis for The Mad Mod Witch: "Born Under an Evil Star"
A killer named Owen Rogg plots to kill his friend John Turner. Turner is an expert on astrology and horoscopes and plans to uncover a treasure with the help of his colleagues Fleming and Pratt. Rogg murders Turner and takes his place as an authority on the stars. He disguises himself to look exactly like Turner and studies up on the topic of astrology to fool the others into helping him look for the treasure. In his disguise, Rogg meets up with his two colleagues to search for the treasure. As they search a strange land, Rogg starts to experience hallucinations from the smoke emanating out of the ground. His two colleagues reveal that they carry icons of Cancer the Crab to ward off the effects of the smoke. Rogg decides to study a 1972 horoscope book to learn more about the subject and prevent any suspicion from his colleagues. One of the entries in the book states that he will run into winged creatures but they will ignore him. When the three man party encounters a cave, bats come out and attack the disguised Rogg. Rogg is puzzled because the book foretold that the bats would ignore him. The three men finally arrive at a site where oil saturates the entire area. Rogg recalls that his horoscope stated that fire would favor him. He takes a match and throws it on the ground, igniting the immediate space around him. Only he gets caught in the flame as his Turner disguise melts away, revealing Rogg's true features. Fleming and Pratt stand over Rogg's body unharmed. They mention the fact that Rogg had been reading Turner's horoscope, but Rogg's horoscope did not follow the same fate. Even though Rogg was in disguise, he could not fool the stars.
Appearing in The Mad Mod Witch: "Born Under an Evil Star"
Narrator:
- The Mad Mod Witch (Host)
Characters:
- Owen Rogg
- John Turner
- Fleming
- Pratt
Synopsis for "Blind as the Night"
An eccentric blind millionaire named Henry Jessups offers money to a young servant in exchange for one of his eyes. He offers his servant Peter $30,000 to undergo an eye transplant operation. After a lot of coaxing the young servant relents and agrees to give up one of his eyes so that his boss can have the gift of eyesight. Arrangements are made and the surgery proceeds as planned. Once it is over. Jessups is pleased to find that the surgery is a success. He can actually lay sight to many of his treasured artwork possessions. Jessups is told that his eyesight may only be temporary but he intends to enjoy his newly acquired gift for as long as possible. Jessups also reinforces his reputation as a horrible miser as he quickly stops payment on the $30,000 he paid his poor servant in exchange for an eye. Jessup continues to enjoy his newfound eyesight when suddenly everything goes black. Jessups is fearful that his temporary eyesight might be gone forever. He stumbles in the dark and accidentally falls over the edge of a terrace. He is immediately killed as he lands on his neck. It is later revealed that the darkness was not due to Jessups failing eyesight but rather to the great power blackout that occurred on that date, November 9, 1965
Appearing in "Blind as the Night"
Characters:
- Henry Jessup
- Peter
Notes
- Published monthly by National Periodical Publications, Inc.
Trivia
- Also appearing in this issue of The Unexpected was:
- Unexpected Mail, letters page, by Murray Boltinoff
See Also