Creepy Worlds #128

When the Earth Was Young! — Bill Matthews and Strogonov, each representing rival nations, race to uncover a mysterious fossil site in the Arctic, unaware that their expedition will awaken something ancient and primal buried beneath the ice. As they push deeper into the frozen wilderness, the isolation and tension mount, hinting at a force far older than humanity — one that may have shaped the planet’s earliest days.

Dexter Vandine, long mocked and isolated for his differences, finds unexpected belonging among a group of hobos who tell him of a legendary train that only stops for those who perform brave deeds. When the group tricks him into flagging down a freight train, he’s forced to act—saving the crew from a violent ambush and proving his courage in a moment of crisis. As the train moves on, Dexter awakens to a world transformed, unsure of what lies ahead but finally believing he might be worthy of the journey he’s always dreamed of.

In "Clem Never Does Anything Big!", a quiet young man from Hog Hollow finds himself at the center of an interplanetary test when two alien visitors, fleeing worlds they deemed too hostile, land on Earth to assess whether humanity poses a threat. Mistaking the aliens for government inspectors, Clem unwittingly subjects them to a crash course in Kentucky Lightning, skunks, and a swarm of angry hornets—each encounter proving more than they bargained for.

When a mysterious opal arrives at a museum, curator Dave Towner and his assistant Joyce discover strange movements within it—until the stone releases Oshtii, a monstrous entity imprisoned for centuries. As the creature wreaks havoc with natural forces, the museum staff races to find a way to reverse the spell before it’s too late.

Pierre Gordin, the famed Northwest hunter and storyteller, finds himself face-to-face with a monstrous alien creature—what he calls the Sky Beast—after a crash in the wilderness. As the beast proves nearly invulnerable to his bullets, Pierre must rely on his wits and a surprising alliance with telepathic aliens from another world to devise a plan to stop it. The story unfolds as a gripping blend of frontier survival and cosmic wonder, rooted in the eerie truth behind Pierre’s most unbelievable tale.

In a storm-lashed moorland at the turn of the century, Owen David and Gordon Barry encounter a mysterious woman riding a spectral carriage—claimed by Owen to be the ghost of Celia Crane, doomed to wander the countryside since her death decades prior. As Gordon becomes obsessed with finding her again, despite Owen’s warnings about the perilous nature of her presence, the line between reality and the supernatural begins to blur.