Crime Suspenstories #3

In "The Execution!", a chance encounter in a snowstorm takes a deadly turn when a man helps a stranded motorist—only to be implicated in a murder that matches his description and the getaway car. Now facing the electric chair, his only hope lies in the one person who might still come forward to clear his name.

In "Murder the Lover!" from Crime Suspenstories #3 (1983), a betrayed husband named Ken Martin plots revenge after catching his wife with his best friend, Walt. Luring Walt into a hunting trip with a deadly twist, Ken’s scheme takes a turn no one could foresee—when nature itself becomes the final arbiter of fate.

In "Murder the Husband!" from Crime Suspenstories #3 (1983), Walter’s obsession with his friend Kenneth’s wife drives him to a desperate plan—only to find himself trapped when his murder attempt goes horribly wrong. With Kenneth on a moose hunting trip and the two men alone in a boat rigged with ropes and weights, Walter’s shot sends the boat sinking, leaving him drowning in the cold water he can’t escape.

In "Snooze to Me!" from Crime Suspenstories #3 (1983), a tense marital standoff unfolds when Herbert returns home late, sparking suspicion in his wife Nancy, who’s convinced he’s been unfaithful. After a heated confrontation and a dramatic ultimatum, Nancy attempts a desperate ploy to win him back—faking a suicide with a bottle of pills and a note, all orchestrated through her maid Edith. But as tensions rise and the emergency call is made, Herbert and Edith have a surprise of their own in store.

In "Hear No Evil!", Jo is drawn to Fred Reardon at a party, lured by his wealth despite his silence—literally, since he’s stone deaf. When she falls for Vance Tobin, the two conspire to kill Fred for his money, unaware that a car accident has miraculously restored his hearing, and now he’s listening in on every word of their plot.

In "First Impulse!", jealousy ignites a deadly chain of events when Helen, convinced her sister Jo is stealing her boyfriend Bob, follows them to a jewelry store—only to witness them choosing a ring. Torn between rage and dread, she waits for them to return, her mind racing with suspicion. Then, in a shocking twist, a delivery brings a wedding ring engraved with her name—signed by Bob himself.

In "Second Chance?", Helen’s world unravels when she catches Bob and Rita together, convinced Joan is behind the betrayal. Tensions flare until the jewelry delivery arrives, offering a fragile moment of reconciliation—just as Joan offers to drive Bob to the station. With everything seeming to settle, Helen finds a letter from Joan that shatters the calm: the two have left together, and she’ll never see them again.

In "A Question of Time!!" from Crime Suspenstories #3, a woman’s brutal murder in a remote tourist cabin throws suspicion onto her husband, Harry Wismer—though the truth is far more tangled than anyone suspects. As the investigation unfolds, time itself seems to twist, blurring the line between guilt and innocence.

In "Forty Whacks!", 22-year-old Fanny, trapped by her parents’ suffocating control, takes a desperate turn when she finds an old hatchet in the attic. After a brutal double murder, a detective questions her, but Fanny insists she’s innocent—claiming the hatchet itself was the killer. As the investigation unfolds, a chilling connection emerges: the weapon is linked to Lizzie Borden, and now, in a moment of dread, Fanny’s parents’ old friend Edith Vance realizes the same hatchet may still be in motion—its next target already in the house.

In "Sweet Dreams!", Martin’s growing resentment toward his wife Pamela takes a dark turn when her medical condition offers him a chance to end their marriage—permanently. But as he acts on his plan, the situation spirals into something far more unsettling than he ever imagined.

In a raw, unflinching tale from *Crime Suspenstories #3*, Pete’s life unravels in a single night when he returns home to find his wife with another man. Driven by rage and despair, he shoots her dead and is sentenced to die in the electric chair—only to flee the courtroom and seek escape in the city’s dark subway tunnels. As he runs, the weight of his choices and the city’s cold steel close in, leading to a final, electric reckoning beneath the rails.

In England, Peter returns home to find his wife with her lover, and in a moment of rage, he shoots the man dead. Sentenced to die by the hangman’s noose, he refuses to face his fate and flees into the subway tunnels, pursued by police. As he tries to escape into a passing train, the doors close on his tie—and he’s dragged to his death, ironically meeting his end exactly as he feared.

In 1983’s *Crime Suspenstories #3*, "The Guillotine!" unfolds in France with a chilling twist of fate: after discovering his wife’s betrayal, Pierre shoots them both, then faces execution by guillotine. Refusing to die that way, he flees through the dark metro tunnels—only to meet a grim end when a train rushes in, its wheels slicing through him as he lies on the tracks.

In "Private Performance," a thief breaks into a wealthy woman’s home with the intent to steal her jewels—only to stumble upon a far more chilling scene. What begins as a simple burglary spirals into a nightmare when he witnesses her husband’s violent act and finds himself the next target. The story’s chilling atmosphere and unexpected twist unfold with quiet dread, leaving the thief—and the reader—unprepared for the truth lurking in the basement.

In "When the Cat's Away...", Jay finds escape from his turbulent marriage in the quiet company of a friend—until he learns the friend’s wife is also his. Torn between loyalty and rage, Jay devises a plan that blurs the line between revenge and desperation.

In "Water, Water, Everywhere...", two prisoners flee a South American island prison only to be lured into a deadly trap by their pursuers, who leave them with a boat lacking water and barely any fuel. As thirst drives one man to madness, his friend makes a desperate choice that ends in tragedy—only to learn too late that the sea around them was fresh, not salt.

In the blistering heart of the Sahara, two escaped prisoners flee in a stolen jeep, racing toward the distant sea with only dwindling hope and no water. As the desert closes in and thirst drives one man to madness, the other faces a final, desperate choice—before the heat and silence claim them both.

In "Hail and Heart-y!", Anna’s patience finally snaps when she learns her husband Ben has been faking a heart condition to avoid chores—especially after she sees him helping their kind neighbor with yard work. Now determined to make Ben truly useful, Anna devises a plan that blurs the line between punishment and purpose, all while the quiet tension of their home grows heavier with every passing day.

In "Rendezvous!", Joe’s casual bet on a colleague’s plane crash takes a dark turn when he engineers a similar fate for his suspicious boss—only to find the consequences far beyond what he imagined. A sharp, tense tale of irony and consequence, this 1983 Crime Suspenstories entry unfolds with quiet dread and a chilling twist.

In "Fission Bait!", Eddie, a World War II-era machine shop owner relieved to keep his government contracts, finds his life upended when a new romance in Los Angeles forces him to confront his wife Louise. After a desperate act, he buries her in the desert—only to face a chilling consequence when a uranium prospector, tracking radiation with a Geiger counter, stumbles upon her remains due to her radium watch.

In "Come Clean!", Ralph Jones faces execution for a murder he didn’t commit, his fate sealed by damning circumstantial evidence. As the electric chair awaits, the story unfolds in haunting detail, probing the weight of guilt, truth, and the fragile line between justice and injustice.

In "Who's Next?", Tony’s quiet unease grows as his wife Anna pulls away, her coldness a sharp contrast to their once-familiar intimacy. When he catches her in the arms of the local bank president, the world cracks open—leading him back to his barber shop, where a single client waits and the razor gleams.