Crypt of Horror #21

In "Ghost on the Gallows," a man haunted by the sins of his bloodline finds himself trapped in a nightmare he can't escape. After inheriting his uncle's house and uncovering a dark family legacy as a village hangman, he's tormented by spectral echoes—until a demonic presence drives him to a fate as grim as the one he tried to outrun.

In "Evil Disguise," Sam tries to prank his friend Tom with a spooky night at the cemetery—complete with hired actors in costume. But when the costumes come alive and the dead rise with unnatural hunger, the joke turns deadly.

In "The Frozen Death," a woman thawed from a block of ice after half a century stirs back to life—only to find her survival tied to an eternal chill. As the world around her warms, she must navigate a fragile existence, her very being unraveling with every breath of heat.

In "The Playful Executioner," a restless spirit toys with a troubled marriage, twisting small household moments into growing tension. When the wife falls fatally on the stairs, the husband finds unexpected relief—and a surprising new affection for a woman at his office.

In "The Helmsman," a deceitful sailor’s web of lies and betrayal unravels when the ghost of the very captain he betrayed returns from the deep. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, this chilling tale unfolds in just three pages, weaving a haunting story of guilt, vengeance, and the sea’s merciless justice.

In "Fade-Out!", a man's obsession leads him to manipulate time in a desperate bid to win the woman he desires—his cousin’s fiancée. Using a time machine, he plants evidence to frame his cousin, hoping to erase him from her life. But when he returns to the present, the consequences of his actions unfold in ways he never expected.

In "They Wait Below," a lone lighthouse attendant finds himself face-to-face with Sirens who demand the beacon stay dark, hoping to lure ships to their doom. When a flicker of flame from a knocked-over lamp ignites a warning signal, the tide turns—but the truth of what he saw may be harder to prove than the footprints left in the sand the next morning.

Burton Pascal arrives in the quiet French village of Charlons, searching for family, only to find himself trapped in a house ruled by the feline-like Chatnoirs. As the truth of their cursed past unfolds—burned as witches centuries ago—Pascal discovers a power within him that could either save or destroy them all.

In the frozen reaches of northern America, Harlan Borden's greed leads him to desecrate a Tlingit temple, unleashing a vengeance tied to the spirit of Chief Ikowa. As the totem pole shifts in the dark, the past rises to claim the living.

In "The Clay Coffin," sculptress Hortense Hollingsworth—unattractive and overlooked—transforms her jealousy into something far more chilling. After poisoning her husband Grover’s new maid, she fashions her into a statue, then undergoes secret plastic surgery to become the girl herself. When Grover begins flirting again, Hortense’s new face hides a deadly truth. Written by an unnamed author and illustrated by an unnamed artist, this chilling tale of beauty, deception, and retribution unfolds in just seven pages of quiet dread.

In "Death Takes Four," a man with a scarred face plots to inherit his aunt and uncle’s fortune by faking madness and eliminating them—only to see his cousin die in the process. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, the story unfolds in chilling precision, where guilt and deception spiral beyond control.