Crypt of Horror #4

In "The Lonely," a desperate Johnny and the man he betrayed, Hilton, are stranded on a tiny island after a storm sinks their boat. Trapped together and haunted by guilt, Johnny tries to rid himself of Hilton’s presence—only to find the man keeps washing back ashore, no matter how he tries to keep him gone. As days stretch into isolation, the line between survival and madness begins to blur.

In "Don't Shake Hands with the Devil!" from Crypt of Horror #4 (2007), a horror publisher is visited by a mysterious emissary from Hell, who offers him a cursed scroll that will doom him unless he reads it. The twist? The publisher’s very success in spreading fear has made him a target—Satan wants his soul, but can only claim it after the publisher kills someone, setting off a chain of fate he never saw coming.

In "Song of the Undead!" from Crypt of Horror #4 (2007), folkloric explorers John and Dorothy Blaik journey through Mexico, chasing the echoes of forgotten songs—until a mysterious native woman named Xatl warns them of a haunting melody that binds the living to the undead. Drawn in by the mystery, the couple ignores her dire warning, setting themselves on a path where every note could be their last.

In "Hand of Death," Mexican matador Juan Savola strikes a dangerous bargain with a witch, trading his loyalty for power—until greed threatens to unravel the pact. When a hand vanishes in a dispute over money, magic restores it, but the cost of such deals may be harder to bear than the loss itself.