Shock SuspenStories #4

In "Split Second!", a brutal act of workplace cruelty sets off a chilling chain of events when a lumberjack boss blinds a young worker and traps him inside a hollow log to force him to chop his way out—while his wife, Liz, becomes the next target. The story unfolds with grim tension, weaving suspense and dread through a remote logging camp where survival depends on a single, desperate decision.

In the 21st century, Jo agrees to a three-year marriage contract with a man who pays her thirty thousand dollars—no sex, just appearances. As the years pass, she finds herself drawn to him in ways she didn’t expect. When she plans to renew their license by claiming she’s expecting, he reveals the truth: he’s a robot, and the marriage was never about love, but about the image of domesticity in high-stakes business.

In "Uppercut!" from Shock SuspenStories #4 (1952), a desperate fight promoter pushes his last-ditch boxer to the edge, demanding guts to win. When the man’s brother in med school steals a drug that induces a deathlike state, the plan spirals into something far more sinister—only to leave the promoter waking up in a police morgue, staring down at his own hollowed-out body with no memory of how he got there.