The Unexpected #126 is an issue of the series The Unexpected (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1971.
Synopsis for "You Are Cordially Invited-- to Die!"
A dying man named Hiram has hours to live when a mysterious stranger offers to extend his life by a few hours in return for his service once he passes away. The man states he is employed by a Mr Grimm and encourages Hiram to take the deal. Hiram agrees to the bargain and uses his extra time to steal an invention and murder the man who developed it. He disposes of the body but is approached by the mysterious stranger who announces that his time is up. Hiram pleads to have more time and he is led away to talk to Mr Grimm personally. Hiram gets Mr Grimm to grant him one more week of life but by then the authorities are becoming suspicious of his role in the murder of the inventor and he spends his remaining time running away from the law. He returns to Mr Grimm once more to implore him to begin working for him. Hiram then dies suddenly of a heart attack and begins his service of visiting dying people to offer them the same bargain he received on his deathbed.
Appearing in "You Are Cordially Invited-- to Die!"
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Synopsis for "A Cat Tale"
Mrs McDougal spends her time looking after her many cats. She wanders the alley ways looking for strays in need of help and brings them back to her apartment where she lovingly takes care of all of them. One day she returns to find that all her cats are dead as a result of poisoning. She immediately suspects her landlord who has an intense hate for all of her strays. McDougal lunges at the landlord and scratches his face. The police are then called to her apartment where they find that Mrs McDougal has passed away. The landlord then announces that McDougal will still find a way to get him because she still has eight more lives.
Appearing in "A Cat Tale"
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Synopsis for "Please Let Me Die!"
An old prisoner by the name of Charlie Kimble spends his time in prison taking care of the local cemetery. He frequently hears the voices of ex-cons who tell him that he will soon join them in death. The sympathetic warden sees Charlie talking to himself as he tends to the graves. One night, Charlie is attacked and subdued by another prisoner who escapes in a car. The prisoner speeds away in the rain but he is killed when a tree falls on top of him while driving the car. The next day Charlie is in the prison hospital and announces that he no longer hears the voices. The Warden then offers Charlie the chance to be the prison handyman taking him away from the cemetery as long as he is incarcerated.
Appearing in "Please Let Me Die!"
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Synopsis for "Seek Your Own Grave!"
A group of thieves wander into a deserted mining town where they encounter an old prospector counting his collection of gold nuggets. They try to make the old man tell them where the remainder of the nuggets are stashed but he refuses. The old prospector states that he would rather be killed than to hand over his gold. He also warns the thieves that if he is killed he will return to haunt them. The thieves shoot the old man but his hound dog escapes out the window. All of a sudden a fierce sandstorm hits and the hound dog can be heard howling in grief. One of the thieves announces that he can’t take it anymore and runs out in the storm. After it is over, the thief is found dead buried in the sand. Later on the dog is spotted by the remaining two thieves and they give chase with the intentions of killing it. A second thief is then found dead amongst the tumble weed. The remaining thief comes up with the idea of befriending the dog in order to get it to lead him to the old mans gold stash. The dog leads the thief into a dark cave with a maze of passageways. They eventually find the gold but the dog disappears leaving the thief alone in the cave with no sense of how to get out. The thief eventually runs out of matches as he realizes that he is trapped in the cave forever.
Appearing in "Seek Your Own Grave!"
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Synopsis for "The Doomsday Drum"
reprinted from House of Secrets Vol 1 9 A struggling musician named Ken Kirby struggles to keep his waning career alive. One night he watches a performance by a medicine man who plays a drum which mesmerizes the audience. Kirby approaches the medicine man and offers to buy his drum for fifty dollars. The Medicine man declines the offer and states that it is not for sale. He goes on to mention that the drum brings good fortune to his people and that any man who plays it and is not of his tribe will be haunted by it. The drum will haunt them until they go to live in a kingdom on silence. Kirby leaves abruptly but returns at night to steal the drum from the medicine man. He goes on to play the drum in front of audiences as he gains a small amount of fame for his performances. He then begins to hear the sounds of the drum in his sleep. He keeps hearing the drum until it drives him crazy and he gets rid of it by throwing the drum over a cliff. When Kirby returns home, he finds the drum back on his doorstep. He then uses an axe to destroy it once and for all. The next day he answers his door and finds that a handyman has found the drum and repaired it. Kirby then decides to burn the drum once and for all. Despite his actions, Kirby still hears the beat of the drum in his head. He then runs into a group of scouts that state that they found the drum while swimming in a lake and return it back to Kirby. Kirby then decides that the best way to get rid of the drum curse is to confess and turn himself in to the authorities. When he arrives at the police station they inform him that the scouts found the legendary drum in the lake but the one that Kirby burned was a sample mailed to him by the manufacturer in return for his endorsement. Kirby is then locked up in a cell as he sits in a kingdom of silence.
Appearing in "The Doomsday Drum"
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Synopsis for "The Town That Buried Me Alive!"
reprinted from House of Mystery Vol 1 149 A man named Wayne Bostwick arrives in his hometown to visit his twin brother Roy. As he walks the streets he is amused that people still mistake him for his twin brother. He then runs into Doc Wheeler and introduces himself. The doctor informs Wayne that this must be some sort of cruel joke. Wayne Bostwick was a famous town war hero that later turned bad but is now dead. There is a huge statue of him in the town square to honor his heroism in the war. Bostwick is confused and starts to wonder if he really is Roy. The townspeople spot Wayne and urge him to make a speech at a newly constructed dam that was built by the Bostwick construction company believing which he does with haste. Later that night Wayne recalls the falling out he had with his brother for having business dealings with known criminals from the Leggett gang. Wayne leaves the family business and departs town to show how much he disagrees with his brothers business decisions. The doorbell suddenly rings and he finds that the postman has delivered a telegram from a doctor that suspects that he might have personality changes. Wayne wanders the town questioning whether he might really be Roy and that Wayne is actually dead. He wanders to an abandoned mine where his grandfather had obtained gold to create his familys fortune. As he enters the mine he sees his grandfathers ghost who refers to him as Roy and mentions that his brother Wayne is dead. He runs away in fright and returns back to his family home where the authorities are waiting to arrest him. They accuse him of using faulty materials to construct the town dam while pocketing the savings for himself. He is placed under arrest and is thrown in jail. While he sits in his cell he requests copies of the town newspaper. He reads about the death of Wayne Bostwick who was apparently involved in a robbery with members of the Leggett gang. His getaway car crashed and Wayne was killed. A flashback reveals that one of the bodies in the car was unidentifiable and Roy Bostwick informed the police that the unidentifiable body was indeed that of his brother who boasted of joining the Leggett gang and carrying ou t the robbery. Wayne starts to put the pieces together and comes to the conclusion that his crooked brother Roy had fabricated his death knowing that he would never return to the small town after their falling out. Roy was then free to create his crooked construction business. When Roy spotted Wayne in town he went into hiding to pin his crimes on his newly arrived brother. Wayne then spots his statue outside of his jail cell window and calls the Sheriff over. He has the Sheriff examine the dog tags on the statue to prove that he can quote his exact dog tag number. They find that the tags on the statue are an exact match as the numbers written down by Wayne. They come to the conclusion that their accused prisoner really is Wayne since only he could remember his dog tag numbers after all these years. Wayne is released and they apprehend his brother Roy in the mine where he had impersonated the ghost of their grandfather.
Appearing in "The Town That Buried Me Alive!"
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