House of Secrets (1956 1st Series) comic books 1975

First 25-cent cover price. Cover art by Luis Dominguez. "The Headsman of Hell," script by Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, art by Abe Ocampo; A Frenchman during the time of the Terror obsesses over the identity of the headsman until he becomes scheduled for execution himself; He reaches up to yank off the black hood only to discover that there is nothing underneath. "A Test of Innocence!", script by Mike Pellowski, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Bill Draut; A man steals emeralds from an Amazon native tribe, but when he attempts to raft down river with the hollowed-out melon he's stashed the emeralds in, it rolls off the raft into the river; He reaches into the river for the melon but when he withdraws his hand it has been stripped of flesh by Piranhas. "Death on Cue!", script by David Michelinie and Russ Carley, art by Ruben Yandoc (as Rubeny); A pool hall bum steals a magic cue from an old man and beats him to death with it; He plays well until he has only one more guy to beat and then he will be champion but the ghost of the dead man shows up before the match; The ghost challenges him to a game, and even though the killer is using the magic cue, he plays terrible like he used to play. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Luis Dominguez. "No Way to Run a Railroad!", script by Michael Fleisher and Russ Carley, art by Leopoldo Duranona; A retired train engineer who has built his own train set by hand invites a hobo to stay with him and help run the trains after the hobo helps him with a technical problem; After a toy maker offers a hundred thousand for the set and is refused, the hobo murders the old man and attempts to hide the body so that he can claim the money. "Freak-Out!", script by George Kashdan, art by Alex Nino; A man who hides his landmine disfigurement under a mask visits a billionaire who stuffs freaks as a hobby; He offers his guest a contract which stipulates his heirs will receive a million dollars when he dies and in exchange the billionaire gets his corpse to add to his collection. "Somebody's Listening," script by John Albano, pencils by Joe Orlando, inks by Bill Draut; A man's child is dying and he tells the doctor that he does not believe in God; He sees someone going into his shed and accosts the man as he believes him to be a thief. Abel's Fables cartoon by John Albano. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Luis Dominguez. "Almost Human," script by Jack Oleck, art by Franc Reyes; A woman explorer of the Amazon is abducted by the Bee people she wishes to study and made their queen. Abel's Fables cartoon page by Sergio Aragonés. "The Lottery," script by Michael Fleisher and Russ Carley, art by Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua); A stranger from out of town gets on the wrong train to go to a business meeting and is told that he must wait until the following day for another train; He sees workman setting up a fifty thousand dollar lottery booth in the center of town and asks the ticket seller if he can buy a ticket; At first the ticket seller doesn't want to sell him one and tells him that it's a local thing, but he is very persuasive and the ticket seller gives in; The man thinks with the rotten luck he's had today he could use some good luck; When the little girl draws his number he's ecstatic that he won but doesn't quite understand why they ask for his family's address and just won't give him the check; He is knocked over the head and wakes up bound in the cemetery. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Ernie Chua (as Ernie Chan). "Winner Take All," script by Jack Oleck, art by Quico Redondo; A man in a card game murders another player who catches him cheating as he wants to win enough money to buy his own ship; He flees, but the police fire a shot at him; When he revives, a wealthy woman calling herself Sabrina arranges to have a gambling match arranged for him so that he can win the money to buy his own ship. Abel's Fables cartoon page by Sergio Aragonés. "All Dolled Up," script by David Michelinie, art by Ruben Yandoc (as Rubeny); A father buys his little girl a doll that resembles her cruel stepmother; After the father accidentally steps on the doll and the woman's head momentarily feels like it's being crushed, she puts it down to coincidence; When she feels as though she is drowning, and sees the little girl get out of the bathtub with the wet doll, the woman feels uncertain; When the little girl spills hot tea on the doll's face and she suffers a burn, she tells the husband to get rid of it. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Luis Dominguez. "The Island of Crawling Flesh!", script by Michael Fleisher, art by Arthur Suydam; A scientist and his wife become victims of a tropical disease when they withhold knowledge of a possible cure from the natives in the interest of recording the disease's progress. "The Girl in the Red Dress!", script by Steve Skeates, art by Gerry Talaoc; A murderer has a recurring dream of a girl in a red dress telling him that she is going to avenge the death of his victim; As he walks into the street he is so stunned at seeing the girl from his dream on a billboard warning pedestrians to be careful crossing the street that he doesn't get out of the way of the truck that plows right into him. "Point of No Return," script by Jack Oleck, art by Alex Niño; A bully wants to marry a girl whom he believes has money but her father and brother won't hear of it; The bully contacts a witch about getting help but she tells him that he has to do something very evil, so he stabs the father and leaves him in the swamp for the alligators; The witch tells him that was an acceptable evil deed so she gives him a voodoo doll made up like the brother that he can torment until he's ready to stab it through the heart. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Ernie Chan. The Spy Hostess snack cakes ad with Superman. "The Contortionist!", script by Michael Fleisher and Russell Carley (art continuity), art by Leopoldo Duranona; A man murders an Indian guru for his supply of berry juice which allows him to stretch his body into fantastic shapes because he wants to liven up his stage act; Before the guru died, he warned him that too much use of the juice would affect his body to the point that it would not resume its normal shape. "Killer Instinct," script by Jack Oleck, art by Ruben Yandoc (as Rubeny); Satan offers a boxer who lacks a killer instinct what he's missing without a catch; The boxer agrees and becomes more successful in the ring; Eventually he kills an opponent and his wife tells him that she's leaving him; He becomes enraged and strangles her; The devil reappears and offers the man an out in exchange for his soul. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

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Cover art by Ernie Chan. "The Night of the Leopard Goddess," script by Michael Fleisher and Russ Carley, art by Ruben Yandoc; A hunter steals a ruby from a cult of the Leopard Goddess in India and in revenge a representative of the cult tracks him down and offers an even larger diamond in exchange for the ruby; The hunter agrees, and the diamond is shoved into his skull, killing him, just as he stole the ruby from the forehead of the Leopard Goddess statute. "Portraits of Death," script by Jack Oleck, pencils by Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua), inks by Bill Draut; A painter begins to paint pictures that foretell the future which frightens his model because she knows that she and his art dealer have been swindling him; The art dealer plots to kill the painter, and after it's done, the two of them return to the dead man's studio where the girl sees a painting that the man created before he was killed and she is depicted as having a knife protruding from her chest; She snatches a knife from the table with the intention of destroying the painting so it can't come true, but the art dealer attempts to warn her that it is an experimental painting being done on metal. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Ernie Chan. "The Inheritance of Blood," script by David V. Reed (as Coram Nobis), art by Nestor Redondo; A boy who goes to spend some vacation time with his cousins learns that they belong to a coven of werewolves. Cain & Abel cartoon page by Sergio Aragonés. "The Last Out," script by Steve Skeates, art by Buddy Gernale; A vampire arrives in a small town to prey upon what he considers stupid inhabitants, but he ends up getting tricked by their mention of a "bat cave"; When the villagers swarm him as a group and he attempts to flee, he discovers that the cave contains no bats to hide amongst but only two baseball bats left by one of the villagers as a pun. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Bernie Wrightson. Minerva Menace! Hostess snack cakes ad featuring Shazam! "The Vegetable Garden!", script by Michael Fleisher, art by Leopoldo Duranona; When Aunt Harriet discovers that Bill has circulated rumors to drive away the neighborhood children, killed her parrot and wrecked her vegetable garden, all in an effort to put her away in an old folk's home and seize control of her money she is quite distraught; She murders him with a pair of garden shears, dismembers his body and buries its pieces outside in a newly redone vegetable garden, with signs that indicate where each piece has been buried. Abel's Fables cartoon page by John Albano. "Big Fish in a Small Pond," script by Mike Pellowski (story idea) and Steve Skeates (script), art by E. R. Cruz; A man wants to buy a pet shop from an old couple who don't want to sell; The man's assistant dabbles in mysticism so he sends demons to possess the pets thinking that he'll get a raise for helping out; His employer is unaware of this so he breaks into the pet shop intending to start a fire. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.

Cover art by Bill Draut. "Buried Treasure," script by Jack Oleck, art by Franc Reyes; An old man wants to divide his wealth among his three remaining heirs, but they are greedy so he tells them to go away for a month and then return; After the month passes, the three return and he tells them that he has hidden his fortune on the premise as a treasure hunt and the one who finds it will possess all; One of the men is willing to kill for it, and so he murders his two brothers and threatens the life of the old man if he does not divulge the treasure's location. Abel's Fables cartoon page by John Albano. "Last Voyage of the Lady Luck," script by Maxene Fabe, art by Ramona Fradon; A boy goes to live with his uncle who has purchased an old ship with the intent of making insurance money when it sinks; The boy meets a strange old man at the dock who gives him a toy somewhat like a rocking horse in the shape of a ship which can be steered and tells him it's magic. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.25.