Number 2105: Uncle Otto takes it with him

Uncle Otto has looked for his dead wife’s fortune for 15 years. He killed her for it. He died just a couple of hours before his niece, Fran, and her fiancé, Vic, show up at his rotting old mansion. Not only does the ghost of Fran’s aunt Edna appear to the couple, but also the ghost of Uncle Otto. Otto is not deterred by being dead; he wants to defy the old adage, “You can’t take it with you.” Or if he can’t take it with him, at least he can keep it from the interlopers to whom Aunt Edna bestows her hidden wealth.

“Rendezvous with Death” is from Forbidden Worlds #34 (1954), the last issue before the Comics Code would turn thumbs-down on a story like this. It even defies the usual ACG plot, where the young couple is able to triumph over the evil supernatural forces and proclaim their love in the final panel. By the end there is no love left.

Illustrated by Kenneth Landau.

Here are two more stories from the final pre-Code issue of Forbidden Worlds. Just click on the thumbnail.

Posted in: Pappy Comics