Unexpected #125

Unexpected #125 (On Sale: April 22, 1971), has an underwhelming cover by Nick Cardy. The unimaginative color is what truly ruins this cover.

This issue starts off with "Screech of Guilt" by George Kashdan and Artie Saaf. Though I am not a huge fan of Saaf, he did some nice work here and there in this story. Nicholas murders his business partner, Clinton, after Clinton discovered he was embezzling money from their company. Afterward, he hears Clinton's last words, daring Nicholas to kill him, repeated over and over, only to discover Clinton's pet parrot who continually repeats the murdered man's last conversation. 

Nicholas attempts to silence the bird, but it eludes him. Weeks later Clinton's widow calls Nicholas to her house and gives him the returned parrot. He grabs the bird and attempts to drive it somewhere private where he can shoot it, but notices a cop tailing him and panics, releasing the bird from its cage. When the cop bypasses him, he realizes that he still has a chance to track the parrot on foot. The bird leads him into a parrot jungle where his buddies peck the man to death.

Next is  "Escape into the Unknown" by Carl Wessler and Sid Greene. Convicted kidnapper Lefty, escapes from prison and hides out inside a rocket at a launch facility. While there, scientists arrive and load the rocket up with food capsules and water. Lefty wants to get off the rocket but is unable to do so. The next night he is awakened by the rumble of this ship then the weightlessness of space. Alone in the ship, Lefty goes mad, seeing people from his past. Time goes on and then one day the rocket returns to earth and when men open the capsule they find Lefty, an old man, having been in orbit for 48 years, his life sentence having not really been avoided.

We end with  "Know No Evil" by George Kashdan and Jerry Grandenetti. Ferghol has discovered a strange creature created by an ancient wizard. Using a special formula derived from rare flowers, Ferghol is able to transfer the evil from a man to a creature, named Amram, for 24 hours. The man may then commit any crime without being caught. Amram, however, is disfigured for each crime committed.

When one of Ferghol's clients confesses, Amram's disfigurement is reversed. Hoping to regain his normal body, Amram escapes in an effort to elicit more confessions. Ferghol pursues and is accidentally killed. Amram is caught. His case comes to the court of Judge Gallows, who believes the story and acquits Amram. Gallows is then forced off the bench by colleagues believing him to be senile.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.