My Rating
Samurai Nightmare
Japan – 1600 AD, the small fishing village of Ketsu has fallen under a deadly plague. Lord Tsukami orders his best samurai warrior, Ito, to investigate the devastation and report back any news. The samurai is instructed to start at the Christian mission located north of the village and seek answers there. Ito bows to his master, and begins to leave, but is stopped by Lord Tsukami. Ito is ordered not to return if he is infected with the sickness.
The young samurai travels over hills, then through the western cane forest, and by day’s end makes camp three kilometers from his objective. Night time comes quickly, and as Ito grooms his horse, a young peasant woman approaches his fireside. The samurai does not recognize her, but she is dressed in similar clothing worn by the women of the plagued fishing village. She advances on the samurai as he sits down by the fire. At first he finds the woman very attractive, but as she tries to embrace him, her face distorts wildly as large curving fangs spring forth. Ito’s blade flies fast and true, cutting the woman down the middle.
Oddly, there is no blood from the wound. Before Ito can investigate the dead woman further, several more peasants rush out from the nearby bushes, each bearing a deathly face and large fanged teeth. Ito jumps on his horse and flees before his position is overrun by infected attackers.
What secret lies inside the wrecked Portuguese galleon near Ketsu village? Have the villagers gone mad from the sickness? Did the Christian god of Father Pedro bring this travesty to the shores of Japan?
Tall Dark and Deadly
Billy, oh Billy, why do you play games with witches? Your latest mark was not your average everyday woman. Now you are on the run from the police with the money you stole from the First Pacific Bank of California. Your long hair and manly beard once served you in stealing women’s hearts. Now it is the primary description in the APB sent out across the state.
Can Billy the bank robber board his flight to Mexico before the law catches up with him? Does his ex-girlfriend, a practitioner of black magic, muck up his escape? Why doesn’t Billy recognize his old grandmother?
Face Your Fears
Kathleen O’Ryan lies on the couch in her psychiatrist’s downtown Manhattan office. It’s Tuesday again, and this time Kathleen is praying for some type of breakthrough. Tears stream from her eyes as the doctor makes Kathleen walk through every little step of the nightmares once again.
The scene plays over and over again in her mind. She is in a strange hallway, her hand turns a knob on a door covered with runes. Whatever Kathleen witnessed two months ago was so frightening that it caused a lapse in her memory. This new doctor claims that with the use of regression therapy he can cure her.
What is the thing that still haunts her nightmares? Will Kathleen regain her memories or is the doctor a complete fraud? What awaits behind the door for both doctor and patient?
We Are The Masters
In the not so distant future, Earth has developed a robotic labor force large enough to help populate the stars. Enormous port cities are then constructed in the upper atmosphere to handle the various cargo and mineral shipments which flow from one world to another. Thousands of robot workers process the incoming and outgoing goods, but today is different. All contact has been lost with satellite city number six. The titanic construct is slowly descending to Earth and the supervisors want to know why.
Can two junior level custom agents reestablish communication with the satellite city before it crash-lands in New Jersey? Why have the robots been making strange requests for software and program upgrades? Would the servants of man protect humanity from an alien invasion. Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
I started collecting DC horror comics after finishing Marv Wolfman’s Night Force volume one and two. I’m a horror fan, so the Unexpected series looked interesting to me even though I’m not a fan of random story books in general.
In December 2022, I created a timeline on my Relic Keep website to track the history of vampires though the DC universe. When I picked up issue 216 of The Unexpected, I realized it contained a unique vampire story which I could use as another data point on my growing timeline.
Even though this issue contains four random stories, the main reason I read this was for the vampires. I’m not saying the other stories are bad, I just think DC could have used the space to expand on the samurai story. It is a unique concept for its time, and could have easily been spun into a miniseries.
The samurai vs vampires story deserves a five star review on its own. The other three stories are interesting, a bit short for my taste, but they are all solid four stars in my mind. With an overall average, I’m giving the Unexpected 216 four out of five stars. I really do recommend this book if you are a fan of vampire mythology.
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