Something Weird
1967 Elizabeth Lee
Lust and Passion Surround the Incredible, Supernatural Worlds of ESP and Witchcraft in a Boiling, Bizarre Tale of Mad Love that Shocks Even the Unearthly!
Haunted by a witch's ghastly brew, thunderstruck at his own powers, he crossed the astonishing border of the twilight universe and found debauchery and death his bloodthirsty partners!
When Cronin Mitchell, a young electrical engineer, is accidentally burned so severely as to be almost fatal, by a loose high-tension wire, he recovers consciousness to learn that he has complete extra-sensory powers: he can read minds, move objects, and exert superhuman influence on his surroundings. At the same time, he learns that his face has been so badly burned that he will be grotesquely hideous for life.
Embittered, Mitchell becomes a masked skid-row fortune teller. One day, he is visited by an incredibly ugly witch, who offers him a bargain: she will restore his handsome face if he will become her lover. Mitchell laughs and dismisses her as a crank -- but when he looks into
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his mirror, he finds the scars and disfigurement gone.
Celebrating his new face, Mitchell visits a night-club, where he quickly befriends a beautiful and mysterious girl, Ellen Parker. She invites him to her apartment, and, as he is congratulating himself on his good fortune and yet puzzling over his inability to read her mind, she reveals herself; she is the witch, who demands that Mitchell now keep his part of the bargain by becoming her lover.
Mitchell's fame becomes widespread; the combination of a handsome face and his extra-sensory powers spiral him upward, with television appearances and invitations to speak --- and, ultimately, to solve crimes. To the world, he travels with the beautiful Ellen Parker; but he sees her only as the ugly and repulsive witch.
A series of unsolved crimes in a small midwestern town results in the authorities agreeing to call in Mitchell, who has achieved some reputation for solving crimes. The federal government, also intere~ted iIń~Mitchell, ~sends in an observer -- Dr. Alex Jordan, brilliant e.s.p. expert and playboy, who promptly begins an attempt to woo Ellen away from Mitchell. Ellen warns Jordan that as long as Mitchell is alive, she is tied to him; when he persists, she mentally summons Mitchell, who causes Jordan's bedclothes to strangle him. Jordan fights his way free, barely escaping.
Mitchell deduces that a local police detective, Maddox, is responsible for the crimes. He also foretells that Maddox will try to kill him. Insane with desire for Ellen, Jordan upsets the police timing so that Maddox does kill Mitchell; then,coldly and brutally, Jordan kills Maddox.
Outwardly contrite, Jordan is actually delighted that his rival has been eliminated. With Ellen, he vows his love. At this, she reverts to her witch-like self. Horrified, he runs; but, his feet guided by her magic, he stumbles over a smudge-pot burning at an excavation. His face is burned, horribly.
Standing triumphantly over Jordan, the witch cackles her victory; "So, my handsome now we begin again. Become my lover --- then you'll regain your pretty face ..."
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