The Unexpected Vol. 1, #126 (DC Comics, August 1971)

• Title: The Unexpected #126 

• Cover Date: August 1971 

• Publisher / Series: DC Comics — The Unexpected, a fantasy‑/horror anthology.

• Cover Artist: Nick Cardy 

• Writers / Artists:
    • “You Are Cordially Invited — to Die!” written by George Kashdan; pencils by Dick Dillin; inks by Vince Colletta.
    • Other stories include “A Cat Tale” (Rich Buckler), “Please Let Me Die!” (Bruno Premiani), “Seek Your Own Grave!” (Jerry Grandenetti) 

Story / Content Highlights

This issue is a multi‑story anthology. Some of the featured stories:

• “You Are Cordially Invited — to Die!”: A man named Hiram, near death, is offered extra time in exchange for a service to be performed after his death. He steals an invention and murders someone, then after his extra time is up, finds he is obligated to join a kind of service (delivering similar bargains to dying people) when he passes away. 

• “A Cat Tale”: Mrs. McDougal cares for stray cats; they are poisoned; she suspects her landlord; after she dies, the landlord is haunted – Mrs. McDougal still has nine lives (or “eight more lives”) and finds a way to enact revenge. 

• “Please Let Me Die!”: Charlie Kimble, a prisoner who cares for the cemetery, hears voices of ex‑convicts; after some strange events and an escapee dying, Charlie gets an opportunity to change roles in prison and finds he no longer hears those voices. 

• “Seek Your Own Grave!”: A group of thieves kill an old prospector who won’t reveal where his gold is hidden, but are haunted by his dog and by supernatural forces, eventually trapped alone in a cave with no way out.