A Room Full of Changes

"“I came to destroy the room as I had destroyed the warlock Keil—but instead of his soul, I found Hell itself waiting for me—that is too great of an evil for me to conquer!” - Mr. Velissi"“A Room Full of Changes” is a black-and-white horror comic story written by Nicola Cuti with art by Ernie Colon. It was first published in September 1969 in the first issue of the horror magazine Vampirella, published by Warren Publishing, along with several other comic stories as part of the anthology.

Plot Summary
Edward Blaine buys a house out in the country. Every room in the house is furnished except one, which is empty, and he thinks about the possibilities he has in store for the room. A knock at the door interrupts his thoughts and when he opens it he is greeted by a young girl, Wendy, who says that it was her father who sold the house. She asks to see “the Room,” but doesn’t wait for a reply before running into the house.

Blaine demands to know which room the girl refers to as he chases after her and she replies, “the one where old man Keil was murdered!” She runs towards the unfurnished room, but when Blaine arrives in the room he sees that it is covered in toys that the girl excitedly plays with.

Blaine returns to the front door where Linda Velissi, the sister of Wendy, has arrived looking for her younger sister. Blaine politely greets her and takes her to her sister Wendy, but when they arrive, the room once again changes. It is no longer a toy room, like it was for Wendy, and has shifted into a nicely decorated living space.

Blaine is now very curious about the house’s previous owner and asks Linda about Mr. Keil. According to Linda, he was rumored to be a warlock who practiced black magic. Dead animals were found on his porch and children in the neighborhood went missing. Linda’s father attempted to purchase the house from Mr. Keil, but Keil refused and the two became bitter enemies. When Mr. Keil was murdered, suspicion fell on Linda’s father, but she swears by her father’s innocence.

A week after arriving in his new home, Blaine hosts a party and invites Linda, her father, his brother, and quite a few other guests. He shows the room to his brother, Harold, who sees beautiful women dressed as bunnies carrying trays of wine. He then speaks to Linda, who he has started to court, and her father. They speak of the room, which Linda and Blaine have shown to countless people in the village.

Linda’s father opens the door to see the room himself, but he is horrified and startled by what he sees. He quickly slams the door shut and begins to flee from the house, but before he does he answers the question of what he saw. He proclaims that he saw the murder of Mr. Keil and knows who the murderer is, but that only his resentment of the man keeps the truth silent.

Weeks pass and Blaine and Linda begin to have a romantic relationship with one another. They vowed to marry, despite Linda’s father’s objections, and Linda moves into the house with Blaine. One evening they approach their home when they see strange lights from the windows of the Changing Room. They enter their home and they hear a terrified scream from the Room.

They run to the doorstep of the room and see Linda’s father as a horde of monsters clamp their jaws all around him. He tells them that he came to destroy the room, just like he destroyed Keil, but he found himself trapped by the monsters and warns them to stay away. Linda’s father is killed.

After the incident, the mystery of the room finally over, they wallpapered the room and turned it into a nursery.

Collections

 * Vampirella Archives Vol. 1