"The Thing in the Mud!" is the first story featured in issue #22 of the comic book anthology series Spellbound. It was written by an unknown author and featured artwork by Art Peddy. The second story is called "The Mark of the Vampire!", also by an unknown writer, and was illustrated by Mac Pakula. The third story is titled "13 Years!" by artist & inker Bill Savage. This is followed by a four-page tale called "Worse Than Death!", illustrated by Jack Abel. The fifth and final vignette is "The Wedding Present". The writer is unknown, but it was penciled and inked by Paul Reinman. All stories were edited by Stan Lee. This issue shipped with a May, 1954 cover date and carries a cover price of .10 cents per copy.
A woman collapses in the woods near a mud bog. She is startled to find a mud man slinking out of the muck towards her. At first she is frightened, but then realizes that the being is gentle and kind. They find a way to communicate and he tells her that he hails from an underwater kingdom, and that he has not had good experiences on the surface. The woman invites him to her home and has him sleep in the garage. Locals learns about the creature and the police arrive to arrest him. Before they can take him away, the woman realizes that she is in love with the mud man and gives him a passionate kiss.
Gruesome attacks take place in the town of Centerville, and all signs point to a vampire as the perpetrator. Frank Hagstrom takes note of his brother Rudolph's strange behavior and nocturnal activities and begins to suspect him of being the vampire. He weighs confronting his brother to protect his neighbors while also wishing he could protect him. Frank girds himself to the hard fact that Rudolph must be stopped. He carves a wooden stake out of a tree branch and attacks Rudolph. Before dying however, Rudolph spreads the curse of vampirism to his brother.
An unidentified New York gets in the way of a bank robbery and the thieves attempt to steal his car. As they shoot it out with the cops, they leave their bag of stolen jewels in the man's car. The man thinks that he is on Easy Street, but doesn't want to risk pawning the jewels just yet. He decides to wait thirteen years, during which time he becomes homeless and destitute. Desperate for money, he unearths the jewels from where he had hidden them and brings them to a jeweler. The man tells him that they are clever imitations and only offers him ten dollars for the lot. The man ruefully accepts. He takes his ten dollars to a pawn shop where he asks for a revolver and one bullet.
A French miser named Georges Ferdu is a slumlord who is constantly increasing his tenant's rent. Not believing in banks, he hordes all of his money in his own home. Due to poor construction, his apartments are death traps, and one catches on fire, killing more than a hundred people. One of the survivors, having lost his wife and children, decides to take revenge on Georges. He goes to Georges' house and takes all of his money and throws it out the window. The miser loses his mind attempting to pick up all of his money from the streets of Paris.
Harry Krebs is a fairly unattractive man who has fallen for a lounge singer named Lila. Lila is fairly unpleasant however, and has no desire to associate with Harold because of his ugliness. Lila reluctantly goes on a date with Harry after he plies her with riches. When Lila tries to convince Harry to buy her a new sports roadster, he introduces her to his friend, Dan Royal. Dan and Lila hit it off and fall in love. Harry falls into a deep depression after Lila tells him that they are to be married. Harry travels to Haiti where a bartender named Rickey points him in the direction of a voodoo witch doctor. Harry spies the man preparing what he believes to be a love potion. Unable to meet the man's price, Harry swipes the potion and returns to the States. He attends Dan and Lila's wedding and gives her the potion as a gift. Lila drinks it and falls madly in love with him. The voodoo practitioner is present and uses his magic to transform Harry and Lila into wedding cake ornaments.