Dead of Night: Featuring Man-Thing Volume 1 1980

Digger narrates another chilling tale of the Man-Thing. He is digging four shallow graves, but decides to wait until his tale is completed before revealing who they are for.

Jennifer Kale checks on her little brother Andy and finds him drawing images of the Man-Thing with his crayons. Jen asks him who the pictures are of and Andy tells her that "He's my friend, Jen". Leaving Andy to his drawings, Jen leaves for work. She is an exotic dancer at a small establishment called the Juicy Orange. Her stage name is Witch Woman. What the men ogling her don't realize however, is that "Witch Woman" is more than simply her stage name.

After work, Jen leaves the bar and waits for a bus. One of the patrons, Tim Rock, approaches her and offers her a ride home. Jen politely declines the offer, but Tim presses the issue. Jen looks over towards his car and sees three other men inside. Tim beats Jen across the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. His friends and he load her up in their car and take her to a small cabin. When she awakens, she finds herself tied to a folding chair. Tim and his friends enter the room with thoughts of violating her. Jen addresses each of the would-be rapists by name, even though nobody ever told her their names. She then casts a spell of illusion which makes her appear as a winged demon. The four men are terrified and race out of the cabin into the swamps. There they encounter the Man-Thing who instinctively realizes that these men are evil and must be killed. He easily tears through them, dismembering each of them in turn. He saves Tim Rock for last and uses his burning touch to kill him. Jennifer looks on silently. She recognizes the Man-Thing from Andy's drawings.

Digger grabs a tub of popcorn and some "Dead-Vee-Dees" and sits down for another tale of terror best told in the dead of night...

Amateur documentarian Jacob Knoll and his partner Jeff are in the swamps of Citrusville, Florida on the hunt for the legendary Man-Thing. While Jacob provides a narrative, Jeff films the affair with his digital camera. Also in attendance are Diane Arlington and her friend Stella. They interview several townsfolk, but nobody can really give any certifiable credence to the legend. Traveling deeper into the swamp, they do in fact come upon an empty husk in the shape of the Man-Thing. They theorize that the creature has the ability to shed its skin like a snake and take on a new form.
As night falls, Diane wanders off into the swamp. She peers through some bushes and finds Jennifer Kale and her little brother Andy standing before the genuine Man-Thing. The Man-Thing stands motionless and doesn't make a sound. Diane screams in fright and runs back towards the camp. When she arrives, she finds a group of mutated humans circling the tents. One of them grabs her, and another stabs her through the shoulder with a spear. While Jake is being strangled and Jeff is dragged away, Stella finds a handgun and shoots one of the attacking freaks.
The Man-Thing emerges from the brush and when he does everyone stops fighting. Miraculously, Jake and his friends are still alive. They stare at the creature in shock, but do not provoke him. After several tense minutes, the Man-Thing turns and lumbers off.Minutes later, the disfigured Ellen Brandt arrives with a team of armed agents. They shoot Jake, Jeff, Diane and Stella to death. Ellen declares that everything in the swamp will be executed until she can find the Man-Thing.

Digger checks the clock at the Tower of Shadows and realizes that it will soon be time to start working the "graveyard shift". Until then, he decides to weave another tale best told in the dead of night.

In the swamps of Citrusville, Florida, the disfigured Ellen Brandt leads a team of A.I.M. shock troops on a hunt for the Man-Thing. She knows that the Man-Thing was once Ted Sallis and she is determined to destroy him for mutilating her.
Elsewhere in the swamps, Jennifer Kale and her little brother Andy search for the Man-Thing in order to warn the creature of the danger that pursues him. As the A.I.M. agents draw closer, Jennifer creates a mystic circle that renders both Andy and she invisible. The squad marches past them without ever realizing they were there. Next, Jennifer weaves a Spell of Loathing upon the soldiers, forcing them to turn against one another. The five men withdraw their weapons and begin shooting each other. The smell of blood and the sounds of violence alert the other denizens of the swamp - the mutants. Four disfigured abominations emerge from the muck and attack the wounded soldiers. They finish them off and begin devouring their entrails.Brandt and her second-in-command, Shepard, leave the safety of their base camp and begin hunting the Man-Thing on their own. They finally stumble upon the creature and Brandt lets loose with a flame-thrower. The Man-Thing grabs Shepard and snaps his neck. Brandt walks right up to the Man-Thing and speaks to him with words that spark a partial memory. Though she is not afraid of him, the Man-Thing recognizes her as a woman that has caused him great pain. He grabs her in his arms, and his mass engulfs her. Satisfied that the Man-Thing is safe, Jennifer and Andy return to their home.
Digger concludes his tale in the cemetery outside the Tower of Shadows. He invites the reader to take a ride down to Citrusville some time so that they might catch a glimpse of the legendary Man-Thing.