DAREK

Real Name: Darek

Identity/Class: Extratemporal human technology user (unspecified future era to 1950s (see comments))

Occupation: Time-traveler

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Cindy (last name unrevealed), "ghosts" (none identified)

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: (Originally) unspecified future era (see comments);
     (temporarily) Anderson house/Time Station 3 in 1957 AD

First Appearance: World of Mystery#6/1 (April, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Darek displayed no paranormal abilities, but he was skilled at operating the futuristic technology in Time Station 3.

Darek was equipped with a "memory-eraser disk" (see comments).

Height: 6'  (by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond

History:
(World of Mystery#6/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Darek is largely unrevealed, but he traveled from an unspecified future era to 1957, where he appeared in Time Station 3--situated within the abandoned Anderson house, Time Station 3 acted as a transit terminal for time-travelers. Because of the ghostly manifestations of the time-travelers within, the house gained the reputation of being haunted, so it was shunned by the residents of Clifton Corners.

   High school students Cindy, Bud and Jack wanted to join a social club--for their initiation, the club committee decided they had to spend two hours at night in the Anderson house.

(World of Mystery#6/1) - Cindy, Bud and Jack were outside the dilapidated house when they saw fellow students Hiram Beggs and Jim Purdy running out in terror. As the three went into the old house to begin their initiation, Cindy opined that she thought the whole idea was childish, and she suspected the initiation committee had prepared something inside to scare them. The trio went to the house's parlor, and suddenly the room flared with a strange red glow, followed by a humming sound (Bud: "If the committee arranged this, they certainly went through a lot of trouble!"). They were shocked to see ghostly figures passing through the walls and floor around them, and the panicking Bud and Jack ran out of the house, leaving Cindy alone.

   Unable to find her way out of the house's interior, Cindy was shaken by fear as she wandered in the darkness; then she saw Darek walking down a corridor to the cellar--for some inexplicable reason, the sight of the unusually handsome man filled Cindy with wonder and trust, and she no longer felt apprehensive, so she followed him downstairs.

   In the cellar, Darek began to attend to some machinery when he saw Cindy descending the stairs; he assured her not to be afraid and invited her to join him. Darek told Cindy that he wasn't a ghost, but was actually from another time-continuum; he further explained the true nature of the "haunted" house, but told Cindy the Time Station was about to be abandoned. Then Darek shone the light of his "memory-eraser disk" at Cindy and eliminated all the information he had just imparted from her mind.

(World of Mystery#6/1 - BTS) - Darek and all the machinery in Time Station 3 disappeared to an unspecified time and place, leaving only the empty house.

(World of Mystery#6/1) - With all memory of having met Darek gone, Cindy thought the whole initiation experience had been a big bore, so she left the deserted house and went to the drug store to get a hot chocolate. When Cindy entered the drug store, she saw Bud and Jack telling the other kids about the strange occurrences at the old house, but Cindy told them there was nothing to the "haunted" house but a lot of creaky boards and chilly drafts.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Al Williamson (artist).

Maybe this 4-page story -- The Secret of the Haunted House -- was a "prequel" to a later-published story--Darek never mentioned what year in the future he was from, so maybe he was somehow associated with Norman Crane (Crane traveled from the 29th Century to the 1950s, and he materialized in "Time Station 364," an abandoned house rumored to be haunted).

Darek's "memory-eraser disk" was never actually identified as such.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Darek has no known connections to:

Darek's "memory-eraser disk" has no known connections to:

Cindy has no known connections to:

Anderson house/Time Station 3

Located in the town of Clifton Corners, it was an abandoned house that travelers from the future were using as a transit terminal; the cellar of the house was equipped with some type of futuristic machinery (presumably to facilitate time travel). Because of the strange glow and the ghostly manifestations of the time-travelers within, the house earned the reputation from the town's residents for being haunted.

Hiram Beggs and Jim Purdy went to the house, but they were frightened away when the house began "acting up" and started to glow.

Cindy, Bud and Jack later went into the house, but the boys were frightened by the "ghostly" time-travelers and ran out; Cindy later met Darek, who explained the true nature of the house, then erased that knowledge from her mind.

The time-travelers abandoned Time Station 3, and Darek disappeared along with the futuristic machinery; afterwards, the old house never "acted up" again.

--World of Mystery#6/1

"Ghosts" of Anderson house

Friends of Darek, they were actually people from some unspecified future era who were traveling through time. While in time-transit, they had been rendered intangible, and they could pass through the walls and floors of the Anderson house.

--World of Mystery#6/1

"Memory-eraser disk"

A hand-held device used by Darek, it emitted a light which eliminated selected memories from the minds of individuals upon whom it was shone.

After Darek revealed the true nature of the supposedly haunted Anderson house to Cindy, he utilized the "memory-eraser disk" to eliminate that knowledge from Cindy's mind.

--World of Mystery#6/1

Cindy, Bud, and Jack

A trio of high school students in the town of Clifton Corners, they were trying to join a social club--for their initiation, the club committee wanted them to spend two hours in the "haunted" Anderson house.

The three first saw fellow students Hiram Beggs and Jim Purdy fleeing from the house in terror; regardless, they went into the house, although Cindy thought the initiation idea was childish.  After they saw "ghosts" flying around inside the house, Bud and Jack took off in a panic, but Cindy became lost in the house's dark interior and couldn't find her way out.

Cindy later met Darek, who explained that he was from the future, and that the house was actually Time Station 3, a transit station for the time-travelers who appeared to be "ghosts".

After revealing the true nature of the "haunted" house to Cindy, Darek used his "memory-eraser disk" to eliminate that knowledge from her mind.

Afterwards, Cindy left the Anderson house and went to the drug store to have a hot chocolate. In the drug store, Cindy saw Bud and Jack telling the other kids about the strange occurrences at the old house, but she told them there was nothing to the "haunted" house but a lot of creaky boards and chilly drafts.

--World of Mystery#6/1

images: (without ads)
World of Mystery#6/1, p4, pan1 (Main Image - Darek introduces himself to Cindy)
World of Mystery#6/1, p3, pan6 (Headshot - Darek)
World of Mystery#6/1, p4, pan4 (Darek speaks with Cindy (background))
World of Mystery#6/1, p1, pan1 (Hiram Beggs and Jim Purdy running from glowing Anderson house/Time Station 3)
World of Mystery#6/1, p4, pan3 (Anderson house/Time Station 3, as Darek explains true nature of location)
World of Mystery#6/1, p2, pan7 (three "ghosts" passing through Anderson house, as Cindy, lack, and Bud look on)
World of Mystery#6/1, p3, pan1 (female "ghost" passes through Anderson house as Cindy and Jack look on and Bud runs off)
World of Mystery#6/1, p4, pan5 (Darek uses "memory-eraser disk" on Cindy)
World of Mystery#6/1, p1, pan2 (Cindy, Bud (yellow shirt), and Jack)
World of Mystery#6/1, p3, pan7 (Cindy sees Darek operating machinery in cellar)

Appearances:
World of Mystery#6/1 (April, 1957) - unidentified writer, Al Williamson (artist), Ralph Mayo (inker), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 02/23/18

Last updated: 02/23/18

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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