“The Strange Indian Curse” from Avon’s Eerie # 6 (April-May 1952) was written by an unknown author. Artwork was done by Moe Marcus and Vince Alascia. The story borrows an idea from Algernon Blackwood.
Bob Kendall and his wife, Anne, are in Alaska to hunt big game. Bob shoots an Alaskan Brown Bear, which causes his native guide to become frightened. He says, “He will come!” And he does, a strange bear that walks upright like a man. Bob wants to shoot the creature but his guide stops him, warning of a curse.
The guide tells Bob and Anne the story of the cursed bear. Long ago, a gold nugget was found. It was called “Eye of the Bear”. It was sacred to the tribe and guarded by a bear. A brave named Big Crazy Wolf killed the guardian bear and took the nugget to his girl. She rejects him.
The warriors of the tribe hunt Big Crazy Wolf down and place a curse on him. His bones are to be scattered in the woods. Only if a man of another race gathers them together and gives them a proper burial will the curse be lifted. Story told, the guide leaves the hunters to their fate.
That night the upright bear comes to Bob and Anne’s camp. It shows them where a human bone is. The couple understand and start looking for the rest of the bones.
It is hard work in the rain. They struggle on until the entire skeleton is assembled. The bear is digging again. It throws a shining object to Bob. It is a giant gold nugget.
The couple see the bear shed its trapped human soul. Collapsing back into their tent they doubt if any of it was real at all. The giant gold nugget proves it wasn’t a dream at all.
The Algernon Blackwood story this comic borrows from was called “Running Wolf” (Century Magazine, August 1920) which he wrote with Wilfred Wilson. In that tale a man follows a wolf that is acting strangely. The man eventually uncovers a skeleton that was not buried, saving the soul trapped inside the animal. This comic switches the idea to a bear instead of a wolf. (Some regard “Running Wolf” as a werewolf story, which it isn’t really.) The addition of the gold nugget allows for the traditional “Was it a dream?” ending. The bear with the spirit in it should not be confused with the Spirit Bear of British Columbia, the Kermode.