GHOST STORIES #17

Cover shows moderate wear consistent with a Silver Age Dell book: visible spine stress line running vertically near the staple, a small edge crease at the upper right corner, and light surface scuffing across the blue background. Corners appear only slightly blunted with no major chipping, and colors remain bright with no fading. The book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine detail and glare masks some potential surface scratches; interior pages and back cover were not assessed.

Ghost Stories #17 is a late-1960s entry in Dell's long-running horror anthology line, part of a wave of mystery and suspense titles that filled newsstands after the Comics Code had tempered the genre's earlier, more visceral EC-style excesses. Like most issues in the series, it features self-contained supernatural short stories rather than a recurring cast, with anonymous studio art typical of Dell's later output. No first appearances, notable creator milestones, or historically cited cover images are associated with this issue, and it is not tracked as a key by mainstream price guides.

Market activity is sparse and reflects the book's status as a minor, non-key Silver Age title: certified population is minimal across the grading spectrum, with only a handful of recorded sales anchoring any pricing data. The 9.6 copy has traded in the $128 range across its most recent recorded sales, while a mid-grade 6.5 example brought roughly $30, indicating a market driven almost entirely by condition scarcity rather than character or creator demand. There is no certified 9.8 on record, meaning top-end pricing for the finest possible copy is inferred rather than observed.

This is a book for completists building out full Dell horror-line runs or Silver Age anthology specialists rather than character or key-issue collectors. Lower and mid-grade raw copies move modestly and infrequently, priced more by general Silver Age horror demand than by this specific issue's content. High-grade certified examples are rare enough that a well-preserved slab, especially at the top of the certified population, would likely draw competitive bidding from the small pool of Dell completists actively pursuing unbroken runs.