"In the White Room" is the title to the fourth issue of the second Swamp Thing ongoing comic book series by DC Comics. It is the first of two stories presented in this issue. It was written by Martin Pasko with artwork by Tom Yeates. It was colored by Tatjana Wood and lettered by John Costanza. The second vignette is a six-page story featuring the Phantom Stranger titled "Hospital of Fear", and is written by Mike W. Barr with artwork by Tony DeZuniga, colors by Adrienne Roy and lettering by Ben Oda. Both stories were edited by Len Wein. This issue shipped with an August, 1982 cover date and carries a cover price of 60 cents per copy (US).
A demon which murders children possesses the body of Paul Feldner and kidnaps Casey Clancy, forcing the Swamp Thing to intervene. Swamp Thing eventually defeats the demon in a slaughterhouse by offering his body as a host and then activating a hanging conveyor belt sending them both into the freezer, killing the demon. The story ends with an unconscious Swamp Thing being carried into an ambulance to be taken to a private clinic owned by the Sunderland Corporation.
The Phantom Stranger intervenes to save a woman who has been turned into a mental zombie by a mystic incantation that saved her life, and finds himself in the clutches of Tannarak.
"In the White Room" was written in dedication to the then-recent Atlanta child murders, which escalated stranger danger concerns around the United States.
Accordingly, "Uncle Barney" is a caricature of Fred Rogers, whose preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was often accused of reducing vigilance in children and families.
