Carl Jacobi was a prominent American writer of horror, fantasy and crime fiction known for his works which appeared in magazines such as Weird Tales, Ghost Stories, Planet Tales and Startling Tales, just to name a few. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1908. Alongside his fiction writing, he also worked as a reporter and book reviewer for The Minneapolis Star and would later work as a journalist and an editor for other venues as well. He died in 1997.
The Stories (Listed by order of publication):
“Mive” (1928) – A man hiking in a a dense marshland area known as a mive encounters a huge butterfly/moth-like creature which he tries to capture. The attempt leaves a residue on his hands and leads to a strange and terrifying experience.
“A Pair of Swords” (1933) – While attending a guided tour through a museum, a man is asked by two men dressed as ancient musketeers to witness a duel in the armory.
“The Tomb From Beyond” (1933) – A realtor travels to visit a man who famously discovered a lost, underwater city near Borneo to help him sell his property. The man seems desperate to be rid of the place. The property is located in a small, deteriorating town called Flume which once boasted 75 inhabitants. However after the man brought up one of the underwater buildings from the depths and reassembled it there, they all moved away. Now the structure stands near a slowly flooding graveyard in Flume, and there are hints that something vast and hideous resides there. This is a great, very atmospheric tale in the Lovecraft vein. You can listen here for free: https://horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-tomb-from-beyond
“The Last Drive” (1933) – A man has to transport the body of a race car driver who died in a crash during a bad winter storm. When the van he’s driving breaks down on a lonely stretch of road, things take a disturbing turn.You can listen here for free: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-last-drive-by-carl-jacobi-episode-159/
“Sagasta’s Last” by Carl Jacobi (1939) – Out of respect for his late sister, a man travels to the house of a brother-in-law who he doesn’t like very much. While there, he looks through a unique telescope whose lens was crafted from the sands of an area in Asia that was home to a demonic cult. As he looks out a window of the house to the east, he keeps seeing female hands forming from the hovering fog. This is an eerie tale of revenge from the grave. You can listen here for free: https://horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/sagastas-last
“The Aquarium” (1962) – A woman and her friend rent a house despite the massive aquarium it contains in its library. The house used to belong to a vengeful man who had strange ideas about the unique sea shells he obtained from the ocean’s floor. He believed they were infused with the power and intellect of ancient, cosmic beings such as Cthulhu and his ilk. The place soon begins having an adverse effect on those inside the house. You can listen here for free: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-horrorbabble-podcast/id1550859179?i=1000729383723
“The Chadwick Pit” by Carl Jacobi (1980) – A bachelor named Chadwick buys a remote house built inside old Indian territories. A deep sinkhole filled with pitch black water sits at the edge of this new property. Although it’s an eye-sore, he makes use of it by taking stones from it to build a summer house. Whenever he sleeps in that summer house, however, he has disturbing dreams and someone, or something, begins murdering locals in the nearby town.
Article by Matt Cowan
Horror Delve 