Carl R Green

Carl R. Jacobi (1908-1997) was an American journalist and prolific writer, primarily known for his contributions to pulp magazines in the horror, fantasy, and adventure genres. He published extensively in iconic magazines such as Weird Tales, Startling Stories, and Thrilling Adventures. Jacobi's early life in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he lived his entire life, showed an early aptitude for writing, selling his own booklets to classmates. He attended the University of Minnesota, where his writing career began in campus publications, and he made his first professional sales. His work gained recognition, with H.P. Lovecraft commending his story "Mive" and facilitating connections with Arkham House. Throughout his career, Jacobi developed a reputation for creating memorable settings and unique situations, particularly drawing inspiration from his surroundings and extensive research into exotic locales like Southeast Asia and Baluchistan, which influenced his creation of subgenres like the "Borneo terror tale." Despite financial pressures during the Depression leading him to radio writing, he continued to produce fiction, eventually writing full-time and publishing collections of his work. His career spanned several decades, with his stories appearing in numerous anthologies and being translated into multiple languages.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Carl R. Jacobi displayed a passion for writing from a young age, even creating and selling his own short story booklets to fellow students. His early reading included authors like Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe, shaping his imaginative sensibilities. During his university years at the University of Minnesota, Jacobi honed his craft in campus magazines and began his professional writing career. His early sales included a detective story to Secret Service Stories and, notably, "Mive" to Weird Tales, which garnered praise from H.P. Lovecraft. This early recognition was instrumental in establishing his connection with the literary circles that would publish his later work, including Arkham House.

Jacobi became a significant voice in the pulp magazine era, contributing a wide array of stories to markets like Weird Tales, Startling Stories, and Thrilling Adventures. He was known for his ability to craft vivid settings and intriguing scenarios, often drawing inspiration from his surroundings in Minnesota and his extensive research into distant lands. His fascination with places like Dutch Borneo and Baluchistan led him to develop unique subgenres within adventure and terror fiction. Despite facing financial difficulties during the Great Depression, which led him to work in radio, Jacobi maintained his dedication to writing fiction, eventually focusing on it full-time and seeing his stories collected and published.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Jacobi continued to contribute to pulp magazines, including a significant number of stories for Weird Tales. The collapse of the pulp market led him to take on other employment, such as an electronics inspector at a defense plant, while still writing part-time. This period was challenging, impacting his health and writing schedule. However, his work continued to be recognized, with collections like "Revelations in Black" (1947) and "Portraits in Moonlight" (1964) being published, showcasing his enduring talent in the realms of weird fiction and fantasy.

“I tried to divide my time between rhetoric courses and the geology lab. As an underclassman I was somewhat undecided whether future life would find me studying rocks and fossils or simply pounding a typewriter. The typewriter won.”

“Mive please me immensely, and I told Wright that I was glad to see at least one story whose weirdness of incident was made convincing by adequate emotional preparation and suitably developed atmosphere.”