"The Return of the Sorceror"

by Clark Ashton Smith
originally published Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, September 1931

Mr. Ogden, who's been out of work for awhile and needs money (and a first name), lands a gig helping do some translations from ancient Arabic for John Carnby, an eccentric fruit loop who lives in a dilapidated mansion in Oakland CA (which means it would have to be in the hills, kiddies!).  

Carnby's a creep who lives as a full-on black magician, with pentagrams painted on the floor and stuffed alligators hanging from the ceiling.  What he wants translated is a passage from The Necronomicon itself, one which explains how a dead sorcerer can rise from the dead, and even summon dismembered body parts back together to form a whole.  

Ogden thinks this whole setup is a little weird.  He also thinks the fact that the house is allegedly infested with extra-large rats, which Carnby seems to fear, is a bit off.  When he sees a severed human hand scuttling across the floor, he knows something is a bit off.

Alright, Carnby confesses - he killed his twin brother Helman out of jealousy (Helman was a more successful sorcerer) and cut him into pieces and buried/hid them in different places.  But yeah, now Helman is reassembling himself and coming back for revenge.  Carnby attempts an exorcism spell, but it fails, and the dismembered pieces of Helman converge on the room and take gruesome revenge...

Okay, this tale is completely in EC territory, right down to crawling sever limbs.  But CAS often had his tongue in his cheek, sometimes more firmly than others.  It's a gruesome little bit of black-humored horror and fun to read.

Incidentally, trivia buffs; "Return of the Sorceror" was adapted - quite effectively - for TV's Night Gallery in the early 70's, with Vincent Price as the Carnbys and Bill Bixby as Ogden.