Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #23

In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, Beth Lawrence struggles to find a place to stay—until a chance encounter with Peter Norville pulls her into something far stranger than a crowded city. As the revelry swirls around them, an eerie tension builds, blurring the line between memory and moment.

In "The Crystal Ball," thief Houdon and the once-pretend fortune-teller Old Cambert uncover a hidden cache of Nazi collaborators' wealth—pearls and gold left behind after their arrest. When Houdon betrays Cambert, framing him as a collaborator to claim the treasure for himself, the imprisoned seer swears vengeance, his final words echoing through the shadows: "My crystal ball will seek you out!"

In "The Dream," Myrna is haunted by visions of her betrothed, Stanislaus, imprisoned in a crumbling castle—though records confirm he died in World War I. The story unfolds through her unsettling, recurring dreams, blurring the line between memory and nightmare.