Category Archives: Robert E. Howard

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard: “The Dwellers Under the Tomb”

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“The Dwellers Under the Tomb”
The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
Del Rey
Paper $20.00
Ebook $7.99

This is another story that wasn’t published during Howard’s lifetime, but it’s a stronger work than “Dermod’s Bane“.  “The Dwellers Under the Tomb” was first published in 1976 in Lost Fantasies.  It follows a similar pattern to stories such as “The Noseless Thing”, “Dig Me No Grave“, “The Children of the Night”, and “The Haunter of  the Ring”.

The narrator is a man named O’Donnell who is staying with his friend Gordon, who may be the same Gordon as appears in the stories listed above.  They are awakened by a pounding on the door.  It’s Job Kiles, who is in a state of panic, because he saw the face of his dead brother at his window.  The brother had died a few days earlier, but not before swearing he would return from the grave to take vengeance on Job.  The brother had spent his portion of the family fortune, and Job wouldn’t let the brother spend his.  Job has come to Gordon for help.

Mild spoilers below the fold. Continue reading →

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard: “Dermod’s Bane”

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“Dermod’s Bane”
The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
Del Rey
Paper $20.00
Ebook $7.99

This is a minor story, apparently written early in Howard’s career, but not published in his lifetime.  It was first published in Magazine of Horror, Fall 1967.

As usual, there will be spoilers.  In this case, it will be hard to avoid them, the story is so short. Continue reading →

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard: “Rattle of Bones”

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“Rattle of Bones”
The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
Del Rey
Paper $20.00
Ebook $7.99

This post could just have easily been one of the Solomon Kane posts since Kane is the central character.  It’s not regarded as a major work in either the Solomon Kane series or among Howard’s horror fiction.  Be that as it may, I still like it.  It’s short, creepy, and has a couple of twists, even if you can see the final one coming a mile off.

Spoilers to follow below the “fold”. Continue reading →

Burroughs and Lamb

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Today (September 1) is the birthday of two literary giants, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) and Harold Lamb (1892-1962). Continue reading →

A Quick Look at E. Hoffmann Price

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Pulp writer E. Hoffmann Price was born on this date, July 3, in 1898.  He passed away in 1988 at the age of 89 a few weeks prior to his birthday.  Price graduated from West Point, served in the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, as well as in the Philippines and Mexico.  A student of the orient, he drew on these interests for much of his fiction.

Price wrote for a variety of pulps, especially adventure, detective, and western, but he is best remembered these days for his weird fiction.  A correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft, they collaborated on “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”.  I believe he is the only pulp writer to have met Robert E. Howard in person, on two different occasions, IIRC.  He is also the only known person to have Howard, Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith.  Price met many of the pulp writers, including Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, and L. Sprague de Camp.

Price experienced a resurgence in his career in the late 70’s and early 80’s, publishing several fantasy and science fiction novels.

We just got back from vacation last night, so I’m playing catch-up today.  If I get a chance, I’ll read one of his short stories this evening.

Brief Report on Howard Days 2019

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Robert E. Howard Days has come and gone for another year.  This one was a little different, but it was very good.

I got there early.  Jason M. Waltz and I shared a room in Eastland, which is about half an hour from Cross Plains.  (Most people don’t stay in Cross Plains.  There simply aren’t enough rooms.)  We got there Wednesday afternoon.  Those who arrived on Wednesday were invite to a fajita dinner at the home of Jack and Barbara Baum.  It was a great evening of food and fellowship, and I’d like to thank the Baums for their hospitality.

(r. to l.) James McGlothlin, Jason M. Waltz, Your Intrepid Blogger

Thursday morning we helped set up for the banquet on Friday then headed for the Pavilion to help set up there.  That was where I met Black Gate blogger James McGlothlin for the first time.  He and I and James Reasoner went to the local Mexican food restaurant for lunch and ended up talking for a couple of hours (in the air conditioning).  That evening a large number of us skipped the fish fry and the parade and went to Cisco for drinks and dinner.

Friday I went on the first part of the tour, but I jumped ship when the second part, to the nearby towns of Burkett and Crosscut, where the Howards lived before moving to Cross Plains.  I had an opportunity to join a group hitting a used book store in Abilene.  I came back with a grocery sack of paperbacks for $15.  Sadly, the owner of the store died last month, and her husband is trying to sell the store.

Baseball signed by Babe Ruth.

After we got back, I skipped the panels and went to the Post Office to get this year’s cancellation.  There is a new museum in Cross Plains that has a number of classic cars and baseball memorabilia.  Also good air conditioning.  I joined friends over there, then went back to the Pavilion and hung out with friends.

The Guest of Honor was David C. Smith, who spoke at the banquet.  As usual The Staghorn Cafe catered the meal (chicken fired steak), and as usual it was delicious.

Saturday morning John Bullard joined me in Eastland for an excursion to the local cemetery.  Doc Scurlock rode with Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War.  After it was over, he decided he was tired of being shot at and moved to Eastland to open a candy store.  He died there in 1929.  John wanted to see the grave, and since I had visited it a few years ago, I showed him where it was.

John and I hit the morning panel (which character of Howard’s was the first sword and sorcery hero), then joined his sister, her husband, and James McGlothlin for lunch.  Mexican food again.  Good chili rellenos are hard to find, and I eat them every chance I get.

(l. to r.) Shanks, Louinet, Gruber

There were two afternoon panels.  The first was a celebration of Sailor Steve Costigan, hero of a series of boxing stories.  Jeff Shanks, Patrice Louinet, and Chris Gruber led the discussion.  Chris presented a championship belt to the Howard house to put on display.

The second panel was what is coming in Howardiana.  The Dark Man journal is being revived.  The Foundation Press will be republishing some OOP titles, starting with the poetry and letters, then moving on to some of the collected fiction, such as the weird menace and spicies.  These will be POD trade paperbacks.  The first will be available sometime during the next year.  A representative from the company that owns the rights (the name has changed and I don’t recall what it is now) talked about the comics. (Conan a part of the regular Marvel universe and a member of the Avengers? Shoot me now.)  He wouldn’t say much about any film projects.

The day ended with the barbeque at the Pavilion followed by poetry reading on the steps of the Howard House, including the poem “Cimmeria” in eight languages.

My father had had a kidney stone flair-up while I was there, so I skipped the informal breakfast Sunday morning and went and had breakfast with my parents.

I enjoyed the weekend a lot, and I think that was more because I was reconnecting with friends more than anything.  There were some good books there.  Jason M. Waltz, publisher of Rogue Blades, had a number of his books available, including his latest, Crossbones and Crosses.  David C. Smith signed my copies of his Red Sonja novels as well as copies of some of his other books.  The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press had their collection of Howard’s autobiographical writings, Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, for sale.  I picked up a copy for me.  I also bought a few items for friends, which I will be getting in the mail later this week.

Howard Days 2019 might be over, but I had a great time and am looking forward to next year.  Attendance was down a bit, and some of the regulars weren’t able to make it.  Guys, you were missed.  Hopefully, I’ll see you next year, along with some others who have been trying to make it for a while.

Lost Robert E. Howard Manuscript Found

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Workers doing repairs at the Robert E. Howard House in Cross Plains made a startling discovery last week.  While replacing a portion of an outer wall damaged in a  thunderstorm, they found an envelope containing an unknown manuscript.

The manuscript is a rough draft of a Conan story, making it the second novel length Conan yarn.  According to those who have read the manuscript, Conan is robbing a tomb in Stygia when he runs into the sorcerer Thoth-Amon.  They are both after an amulet sacred to the snake god Set.  During the ensuing battle, Thoth-amon casts a spell on Conan that hurls him millennia into the future.  The spell causes Conan to lose his memory.  He wanders Africa, having various adventures, until he runs into Solomon Kane.  With Kane’s help, he returns to the Hyborian Age and defeats Thoth-Amon.

Reaction among Robert E. Howard scholars has been varied.  Rusty Burke says this is the best thing by Howard he has ever read.  Bill “Indy” Cavalier says the discovery will be a game-changer in Robert E. Howard studies.  Mark Finn was speechless.  Speaking by phone from France, Patrice Louinet could only babble excitedly in French.  Jeff Shanks began writing a grant proposal for further archaeological work at the Howard House.  Dave Hardy, on the other hand, is convinced the manuscript is a forgery and has hired retired ADA John Bullard to investigate.  A special edition of The Cromcast will be devoted to the manuscript in the near future.

Remembering Steve Tompkins

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Steve Tompkins (b. 1960) passed away on this date, March 23, ten years ago, i.e., 2009. He was a leading scholar in Robert E. Howard studies, but his interests extended beyond Howard to fantasy in general.  He was Managing Editor of the now defunct The Cimmerian blog at the time of his death.  That being the case, I’m sure he influenced me, indirectly if not directly.  I was a regular reader of The Cimmerian in those days, although I didn’t always pay close attention to who wrote what.  It was the closure of The Cimmerian that motivated me to start blogging myself.  I simply couldn’t find anything similar on the web.

I don’t know if I ever met Mr. Tompkins.  I may have at either Howard Days or the 2006 World Fantasy Convention.  Steve was there.  Regardless, his writing lives on as does his memory.  Howard Andrew Jones and Scott Oden have both posted tributes today.

The following are links to some of Steve’s writings (thanks to Deuce Richardson for the links):

All of his TC posts:
 His REHeapa stuff. Scroll WAY down, links on the left:
This thread has transcriptions of several of his intros etc:

Novalyne’s Birthday

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Novalyne Price Ellis was born on this day (March 9) in 1908.  She passed away in 1999 on March 30.  Novalyne was the author of One Who Walked Alone, a memoir of her relationship with Robert E. Howard during the last two years of his life.  It was based on her diary.

Novalyne Price moved to Cross Plains to teach English in 1934,  She soon met Robert E. Howard, and a tempestuous relationship started.  They had broken up by the summer of 1936, and Novalyne had left Cross Plains to attend graduate school in Louisiana.  She was there when she got the news of Robert’s death.

She wrote One Who Walked Alone as a rebuttal to L. Sprague de Camp’s biography of Howard, Dark Valley Destiny.  If you’ve not read her book, you should.  It’s one of the main sources of information we have about Bob.

The book was filmed in the mid-1990s and starred Vincent D’Onofrio as Robert and Renee Zellweger as Novalyne.