“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 →

“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 →