The Touch of Death. Old Adam Farrel lay dead in the house wherein he had lived alone for the last twenty years. A silent, churlish recluse, in his life he had known no friends, and only two men had watched his passing… little did they know the Fearsome Touch of Death had not left the house…
Golnor the Ape. Unfinished. Listed as “Golnar” in the Last Celt. Appeared as “Golnor” in Crypt of Cthulhu and The New Howard Reader.
Old Adam Farrel lay dead in the house wherein he had lived alone for the last twenty years. A silent, churlish recluse, in his life he had known no friends, and only two men had watched his passing… little did they know the Fearsome Touch of Death had not left the house…
In this tale, first published in the February 1930 edition of Weird Tales Magazine, a man spends a night alone with a corpse.
WORMS OF THE EARTH. It was originally published in the magazine Weird Tales in November 1932. The story features one of Howard’s recurring protagonists, Bran Mak Morn, a legendary king of the Picts.
THE VOICE OF EL-LIL is an adventure tale. An Englishman and an American venture into Somaliland where they discover a tribe of people who have not advanced/progressed with the rest of the world and have remained as they were about 3,000 years earlier.
First published in Oriental Stories Volume 1 Number 1, October/November 1930.
“The Shadow Kingdom”, the first of his Kull stories, set in his fictional Thurian Age. It was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in August 1929.
The story begins with John O’Brien, the narrator, entering a dark, eerie forest, with the intent to kill his rival, Richard Brent, over the love of Eleanor Bland. O’Brien falls and hits his head in Dagon’s Cave, leading to a vivid recollection of a past life as Conan, a Gaelic reaver.
“Kings of the Night” by Robert E. Howard is a compelling story that intertwines elements of fantasy, historical fiction, and adventure. It unfolds in ancient Britain, where Bran Mak Morn, the king of the Picts, faces an imminent threat from a Roman legion marching towards his land. The story is notable for its blending of Howard’s created mythos with historical elements, creating a rich tapestry of ancient cultures and legendary figures.
In Howard’s following letter to Lovecraft, he responds to the latter’s suggestion that he make use of Kelly in his fiction; “Kelly the conjure-man was quite a character, but I fear I could not do justice to such a theme as you describe”. However, despite Howard’s reticence, Kelly did begin to find a way into his writing.
First published in Weird Tales, August 1925, In the Forest of Villefère tells of de Montour’s passage through a supposedly haunted forest. There he comes upon a most unusual traveling companion.
