Weird Tales 1931 September

Contains the Solomon Kane story ‘The Footfalls Within”.  It seems to take place after the previous tale, ‘Wings in the Night’

The story opens with Kane coming across the body of a young black woman.  The corpse is fresh, and there are marks where whips and shackles have torn her flesh.  It doesn’t take long for Kane to catch up with the slavers who killed her.  He sees a train of blacks being led away by a group of armed Arabs and other blacks who have allied with them.  They’re taking their captives to a slave market.  They’re also driving them hard, neither giving them rest breaks nor providing them with ample water.

Sword & Fantasy #7

The front and back cover art is from foreign Robert E. Howard paperback editions. Articles include part two a long analysis of the Robert E. Howard story “Tower Of The Elephant” (profusely illustrated) by Rick McCollum. An eight page folio of illustrations from Robert E. Howard stories printed in pulp magazines. An interview with Karl Edward Wagner from 1980. “H.P.L.: The History” by Lin Carter (from 1950). “An Appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith” by Lin Carter (from 1949). An article on A. Merritt from 1948 (with pulp art by Virgil Finlay and others). And more. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Eduardo Barreto, Mahlon Fawcett, and others.

Sword & Fantasy #4

The front cover art is by Wally Wood, reproduced from the color version of the original art. This art first appeared on the dustjacket of the Gnome Press hardcover THE RETURN OF CONAN in 1957.

Articles include the transcript of the entire WEIRD TALES panel from the 1998 San Diego Comicon (the panelists included Forry Ackerman and Gary Gianni). There are also various articles on heroic fantasy and sword & sorcery. An articles on Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis (a character which was first published in WEIRD TALES from 1938-41). A 1989 interview with Karl Edward Wagner reprinted from the British publication DAGON. An interview with writer Chuck Pogue about the movie and novelization of DRAGONHEART. “Sword & Sorcery In Comics, part 2”. A facsimile reprint of “The Challenge From Beyond” from its original appearance in FANTASY MAGAZINE in 1935. A 1950s profile of Virgil Finlay. An examination of the possible origins of the art published on the cover of SWORD & FANTASY #1 and more. Artwork in the issue is by Rick McCollum, Mahlon Fawcett, Virgil Finlay and others.

Weird Tales 1931 April and May

The Children of the Night” is a 1931 short story by Robert E. Howard, belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos. It was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in the April/May 1931 issue. Howard earned $60 for this publication.

The story starts with six people sitting in John Conrad’s study: Conrad himself, Clemants, Professor Kirowan, Taverel, Ketrick and the narrator John O’Donnel. O’Donnel describes them all as Anglo-Saxon with the exception of Ketrick. Ketrick, although he possesses a documented pure Anglo-Saxon lineage, appears to have slightly Mongolian-looking eyes and an odd lisp that O’Donnel finds distasteful.