Originally published in Weird Tales, February 1935. Alternate title: “Moon of Zambebwei.”
The silence of the pine woods lay like a brooding cloak about the soul of Bristol McGrath. The black shadows seemed fixed, immovable as the weight of superstition that overhung this forgotten back-country. Vague ancestral dreads stirred at the back of McGrath’s mind; for he was born in the pine woods, and sixteen years of roaming about the world had not erased their shadows.
“A Witch Shall Be Born” is one of the original sword and sorcery novellas by Howard about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in only a few days in spring of 1934 and first published in Weird Tales in December 1934. A book edition was published in 1975 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher with illustrations by Alicia Austin.
The story concerns a witch replacing her twin sister as queen of a city state, which brings her into conflict with Conan who had been the captain of the queen’s guard. Themes of paranoia, and the duality of the twin sisters, are paramount in this story but it also includes elements of the conflict between barbarism and civilization that is common to the entire Conan series. One scene stands out. Conan’s crucifixion early in the story during the second chapter (“The Tree of Death”) is considered one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series.
“The Haunter of the Ring” is a 1934 short story Howard, belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos. It was first published in Weird Tales in the June 1934 issue. Howard earned $60 for this publication. This story is set in the modern age but includes a relic from the Hyborian Age of the Conan stories, the ring of Thoth-Amon.
“Queen of the Black Coast” is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian. First published in Weird Tales magazine May 1934. Conan becomes a notorious pirate and plunder the coastal villages of Kush alongside Bêlit, a head-strong femme fatale.
Due to its epic scope and atypical romance, the story is considered an undisputed classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his most famous tales.
Howard earned $115 for the sale of this story to Weird Tales and it is now in the public domain.
Howard touches on some powerful concepts in his James Allison series. Although this story (which appeared in the February 1934 issue of WEIRD TALES) was the only one of the series sold during his lifetime, he wrote a total of eight in which a sickly man lies dying and vividly remembers his earlier incarnations.
“Rogues in the House” is one of the original short stories starring Conan the Cimmerian. Conan inadvertently becoming involved in the struggle between two powerful men fighting for control of a city-state. It was the seventh Conan story Howard had published. It is famous for the fight scene between Conan and an ape, often known as the cover by artist Frank Frazetta.
Prior to the story’s beginning, Conan kills a corrupt priest of Anu, who was both a fence and police informer. However, Conan was arrested after he became intoxicated and a prostitute turned him in. Languishing in a jail cell while awaiting his execution, Conan receives Murilo’s visit and is proposed a bargain: in exchange for setting him free and getting him out of Corinthia with a bag of gold, Conan will assassinate Nabonidus.
Old Garfield’s Heart was first published in Weird Tales in December of 1933 and is generally labelled as a “Horror Story”. It takes place shortly after the end of the Wild West, but perhaps it falls squarely into the “Weird West” genre. The story is about an frontiersman, Old Garfield, that has lived as long as anyone can remember. The story is told through the eyes of an unnamed narrator who believes the tales told by Old Garfield are nothing more than whims of fancy or tall tales.
“The Slithering Shadow” is one of the original short stories starring Conan the Cimmerian. First published in the September 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. “The Slithering Shadow” is the original title, but the story is also known as “Xuthal of the Dusk” in further publications. It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, and concerns Conan discovering a lost city in a remote desert while encountering a Lovecraftian demon known as Thog.
“The Man on the Ground” is a short story by Robert Ervin Howard where two men are fighting a final duel.
Contains the poem “Moonlight on a Skull” by Howard.
