The UK based small press Wandering Star issued glorious editions of Robert E. Howard’s work, including The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, The Ultimate Triumph, as well as two volumes of Howard’s Conan tales.

Subterranean Press is proud to continue this series of limited editions, Crimson Shadows, The Best of Robert E. Howard, volume one. 

Contents

• xii • Foreword (The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows) • (2007) • essay by Jim Keegan and Ruth Keegan
• xv • Introduction (The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows) • (2007) • essay by Rusty Burke
• 1 • The Shadow Kingdom • [Kull of Valusia] • (1929) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 27 • The Ghost Kings • (1938) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 29 • The Curse of the Golden Skull • [Kull of Valusia] • (1967) • short story by Robert E. Howard
• 33 • Red Shadows • [Solomon Kane] • (1928) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 59 • The One Black Stain • [Solomon Kane] • (1962) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 63 • The Dark Man • [Turlogh O’Brien] • (1931) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 85 • The Marching Song of Connacht • (1972) • poem by Robert E. Howard (variant of Marching Song of Connacht)
• 87 • Kings of the Night • [Bran Mak Morn] • (1930) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 119 • Recompense • (1938) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 121 • The Black Stone • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1931) • short story by Robert E. Howard
• 137 • The Song of a Mad Minstrel • (1931) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 139 • The Fightin’est Pair • non-genre • [Sailor Steve Costigan] • (1931) • short story by Robert E. Howard (variant of Breed of Battle)
• 153 • The Grey God Passes • [Turlogh O’Brien] • (1962) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 183 • The Song of the Last Briton • (1982) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 185 • Worms of the Earth • [Bran Mak Morn] • (1932) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 213 • An Echo from the Iron Harp • (1974) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 217 • Lord of the Dead • [Steve Harrison] • (1978) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 247 • Untitled (“You have built a world of paper and wood … “) • (1964) • poem by Robert E. Howard (variant of A Warning (“You have built a world of paper and wood … “))
• 249 • “For the Love of Barbara Allen” • (1966) • short story by Robert E. Howard (variant of For the Love of Barbara Allen)
• 257 • The Tide • (1976) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 259 • The Valley of the Worm • [James Allison] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 279 • The Dust Dance: Selections, Version II • (1968) • poem by Robert E. Howard (variant of The Dust Dance (“The sin and jest of the times am I…”))
• 283 • The People of the Black Circle • [Conan] • (1934) • novella by Robert E. Howard
• 353 • Beyond the Black River • [Conan] • (1935) • novella by Robert E. Howard
• 403 • A Word from the Outer Dark • (1974) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 405 • Hawk of the Hills • [El Borak] • (1935) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 453 • Sharp’s Gun Serenade • non-genre • [Breckinridge Elkins] • (1937) • short story by Robert E. Howard
• 469 • Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die • (1938) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 473 • Robert E. Howard: Twentieth-Century Mythmaker • essay by Charles Hoffman
• 485 • A Short Biography of Robert E. Howard • (1998) • essay by Rusty Burke
• 497 • Notes on the Original Howard Texts (Crimson Shadows: The Best of Robert E. Howard, Volume One) • essay by uncredited

Notes

Limited Edition:
750 numbered copies signed by Jim & Ruth Keegan

Deluxe Edition: 50 numbered copies signed by the artists, bound in leather, housed in a leather slipcase.
Included with the Deluxe Edition is a chapbook titled “Crimson Shadows Sketchbook.” It is 11 pages, saddle stapled, and 8.5 by 5.5 inches in size. It contains nine black and white plates by Jim & Ruth Keegan.

Contains all of the black and white artwork from the Del Rey edition plus four new full color plates by Jim & Ruth Keegan. The color plates are located in the stories they were illustrated for and not at the back of the book.

Edited by Rusty Burke
Art Director: Marcelo Anciano
Typographer: Stuart Williams
The texts for this edition were based on Howard’s original typescripts or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable.