“The People of the Black Circle” is one of the original novellas about Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine in three parts over the September, October and November 1934 issues. Howard earned $250 for the publication of this story. This issue contains the third and last part.

It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan kidnapping an exotic princess from Vendhya (prehistoric India), while foiling a nefarious plot of world conquest by the Black Seers of Yimsha. Due to its epic scope and atypical Hindustan flavor, the story is considered an undisputed classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales. It is also one of the few Howard stories where the reader is treated a deeper insight on magic and magicians beyond the stereotypical Hyborian depiction as demon conjurer-illusionist-priests.

Contents

• Queen of the Lilin • [Pierre d’Atois] • novelette by E. Hoffmann Price
• The Golden Glow • novelette by S. Gordon Gurwit
• Concert to Death • short story by Paul Ernst
• Mist on the Meadows • poem by Marion Doyle
• The Trail of the Cloven Hoof (Part 5 of 7) • serial by Arlton Eadie
• Voodoo Vengeance • short story by Kirk Mashburn
• The Trail of the Cloven Hoof (Part 4 of 7) • serial by Arlton Eadie
•  Anne Boleyn • poem by Dorothy Quick
• The People of the Black Circle (Part 3 of 3) • [Conan] • serial by Robert E. Howard
•  Feigman’s Beard • short story by August Derleth
•  Nude with a Dagger • short story by Jean Ray (trans. of Le tableau 1925) [as by John Flanders]
•  The Music of Erich Zann • [Erich Zann] • (1922) • short story by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Eyrie • (1924) • interior artwork by Andrew Brosnatch

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