The Thing on the Roof (draft).
The Thing on the Roof first appeared in the February 1932 issue of Weird Tales. Howard sold it to Weird Tales for $40.00, but later said he would have let it go for free, just to see it in print. He was quite fond of it. The story is set in the early 1930’s, and focuses on the legend surrounding the Temple of the Toad God. Howard’s occult tome, Nameless Cults plays a big part in the story.
“The Slithering Shadow” is one of the original short stories starring Conan. 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 is 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 Scarlet Citadel” is one of the original short stories starring the Conan the Cimmerian. First published in the January 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. In the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, a middle-aged Conan battles rival kingdoms. The wizard Tsotha-lanti ensnares King Conan, who escapes a dungeon with unexpected aid.
The Phoenix on the Sword (first submitted draft).
“The Phoenix on the Sword” is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian was written by Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine in December 1932. The tale, in which Howard created the character of Conan, was a rewrite of the unpublished Kull story “By This Axe I Rule!”, with long passages being identical.
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.
First published in Oriental Stories, spring 1932. Alternative title: ‘The Lame Man’.
The Lion of Tiberias was originally published in July 1933. It is one of Howard’s stories in the historical fiction/crusader tales.
Howard wrote one of the first “Weird Western” stories ever created, “The Horror from the Mound,” published in the May 1932 issue of Weird Tales. This genre acted as a bridge between his early “weird” stories (a contemporary term for horror and fantasy) and his later straight western tales.
There is a secret held inside an Indian burial mound, only a few know the secret and they have been sworn to secrecy… until someone became greedy, deciding that there must be treasure hidden in the mound…
First published in Weird Tales, August 1930. In Africa again, Kane’s old friend N’Longa (the witch doctor from “Red Shadows”) gives the Puritan a magic wooden staff, the Staff of Solomon, which will protect him in his travels. Kane enters the jungle and finds a city of vampires.
