This horror story appeared in Weird Tales in 1937 after Howard’s death in 1936.
In “Dig Me No Grave”, the story is narrated by Kirowan, an approach Howard abandoned for the later stories, in which he kept the first person perspective but had an unnamed narrator. Kirowan is awakened by Conrad in the middle of the night. Conrad has just left the side of John Grimlan, who has died in a most unpleasant manner. Years earlier Grimlan had made Conrad swear to follow the instructions in a sealed envelope after his death. Conrad was to follow these instructions no matter how much Grimlan might change his mind. As he was dying Grimlan begged Conrad not to follow the instructions but to burn the envelope.
Considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos. Alternative title: ‘John Grimlan’s Debt‘.
Published in:
- WEIRD TALES VOLUME 29 NUMBER 2, Popular Fiction Publishing Company, February 1937
- THE DARK MAN AND OTHERS, Arkham House, 1963
- DE BEWONER VAN HET MEER, Zwarte Beertjes, 1968 (Dutch)
- THE DARK MAN AND OTHERS, Lancer, 1972 (n.d.)
- EIGHT STRANGE TALES, Fawcett Gold Medal Books, October 1972
- JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #1, Marvel Comics, October 1972 (graphic adaptation)
- THE SECOND MAYFLOWER BOOK OF BLACK MAGIC STORIES, Mayflower, 1974
- MASTERS OF TERROR #2, Marvel Comics, September 1975 (graphic adaptation)
- L’HOMME NOIR, Libraries des Champ-Elysees, 1st Quarter 1976 (French)
- PIGEONS FROM HELL, Zebra, June 1976
- ACHT TEUFELSEIER, Erich Pabel Verlag KG, December 1976 (German)
- THE DARK MAN OMNIBUS, Volume 2, Panther, 1979
- PIGEONS FROM HELL, Ace, 1979
- L’HOMME NOIR, NeO, April 1982 (French)
- クトゥルーIV -邪神の復活 (KUTŪRŪ IV – JASHIN NO FUKKATSU) (CTHULHU IV – REVIVAL OF THE FALSE GOD, Seishinsha, May 1983 (Japanese)
- L’HOMME NOIR, NeO, February 1984 (French, 2nd printing)
- CTHULHU THE MYTHOS AND KINDRED HORRORS, Baen, May 1987
- L’HOMME NOIR, NeO, February 1988 (French, 3rd printing)
- クトゥルー5 (KUTŪRŪ 5) (THE CTHULHU MYTHOS 5), Seishinsha Bunko, May 1989 (Japanese)
- CTHULHU THE MYTHOS AND KINDRED HORRORS, Baen, 2nd, 1989
- 黒の碑(いしぶみ) (KURO NO ISHIBUMI), Sōgen Suiri Bunko, December 1991 (1st edition)(Japanese)
- L’HOMME NOIR, Fleuve Noir, December 1991 (French)
- KAUHU-POKKARI 1, Jalava, 1991 (Finnish)
- CTHULHU THE MYTHOS AND KINDRED HORRORS, Baen, 3rd, 1992
- CULTI INNOMINABILI, Nexus Editore, March 1993 (Italian)
- OMBRE DAL TEMPO, Fanucci Editore, August 1994 (Italian)
- NIE KOPCIE MI GROBU, Wydawnictwo Andor, 1994 (Polish)
- ZMIERZCH NAD STONEHENGE, Wydawnictwo GEA, 1994 (Polish)
- TUTTI I CICLI FANTASTICI: I CICLI DI KULL DI VALUSIA, DI JAMES ALLISON, DI CTHULHU E DI ALMURIC, Newton Compton Editori, April 1995 (Italian)
- BEYOND THE BORDERS, Baen, October 1996 (restored text)
- ELF MÁGIA, Cherubion Könyvkiadó, June 1997 (Hungarian)
- NE ASSATOK NEKEM SIRT, Cherubion Könyvkiadó, 1998 (Hungarian)
- BLACK HOUND OF DEATH (GONCHIE SMERTI), North-West, 1999 (Russian)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S HORROR, Cross Plains Comics, August 2000 (graphic adaptation)
- 黒の碑(いしぶみ) (KURO NO ISHIBUMI), Sōgen Suiri Bunko, August 2000 (2nd printing)(Japanese)
- NAMELESS CULTS, Chaosium, December 2001
- LA CASA DE ARABU Y OTROS RELATOS, Ediciones Jaguar, 2005 (Spanish)
- THE WEIRD WRITINGS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD Volume 2, Girasol Collectables, March 2006
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Del Rey, October 2008
- BLACK HOUNDS OF DEATH, Cosmos Books, November 2008
- BLACK HOUNDS OF DEATH, Wildside Press, December 2009
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Tantor Media, Inc., March 2010 (audio)
- VOLK DER FINSTERNIS, Festa Verlag, March 2010 (German)
- KROK ZE TMY, Albatros Media, 2010 (Czech)
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Subterranean Press, March 2011
- KRÓLESTWO CIENI I INNE OPOWIADANIA Z MITOLOGII CTHULHU, Agharta, January 2013 (Polish)
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN, Bragelonne, February 2013 (French)
- CULTOS INOMINÁVEIS, Saída de Emergência, February 2014 (Portuguese)
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN. LA PIERRE NOIRE, Bragelonne, February 2014 (French)
- CULTOS INOMINÁVEIS, Saída de Emergência, March 2014 (Portuguese)
- I FIGLI DELLA NOTTE. RACCONTI DELL’ORRORE VOLUME 1, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, March 2015 (Italian)
- THE SHADOW KINGDOM AND OTHER WEIRD TALES, Ulwencreutz Media, October 2015
- O MUNDO SOMBRIO: HISTÓRIAS DOS MITOS DE CTHULHU, Editora Clock Tower, March 2016 (Portuguese)
- ČERNÝ KÁMEN, Laser Books, July 2016 (Czech)
- БЕЗЫМЯННЫЕ КУЛЬТЫ: МИФЫ КТУЛХУ И ДРУГИЕ ИСТОРИИ УЖАСА (NAMELESS CULTS: CTHULHU MYTHOS AND OTHER HORROR STORIES), AST, August 2016 (Russian)
- I FIGLI DELLA NOTTE E ALTRI ORRORI, Golem Libri, June 2019 (Italian)
- DECA NOĆI I DRUGE PRIČE, Filip Višnjić, December 2019 (Serbian)
- RATTLE OF BONES & OTHER TERRIFYING TALES, Clover Press, July 2020
- THE CTHULHU STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, WordFire Press, September 2020
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING (NECRONOMICON BOXED SET), Arcturus Publishing, November 2021
- ROBERT E. HOWARD AND WEIRD TALES, Dennis McHaney, November 2021 (excerpt only)