John Grimlan’s Debt. Alternate title: “Dig me no grave“. 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.