The Dream Snake

Introduction

In this story, first published in the February 1928 edition of Weird Tales Magazine, a terrified individual recounts the details of a strange, recurring nightmare. The Dream Snake is a terrifying tale of a man who has had a recurring dream about being pursued by a sinister, unseen giant snake that gets nearer and nearer to him every night….

This story might be based on a real dream Howard had. Howard got $20 for the story. 

The first we learn of the story from the letters is when he wrote Tevis Clyde Smith (letter #053), circa Mid-September 1927:

P. S. I have sold five poems and a short story since seeing you last.

The story was “The Dream Snake” and the poems were “Sea Curse,” “Crete,” “The Moor Ghost,” “The Riders of Babylon,” and “Easter Island.”

In the next letter to Tevis written circa mid- to late-September 1927 (letter #054):

P. S. Since writing you that other letter I’ve sold another mss. I got a hundred dollars for it; that is, I am to get it on publication. I don’t know when it will be published or whether you’ll like it or not. I enjoyed writing it more than any piece of prose I ever wrote. The subject of psychology is the one I am mainly interested in these days. The story I sold before this3 was purely a study in psychology of dreams and this ms. deals largely in primitive psychology. I don’t know whether they’ll publish it as a serial or as a “complete novel.”

The first story mentioned is “The Shadow Kingdom”, and the second is “The Dream Snake”.

Published in:

https://youtu.be/JUpg_axX-Mc