Introduction
Robert E. Howard’s “The Horror from the Mound,” a pioneering “Weird Western” story, was first submitted to the Clayton magazine group on July 9, 1931, but faced rejection. Howard then sent it to Weird Tales, leading to its publication in the May 1932 issue. The story, notable for its early draft and final typescript with carbon, shows no significant differences between these versions. This consistency is evident in the edition used today, marking its significance in the genre’s history.
In the letter (#173) To H.P. Lovecraft, ca. Mid to Late-August, after August 16, 1931, we learn that the story was first rejected by Weird Tales also, but later accepted:
I’m surprized to learn that the Claytons rejected your stories. I notice that many of the old Weird Tale writers have found a berth there. The editor rejected a couple of my yarns; he gave no reason for the rejection of one, but he objected to the other on the grounds of thin plot and light action. Later Mr. Wright accepted this yarn for Weird Tales, though he had formerly rejected it.
This genre acted as a bridge between his early “weird” stories (a contemporary term for horror and fantasy) and his later straight western tales. Featuring Steve Brill.
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…
It was finally published in the May 1932 issue of Weird Tales.
In another letter (#203) to HPL he mentions the story (circa April 1932):
I also placed another yarn with Strange Tales — “The Valley of the Lost” — a horror tale in an early Texan setting. I’m trying to invest my native regions with spectral atmosphere, etched against a realistic setting; “The Horror from the Mound” in the current Weird Tales was a feeble effort of the sort.
The story is also mentioned in a letter (#206) to Tevis Clyde Smith, circa May 1932:
P.S. I’ve gotten some more letters from that fool Olson, in Iowa.9 I could endure his lunacy, but his illiteracy gets on my nerves. This time he’s frothing at the mouth on account of my “Horror from the Mound”. He lashed himself into a perfect frenzy because I said a vampire was really dead. He says that there is no death in the first place, and that Christ was a vampire. Also that a vampire is in “reallity” an idealist, with an earth-gravity of 50 per cent. Whatever the hell that means. He says that I ought to be ashamed “tweesting” the facts around and “making the allmighty God look like the dirtiest devil from Hell.”
After receiving a letter from Lovecraft, Howard answers (letter #208) on May 24, 1932:
Thank you very much for your comments on “People of the Dark” and “The Horror from the Mound.” Your remarks concerning the latter story especially encourages me.
and later in the same letter:
Poor Olson — what you say of him clinches my conclusion that he is completely insane. I first heard from him a long time ago when he wrote commenting on my “Hills of the Dead”; favorably, by the way. “The Horror from the Mound” seems to have enraged him. He hasn’t pulled any “C-Space” or “vectors” on me, though he has had considerable to say about “Ramas” A,B,C, etc.. Neither has he given me the secret of immortality, though he has hinted darkly at it. I’ve never answered any of his letters, though the impulse has been strong to reply with a missive that would make his ravings sound like the prosaic theorizings of a professor fossilized in conventions. But it would be a poor thing to make game of the unfortunate soul.
The story
“The Horror from the Mound” by Robert E. Howard is a gripping Weird Western tale. Set in Texas, it follows Steve Brill, a cowboy turned unsuccessful farmer. When his neighbor, Juan Lopez, avoids a strange mound on Brill’s property, superstitions and tales of horror are unveiled. Brill’s excavation of the mound unleashes a terrifying supernatural entity, leading to a climactic and deadly confrontation. This story masterfully blends Western elements with horror, showcasing Howard’s skill in merging genres.
The characters
- Steve Brill: The main character, a cowboy and farmer who unwittingly unleashes the horror.
- Juan Lopez: Brill’s Mexican neighbor, knowledgeable about the mound’s curse but bound to secrecy.
- Don Santiago de Valdez: The undead vampire entombed within the mound.
- Hernando de Estrada: A historical figure mentioned in the tale, part of the backstory of the mound.
- Porfirio Lopez: An ancestor of Juan Lopez, involved in the historical backstory.
Published in:
- WEIRD TALES VOLUME 19 NUMBER 5, Popular Fiction Publishing Company, May 1932
- SKULL-FACE AND OTHERS, Arkham House, 1946
- WOLFSHEAD, Lancer, 1968
- THE DARK OF THE SOUL, Tower, 1970
- CHI DI VAMPIRO FERISCE…, Casa Editrice La Tribuna, November 1972 (Italian)
- WOLFSHEAD, Lancer, 1972 (n.d.)
- FEH 5: DE STEM VAN EL-LIL, A. W. Bruna & Zoon, 1972 (Dutch)
- CHAMBER OF CHILLS #2, Marvel Comics, January 1973 (titled “The Monster from the Mound”)
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Neville Spearman, 1974
- MASTERS OF TERROR #1, Marvel Comics, July 1975 (graphic adaptation)
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Neville Spearman, 1975
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Volume 1, Panther, 1976
- HISTOIRES ANGLO-SAXONNES DE VAMPIRES, Libraries des Champ-Elysees, April 1978 (French)
- SKULL-FACE, Editrice Nord, October 1978 (Italian)
- CHI DI VAMPIRO FERISCE… EINSTEIN PERDUTO, Casa Editrice La Tribuna, April 1979 (Italian)
- WOLFSHEAD, Bantam, 1979
- VAMPIRE, Severn House, 1985
- VAMPIRE: CHILLING TALES OF THE UNDEAD, W. H. Allen (Target Books), 1985
- LE TERTRE MAUDIT, NeO, November 1985 (French)
- 剣と魔法の物語 (KEN TO MAHŌ NO MONOGATARI), Sonorama Bunko, December 1986 (Japanese)
- ROSTRO DE CALAVERA, ST, 1987 (Spanish)
- LE TERTRE MAUDIT, Fleuve Noir, October 1991 (French)
- WEIRD VAMPIRE TALES, Gramercy Press, August 1992
- SKULL FACE, Editrice Nord, March 1993 (Italian)
- OUTOJA TARINOITA 5, Jalava, 1993 (Finnish)
- CIEN BESTII, Wydawnictwo PiK, 1994 (Polish)
- TRAILS IN DARKNESS, Baen, June 1996 (restored text)
- 吸血鬼伝説 ドラキュラの末裔たち (KYŪKETSUKIDENSETSU DORAKYURA NO MATSUEI-TACHI) (LEGEND OF THE VAMPIRE: DRACULA’S DESCENDANTS/SCIONS), Hara Shobō, February 1997 (Japanese)
- CURSE OF THE OCEAN, North-West, 1998 (Russian)
- STORIE DELL’ORRORE, Newton Compton Editori , July 1999 (Italian)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S HORROR, Cross Plains Comics, August 2000 (graphic adaptation)
- AED TÄIS HIRMU, Fantaasia, March 2003 (Estonian)
- THE BLACK STRANGER AND OTHER AMERICAN TALES, Bison Books, April 2005
- PEOPLE OF THE DARK, Wildside Press, July 2005
- THE WEIRD WRITINGS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD Volume 1, Girasol Collectables, January 2006
- PEOPLE OF THE DARK, Wildside Press, June 2006
- THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF MONSTERS, Carroll & Graf, May 2007
- THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF MONSTERS, Robinson, June 2007
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING & OTHER TALES, Wordsworth Editions, September 2007
- THE HORROR FROM THE MOUND, AND BLACK TALONS, Dodo Press, February 2008
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING & OTHER TALES, Wordsworth Editions, 2008
- ROBERT E. HOWARD FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER V2N2, Robert E. Howard Foundation, Summer 2008 (typescript)
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Del Rey, October 2008
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Tantor Media, Inc., March 2010 (audio)
- VOLK DER FINSTERNIS, Festa Verlag, March 2010 (German)
- WIELKA KSIĘGA POTWORÓW. TOM 1, Fabryka Słów, July 2010 (Polish)
- KROK ZE TMY, Albatros Media, 2010 (Czech)
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Subterranean Press, March 2011
- SHADOWS OVER TEXAS: THREE PULP FICTION HORROR CLASSICS, Nuelow Games, December 2011
- GRUSELKABINETT – FOLGE 60: DER GRABHÜGEL, Lübbe Audio, March 2012 (audio, German)
- WOLFSHEAD AND OTHER STORIES, Jame-Books, August 2012
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN, Bragelonne, February 2013 (French)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S COLLECTED WORKS, Jame-Books, February 2013
- WESTERN TALES, REH Foundation Press, December 2013
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN. LES PIGEONS DE L’ENFER, Bragelonne, February 2014 (French)
- THE HORROR FROM THE MOUND, eStar Books, November 2014
- 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
- GRAPHIC CLASSICS VOLUME 26: VAMPIRE CLASSICS, Eureka Productions, May 2017 (graphic adaptation)
- БОГИ БАЛ-САГОТА (THE GODS OF BAL-SAGOTH), AST, November 2017 (Russian)
- DECA NOĆI I DRUGE PRIČE, Filip Višnjić, December 2019 (Serbian)
- LES ROIS DE LA NUIT, Le Livre de Poche, November 2020 (French)
- THE NECRONOMICON: TALES OF ELDRITCH HORROR FROM THE MASTERS OF THE GENRE, Arcturus Publishing, August 2021
- WEST STREGATO, Salirandra, October 2021 (Italian)
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING (NECRONOMICON BOXED SET), Arcturus Publishing, November 2021