The House of Arabu

Introduction

“The House of Arabu”. It was rejected by Weird Tales on January 19, 1933. It was not published until 1952 as “Witch From Hell’s Kitchen” in Avon Fantasy Reader #18.

In June of 1933, Howard tried to have a collection of his stories published by British publisher Denis Archer. “The House of Arabu” was included in the select list of chosen stories by the author himself, among the likes of “Wings in the Night“, “The Tower of the Elephant“, “Kings of the Night” and “The Horror from the Mound“.

In the letter (#248) to Hugh G. Schonfield, dated June 15 1933 we learn:

Dear Sir:

As I promised, in answer to your letter of May 19th, I am sending, under separate cover, a representative collection of my weird stories. These include:

1. Wings in the Night
2. The Tower of the Elephant
3. Kings of the Night
4. The House of Arabu
5. The Valley of the Lost
6. The Scarlet Citadel
7. The Horror from the Mound
8. The Children of the Night

As I have no typed copies of “The Tower of the Elephant” or “Wings in the Night,” I am sending the printed pages of these stories in order to save time. If you wish, I will prepare manuscript copies of them.

“Wings in the Night,” “The Tower of the Elephant,” “Kings of the Night,” “The Scarlet Citadel,” “The Horror from the Mound,” and “The Children of the Night” were published in Weird Tales magazine. I own the British Empire rights. “The Valley of the Lost” was accepted by the Clayton Publishing Company, for their magazine Strange Tales, but that magazine was discontinued before the story was published, and it was returned to me. “The House of Arabu” has never been published.

 

Alternate title:

WITCH FROM HELL’S KITCHEN.

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