Introduction
Mistress of Death features Agnes de Chastillon. Howard wrote two drafts, both incomplete. Gerald W. Page later completed the second draft, supplied the title, and that completed version was first published in Witchcraft & Sorcery, volume 1, number 5 (January–February 1971).
The story is the only Dark Agnes tale to include an overt fantasy element, in the form of a sorcerer. It was later adapted as the Conan story “Curse of the Undead-Man” in The Savage Sword of Conan no. 1 (1974), with Red Sonja taking the place of Dark Agnes.
Surviving manuscript evidence
The records below describe surviving physical typescripts, carbons, manuscript material and documentary catalogue evidence for this exact textual state. TSS numbers identify physical catalogue units; they are not story or draft IDs.
Physical extent: 10 pages / 10 TSS catalogue units; spreadsheet describes the draft as unfinished
TSS: 63657–63666
Original typescript (OT).
Additional documentary notes
- Untitled Witness: The spreadsheet records Draft 2 as untitled. (witness level)
Source: 000 TSS of REH moving towards final.xls · Complete List · Mistress of Death (d2) · TSS 63657–63666