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The Touch of Death

Part of The Touch of Death

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Textual identity is not textual authority. “Catalogue primary/default” selects the default catalogue representation; it does not mean that this wording is automatically Howard’s most authoritative text.

Introduction

The Touch of Death. Old Adam Farrel lay dead in the house wherein he had lived alone for the last twenty years. A silent, churlish recluse, in his life he had known no friends, and only two men had watched his passing… little did they know the Fearsome Touch of Death had not left the house…

In this tale, first published in the February 1930 edition of Weird Tales Magazine, a man spends a night alone with a corpse.

The Touch of Death was presented to Argosy, Ghost Story, and was accepted by Weird Tales in late fall 1928. It was published with the title 'The Fearsome Touch of Death'. Howard got $18 for this short story.

In a letter (#118) circa January 1930 to Tevis Clyde Smith he says:

Many thanks for the letter you wrote Farnsworth. It appeared in the Eyrie this month. I sure appreciate it. Also appeared in this issue an illegitimate child of mine. By that I mean I had no idea it was to be published this month as I never got any advance sheets for it. If you don’t mind, I wish you’d read it. It’s purely psychological; I’ve told you of it before. No other magazine except Weird Tales would publish such a story — I know because I tried most of them with this one.

Characters in this exact text

Adam FarrelAdam Farrel — reclusive dead man in The Touch of DeathOn Page6 source-counted occurrence(s) · first: The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard — The Touch of Death, pp. 69–71Dr. SteinDr. Stein — doctor attending Adam FarrelOn Page3 source-counted occurrence(s) · first: The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard — The Touch of Death, pp. 69–71FalredFalred — man who keeps vigil beside Adam Farrel’s corpseOn Page18 source-counted occurrence(s) · first: The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard — The Touch of Death, pp. 69–71

Textual witnesses & editorial mediation

These records describe how this textual state is known or represented. A witness may be authorial, editorially mediated, restored, transcribed or otherwise derived without becoming a new Howard-authored textual state.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard (Del Rey, 2008)Restored reading editionAuthority basis: Restoration toward authorial text · Treatment: Restored toward authorial wording

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, supplied Del Rey 2008 PDF, pp. 69–71; Notes on the Original Howard Texts, pp. 340–351.