Skulls in the Stars. First published in Weird Tales, January 1929. In England, Kane is on his way to the hamlet of Torkertown, and must choose one of two paths, a route that leads through a moor or one that leads through a swamp. He is warned that the moor route is haunted and all travelers who take that road die, so he decides to investigate.
The story was sent to Jungle Stories, but they returned it on the 15th of August 1929. It was accepted by Weird Tales and published in two parts. Part 1, June 1930; Part 2, July 1930. Kane goes to Africa on the trail of an English girl named Marylin Taferal, kidnapped from her home and sold to Barbary pirates by her cousin. When he finds the hidden city of Negari, he encounters Nakari, “the vampire queen of Negari”.
“The Right Hand of Doom” was never published while Howard lived. It is a story about a necromancer, and what happens when you cross him.
“Red Shadows” was REH’s first published Solomon Kane story (Howard’s original title was “Solomon Kane”). It tells a tale of wide scope, one which takes place over many years and in many countries. It’s a tale of unrelenting dogged persistence as Kane spends years of his life seeking to avenge the death of a complete stranger.
First published in Weird Tales, June 1929. In Germany, Kane meets a traveler named Gaston L’Armon, who seems familiar to Kane, and together they take rooms in the Cleft Skull Tavern. At this time in his career, Howard was an inexperienced professional writer. Several times when he sent his drafts story to Weird Tales, he was careful to prepare carbons.
When the first draft of Rattle of Bones was written, Howard decided that it needed another ending. The draft consisted of seven pages of which he rewrote the last two and changed the ending. This was what he sent to Weird Tales and what was published. The REH Foundation printed the first version of the 1928 story in their very first issue of ‘The Robert E. Howard Foundation Newsletter’ in the spring of 2007.
First published in Red Shadows, Grant, 1968. In the Black Forest Kane tells John Silent, an English mercenary, that he cut down a boy from the local Baron’s gibbet. Both men head to the Baron’s castle for a reckoning.
This story was originally written in 1929, titled ‘The Blue Flame of Vengeance’, and featured Solomon Kane. Howard failed to sell it, perhaps because it had no weird element, and hence WEIRD TALES would likely not take it. Howard rewrote it in 1932, changing the hero to Malachi Grim, changing the title to ‘Blades of the Brotherhood’, and shortening the story by a couple of pages. There is no record to show to which magazines this story was offered, if any.
This story was originally written in 1929, titled ‘The Blue Flame of Vengeance’, and featured Solomon Kane. Howard failed to sell it, perhaps because it had no weird element, and hence WEIRD TALES would likely not take it. Howard rewrote it in 1932, changing the hero to Malachi Grim, changing the title to ‘Blades of the Brotherhood’, and shortening the story by a couple of pages. There is no record to show to which magazines this story was offered, if any.
Article by Glenn Lord; “The Writing Game”. A history of REH’s jobs & sales of stories & poems to pulp markets first published in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer, Vol. 1, #1 (ed. Byron L. Roark; Nemedian Chronicles, Kansas City, Kan., spring, 1975)
Mythic Games has developed a narrative adventure board game simply titled Solomon Kane, based on Robert E. Howard’s original stories and characters. The game was funded via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in July 2018 and has been in development until late 2020. It had its initial release slated for summer 2020, but due to Covid19 it was delayed. Now it is on it’s way to the backer, or at least the first wave of the game.
