The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard

[j d worthington]

Nice to run into someone else who has that particular book. It has been, from what I understand, superceded now, but is still a very worthwhile book for the Howard reader, full of all sorts of nifty, rather obscure things....

 

[dask]

Also worth mentioning are Glenn Lord's two REH collections from Zebra Books: THE BOOK OF ROBERT E. HOWARD and THE SECOND BOOK OF ROBERT E. HOWARD. Some forty four fantasy/adventures tales many "previously uncollected in any form, several being available heretofore (1976) only in rare old pulps." Sadly, "Graveyard Rats" is not among them.

 

[j d worthington]

For that matter, the Zebra collection (also edited by Lord) Pigeons from Hell is worth having, though it is largely made up of the contents of the earlier Wolfshead.

"Graveyard Rats", however, is not in any of the other REH collections I have, from Skull-face and The Dark Man on to The Black Stranger (from University of Nebraska Press). (I would think, however, that it will be included in the final volumes of The Weird Works set, as that is supposed to collect together all his weird fiction, I believe.)

 

[dask]

For that matter, the Zebra collection (also edited by Lord) Pigeons from Hell is worth having, though it is largely made up of the contents of the earlier Wolfshead.

"Graveyard Rats", however, is not in any of the other REH collections I have, from Skull-face and The Dark Man on to The Black Stranger (from University of Nebraska Press). (I would think, however, that it will be included in the final volumes of The Weird Works set, as that is supposed to collect together all his weird fiction, I believe.)

I don't have the Zebra edition but I do have the PIGEONS FROM HELL published by Ace Books (July, 1979; no editor listed). It must be a completely different collection than the Zebra as none of the stories therein appear in my Lancer edition of WOLFSHEAD, and naturally no "Graveyard Rats." And, naturally again, I also can't find it in any of my other REH volumes.

Don't recall ever coming across THE WEIRD WORKS set though I may have seen it and just not remembered. I'll have to check this out.

 

[Lobolover]

J.D.- I may annoy you beyond words by asking such a predictable question, but what other stories from Howard would you say I could like ?

 

[j d worthington]

That's rather difficult to say, Lobo, considering your distaste for heroic fantasy; and a good deal of his "horror" tales still have much of that to them. Then there are the things heavily influenced by Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu ("Skull-face", "Lord of the Dead", etc.)

That one is going to require some thought, and a reconsult of Howard's list of tales....

Dask: I put in the wrong title. That should be The Dark Man and Others rather than Wolfshead... which may explain why no editor is listed, as I'm not sure whether it was Derleth or Lord who made the choices and did the editing for that particular volume:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Man_and_Others

 

[Connavar]

I think Lobo would enjoy this horror collection by REH. The stories are different from his S&S.

Heck there was even a sea monster stor you would think it was written by William Hope Hodgson.

Wrewolf,vampire,ghost stories dont have much to do with Conan and co.

Solomon Kane i think Lobo would like. Very different from his S&S,more wierd,horror in the stories of Kane i have read.

 

[Lobolover]

J.D.- I did not have a particular dislike for the one such story of his I rread, but I was not engaged by it, and felt it waltzed ignorantly over much beter story alternatives then which were used - I dont remember the name, but it was of that "fortres" of scoundrels, with that one guy in charge who likes to sacrifice women ,

 

[j d worthington]

J.D.- I did not have a particular dislike for the one such story of his I rread, but I was not engaged by it, and felt it waltzed ignorantly over much beter story alternatives then which were used - I dont remember the name, but it was of that "fortres" of scoundrels, with that one guy in charge who likes to sacrifice women ,

I'm afraid that one doesn't ring a bell right off. It sounds more like Howard's imitators (especially Robert Jordan or the Lin Carter/de Camp tales) than Howard himself; though I may be missing something here. The closest I'm coming with the "fortress of scoundrels" is "The People of the Black Circle", but that one certainly didn't feature someone who liked to sacrifice women... he had rather nastier things in mind; and the story itself is filled with especially eerie touches to boot (not to mention being, as Fritz Leiber pointed out, worthy of one of the lesser Elizabethans)....

 

[Lobolover]

The only other thing I can remember is a huge statue underground, sadly .

 

[j d worthington]

Now I really am at a loss... this doesn't ring any bells at all....

 

[Nesacat]

Got a copy of this at the Eastercon in Bradford and am very much looking forward to reading it.

 

[Lobolover]

THIS is the one I had in mind !

The Blood of Belshazzar - Wikisource

 

[j d worthington]

Ah, Cormac FitzGeoffrey. Hmmm. It's been a good 25 years or more since I last read that tale; I'd have to go through it again to give my impressions now....

 

[Connavar]

Got a copy of this at the Eastercon in Bradford and am very much looking forward to reading it.

Have you read his non-fantasy work before ? I mean not his S&S stories,heroes.

I specially recommend the vampire western story and the two Solomon Kane stories(if you havent read them already).

 

[Nesacat]

Connavar ... I have read a few but scattered in other places. Have not had them collected in one book before. I have indeed read the Solomon Kane ones. Am very much looking forward to this collection.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've finally finished "Haunter of the Ring and other stories" collection and it ended with the wonderfully haunting tale: "Pigeons of Hell". I just love the way the story opens, the way dream blurs with reality and then nightmare. That was probably my favourite in the collection.

 

[Roy1]

Pigeons From Hell: A Closer Look by Peter Tennant on his case notes blog for Black Static Magazine

A consideration of Robert E Howard and his much anthologised story "Pigeons From Hell".

 

[Werewoman]

I don't know if 'Worms of the Earth' is considered to be one of his horror stories, but it is my favorite of Howard's work. It certainly affects me as no horror story I have ever read affected me before.

 

[Connavar]

I don't know if 'Worms of the Earth' is considered to be one of his horror stories, but it is my favorite of Howard's work. It certainly affects me as no horror story I have ever read affected me before.

Since its in my copy of The Horror stories of Robert E. Howard i would say its seen as a horror story.

Actually its the story that i will read next since i read the collection by page number order. From the first story to the last.