“The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard”, by Robert E. Howard, illustrated by Greg Staples

 

523 pages, Del Rey, ISBN-13: 978-0345490209

In the early oughts, Del Rey began producing the complete works of Robert E. Howard; The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, illustrated by Greg Staples, was the ninth volume to be published. The tales and more included in this latest volume of Howard’s work include: In the Forest of Villefere; A Song of the Werewolf Folk; Wolfshead; Up, John Kane!; Remembrance; The Dream Snake; Sea Curse; The Moor Ghost; Moon Mockery; The Little People; Dead Man’s Hate; The Tavern; Rattle of Bones; The Fear that Follows; The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux; Casonetto’s Last Song; The Touch of Death; Out of the Deep; A Legend of Faring Town; The Shadow of the Beast; Restless Waters; The Dead Slaver’s Tale; Dermod’s Bane; The Hills of the Dead; Dig Me No Grave; The Song of a Mad Minstrel; The Children of the Night; Musings; The Black Stone; The Thing on the Roof; The Dweller in Dark Valley; The Horror from the Mound; A Dull Sound as of Knocking; The People of the Dark; Delenda Est; The Cairn on the Headland; Worms of the Earth; The Symbol; The Valley of the Lost; The Hoofed Thing; The Noseless Horror; The Dwellers Under the Tombs; An Open Window; The House of Arabu; The Man on the Ground; Old Garfield’s Heart; Kelly the Conjure Man; Black Canaan; To a Woman; One Who Comes at Eventide; The Haunter of the Ring; Pigeons from Hell; The Dead Remember; The Fire of Asshurbanipal; Fragment; Which Will Scarcely Be Understood; Miscellanea; Golnar the Ape; Spectres in the Dark; The House; Untitled Fragment; and Appendices

It may (or may not) surprise you that Robert E. Howard was friends with Howard Phillips Lovecraft and that the two corresponded with and encouraged one another in their writings (indeed, Howard went so far as to incorporate Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos into some of his works). And so one shouldn’t be surprised that Howard also wrote some horror tales of his own. It must be said that Howard was never a writer of refinement and these – and all of his other stories, for that matter – are Pulp Fiction. This does not mean the writing is poor as Howard displays a knack for energetic and vivid storytelling with masterly painted scenery and characters who are powerful page presences, if rather two-dimensional. You’ll also see scads of Faulkner’s despised adjectives that populate plots that are not exactly complex. In other words: if you adore the atmospherics of Bram Stoker or the erudition of a M.R. James, Howard’s style may not be your cup of tea, old sport, but if you can bring yourself to look past such things then you’ll find chills and blood and darkness and fun. Howard may not cater to the literary gourmet in you, but if you find yourself craving a cheeseburger and fries, these meaty tales are sure to satisfy your appetite.

The power of Howard’s imagination is astounding, covering as it does a bewildering array of themes – from horror standards such as vampires and werewolves to sea monsters and Lovecraftian terrors – a wide range of subgenres – western, weird menace and historical fantasy – and of ages – from pre-Christian times, to the Roman Empire and (for him) contemporary settings. And now for the big fat elephant in the room: Some of Howard’s stories reflect obvious racial bias and contain overtly racist language. The argument has been made that Howard is, after all, a product of a different time or that he is merely depicting characters that use racist language (as in the included story Black Canaan) and so on. Whether you approve of such apologetics or not, the point is that, whatever the author’s ideology or intent, the words are there, on the page: they’re not nice to look at and aren’t going away. I, for one, did not feel uncomfortable seeing them repeated quite so often, but for some readers they may be reason enough to put down a book in disgust. Or not to be buy it at all. It is what it is, though, and forewarned is forearmed, so be advised that you are reading stories from a time that is, in many respects, quite alien to our own.

But what about these stories, anyway? Some are centered on sea life, such as Sea Curse, a brutal story of murder and revenge, and the gloomy Out of the Deep, describing the lethal deeds of a sea monster taking human shape. Solomon Kane makes an appearance in both Rattle of Bones, a dark, atmospheric piece set in a deserted tavern featuring a murderer, a thief and a vengeful skeleton, and in The Hills of the Dead, a graphic tale of voodoo and vampirism. A Lovecraftian atmosphere permeates The Black Stone, The Thing on the Roof and The Hoofed Thing, all powerful tales revolving around blaspheme cults, evil gods and alien creatures bringing death and terror into our world. Examples of Wild West horror are The Valley of the Lost, where ancient powers sleeping in a deserted cave return to reveal the forbidden secrets of the universe, The Horror from the Mound, a vampire story set in a desolate piece of land in west Texas, the vivid The Man on the Ground, depicting the final duel between two men fighting their perpetual feud, and Old Garfield’s Heart featuring a man who lives longer than a person should. The book includes some quite enjoyable pieces of historical horror set in pagan times in Worms of the Earth and The Cairn on the Headland, as well as private, modern horrors in The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux, the breathtaking account of a violent boxing match decided by the intervention of a ghostly fighter, The Dweller in Dark Valley, where the personal hate between two twin brothers blends nicely with cosmic evil lurking in the depth of the Earth, and The Haunter of the Ring, a pulp fiction piece in which a woman tries to kill her husband under the influence of an evil spirit summoned by a former lover. Naturally, the thrilling Black Canaan, a terrifying voodoo tale, as is included Howard’s masterpiece, Pigeons from Hell, an unforgettable piece disclosing the terrible, unholy secrets hidden in a mansion in the South and providing an exciting mix of voodoo, vengeance and killing.

With all of the problematic language and subjects aside, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard is an entertaining read that takes one back to the heady days of pulp fiction where writers wrote what they damn well pleased and entertained the masses with their tales of derring-do, darkness and sheer bloody violence. Those were the days.