Robert Ervin Howard

«Aplicado estudiante de las antigüedades célticas y otras etapas de la historia antigua, Howard inició en 1929, con El reino de las sombras la sucesión de relatos de mundo prehistórico por la que pronto adquiriría tanta fama. Los primeros ejemplos describían una época muy remota en la vida del hombre, cuando Atlantis, Lemuria y Mu se alzaban sobre las aguas, y cuando las sombras de hombres reptiles prehumanos se proyectaban sobre el escenario primigenio. La elaborada amplitud y la precisa coherencia con la que Howard desarrolló este mundo en historias posteriores son bien conocidas de todos los lectores de fantasía», escribió H.P. Lovecraft de su discípulo y amigo Robert E. Howard. El valle del gusano y otros relatos de horror sobrenatural reúne diez historias (ya publicadas en el volumen Los gusanos de la tierra y otros relatos, en la colección Gótica) representativas de los diversos mundos por los que transitaron los héroes de Howard. Se incluyen relatos como Los dioses de Bal-Sagoth y El hombre oscuro que pertenecen al ciclo del guerrero irlandés Turlogh “Dubh” O’Brien; El pueblo de la oscuridad, sobre los antiguos celtas, precursora de la serie de Conan; La voz de El-Lil, una historia de fantasía clásica; El valle del gusano, de la serie de James Allison y sus vidas pasadas; o Las palomas del infierno, una de las mejores historias de horror del siglo XX, según Stephen King.

Y otros relatos de horror sobrenatural

El Valle del Gusano

The first thing that happened in Cape Town, my white bulldog Mike bit a policeman and I had to come across with a fine of ten dollars, to pay for the cop's britches. That left me busted, not more'n an hour after the Sea Girl docked.The next thing who should I come on to but Shifty Kerren, manager of Kid Delrano, and the crookedest leather-pilot which ever swiped the gate receipts. I favored this worthy with a hearty scowl, but he had the everlasting nerve to smile welcomingly and hold out the glad hand."Well, well! If it ain't Steve Costigan! Howdy, Steve!" said the infamous hypocrite. "Glad to see you. Boy, you're lookin' fine! Got good old Mike with you, I see. Nice dawg."He leaned over to pat him."Grrrrrr!" said good old Mike, fixing for to chaw his hand. I pushed Mike away with my foot and said to Shifty, I said: "A big nerve you got, tryin' to fraternize with me, after the way you squawked and whooped the last time I seen you, and called me a dub and all.""Now, now, Steve!" said Shifty. "Don't be foolish and go holdin' no grudge. It's all in the way of business, you know. I allus did like you, Steve.""Gaaahh!" I responded ungraciously. I didn't have no wish to hobnob none with him, though I figgered I was safe enough, being as I was broke anyway.I've fought that palooka of his twice. The first time he outpointed me in a ten-round bout in Seattle, but didn't hurt me none, him being a classy boxer but kinda shy on the punch.

The TNT Punch

Robert E. Howard's World of Heroes

"The Hyborian Age" is an essay by Robert E. Howard pertaining to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of his stories about Conan the Cimmerian. The essay sets out in detail the major events of Howard's pseudohistorical prehistory, both period before and after the time of the Conan stories. In describing the cataclysmic end of the Thurian Age, the period described in his Kull stories, Howard links both sequences of stories into one shared universe. The names he gives his various nations and peoples of the age borrow liberally from actual history and myth. The essay also sets out the racial and geographical heritage of these fictional entities, making them progenitors of modern nations. For example, Howard makes the Gaels descendants of his own Cimmerians.

The Hyborian Age

The desert shimmered in the heat waves. Conan the Cimmerian stared out over the aching desolation and involuntarily drew the back of his powerful hand over his blackened lips. He stood like a bronze image in the sand, apparently impervious to the murderous sun, though his only garment was a silk loin-cloth, girdled by a wide gold-buckled belt from which hung a saber and a broad-bladed poniard. On his clean-cut limbs were evidences of scarcely healed wounds.At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blond head drooped. Her white skin contrasted with his hard bronzed limbs; her short silken tunic, lownecked and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, emphasized rather than concealed her lithe figure.Conan shook his head, blinking. The sun's glare half blinded him. He lifted a small canteen from his belt and shook it, scowling at the faint splashing within.The girl moved wearily, whimpering."Oh, Conan, we shall die here! I am so thirsty!"The Cimmerian growled wordlessly, glaring truculently at the surrounding waste, with outthrust jaw, and blue eyes smoldering savagely from under his black tousled mane, as if the desert were a tangible enemy.

Revised Edition

The Slithering Shadow

Robert ErvIn Howard (January 22, 1906 - June 11, 1936) was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing

The Slithering Shadow Illustrated

This novel features Conan the Cimmerian (the Barbarian) in another rip-roaring adventure. We find him in the desert, scorched by the sun and with a young woman half dying of thirst at his feet. He gives her his water bottle which is almost empty and she, having drunk it all, begs his forgiveness.

"The Slithering Shadow" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the September 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

The Slithering Shadow Annotated

The desert shimmered in the heat waves. Conan the Cimmerian stared out over the aching desolation and involuntarily drew the back of his powerful hand over his blackened lips. He stood like a bronze image in the sand, apparently impervious to the murderous sun, though his only garment was a silk loin-cloth, girdled by a wide gold-buckled belt from which hung a saber and a broad-bladed poniard. On his clean-cut limbs were evidences of scarcely healed wounds.At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blond head drooped. Her white skin contrasted with his hard bronzed limbs; her short silken tunic, lownecked and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, emphasized rather than concealed her lithe figure.

Original

The Slithering Shadow" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the September 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. "The Slithering Shadow" is the original title, but the story is also known as "Xuthal of the Dusk" in further publications. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan finding a lost city in a remote desert and encountering therein a Lovecraftian-esque demon known as Thog.

The Slithering Shadow (also known as Xuthal of the Dusk) is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the Weird Tales magazine. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan finding a lost city in a remote desert and encountering therein a Lovecraftian-esque demon known as Thog.

Singers in the Shadows

Boxer Steve Costigan drearily waking in Yu Shantu's Temple of Dreams, a hashish den in the city of London, England. He has been re-occurring dreams of something he calls "Skull Face", and is puzzled about their meanings. He is broke, and in need of more hashish, the drug he is addicted to. When confronted by the doorman, Hassim, Costigan informs him of his lack of funds. Hassim promptly throws him out through the front door to the den. Bruised and bleeding, Costigan is helped to his feet by a young woman, Zulieka.

Face

Skull

A Witch Shall Be Born is one of the original sword and sorcery novellas by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in only a few days in spring of 1934 and first published in Weird Tales in December 1934. A book edition was published in 1975 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher with illustrations by Alicia Austin.The story concerns a witch replacing her twin sister as queen of a city state, which brings her into conflict with Conan who had been the captain of the queen's guard. Themes of paranoia, and the duality of the twin sisters, are paramount in this story but it also includes elements of the conflict between barbarism and civilization that is common to the entire Conan series. The novella as a whole is considered an average example of the series, but one scene stands out. Conan's crucifixion early on in the story during the second chapter ("The Tree of Death") is considered one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series. A variation of this scene was included in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A Witch Shall Be Born(Conan the Barbarian #10) Illustrated

Queen Taramis of Khauran awakens one day to find an identical twin sister, Salome, staring her in the face. As an infant, Salome was deemed a witch due to a crescent birthmark on her chest. This birthmark was believed to be a sign of evil, so she was left in the desert to die. However, a magician from Khitai (China) found her, brought her up, and instructed her in the arts of sorcery.

A Witch Shall Be Born

This adventure fantasy story features Conan the Barbarian, created by Howard. In this adventure, he captures the heart of a young woman, brought up in a highly civilized society. It is the battle between civilization and barbarianism.

Shadows in the Moonlight

Skulls in the Stars, the Footfalls Within, the Moon of Skulls, the Hills of the Dead, Wings in the Night, Rattle of Bo

The Solomon Kane Omnibus

With Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard created more than the greatest action hero of the twentieth century--he also launched a genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery. But Conan wasn't the first archetypal adventurer to spring from Howard's fertile imagination. ""He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect--he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane." "Collected in this volume, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, are all of the stories and poems that make up the thrilling saga of the dour and deadly Puritan, Solomon Kane. Together they constitute a sprawling epic of weird fantasy adventure that stretches from sixteenth-century England to remote African jungles where no white man has set foot. Here are shudder-inducing tales of vengeful ghosts and bloodthirsty demons, of dark sorceries wielded by evil men and women, all opposed by a grim avenger armed with a fanatic's faith and a warrior's savage heart. "This edition also features exclusive story fragments, a biography of Howard by scholar Rusty Burke, and "In Memoriam," H. P. Lovecraft's moving tribute to his friend and fellow literary genius. "

Robert Ervin Howard

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