Product Description

Here are Howard’s greatest horror tales, all in their original, definitive versions. Some of Howard’s best-known characters–Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and sailor Steve Costigan among them–roam the forbidding locales of the author’s fevered imagination, from the swamps and bayous of the Deep South to the fiend-haunted woods outside Paris to remote jungles in Africa.

The collection includes Howard’s masterpiece “Pigeons from Hell,” which Stephen King calls “one of the finest horror stories of [the twentieth] century,” a tale of two travelers who stumble upon the ruins of a Southern plantation–and into the maw of its fatal secret. In “Black Canaan” even the best warrior has little chance of taking down the evil voodoo man with unholy powers–and none at all against his wily mistress, the diabolical High Priestess of Damballah. In these and other lavishly illustrated classics, such as the revenge nightmare “Worms of the Earth” and “The Cairn on the Headland,” Howard spins tales of unrelenting terror, the legacy of one of the world’s great masters of the macabre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26090 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-28
• Released on: 2008-10-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345490209
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
The latest book in Del Rey’s program to collect the works of Conan the Destroyer’s creator includes more and better horror stories than even Howard’s staunchest fans may have previously believed existed. Here are more tales of Howard’s arguably finest creation, Solomon Kane, and more classic tales of nightmarish things lurking just around the corner on the way to school as well as jumping out at far-flung travelers even in such places as a somewhat pulpish Africa, where they would be expectable. Howard’s vivid depiction of lurking nightmare recalls his contemporary H. P. Lovecraft, and his equally fine use of regional settings makes one think of early Manly Wade Wellman. One cannot do more than sample this volume without deeply regretting Howard’s short career, nor that Conan of Cimmeria so completely and for so long overshadowed the rest of his creations. Add Greg Staples’ grim-toned illustrations, and the resulting volume is a desirable acquisition for any fantasy collection. --Roland Green

Review
“For stark, living fear . . . what other writer is even in the running?”
–H. P. Lovecraft

“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”
–Robert Bloch

“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style–broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”
–David Gemmell

“Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”
–Stephen King


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review
“For stark, living fear . . . what other writer is even in the running?”
–H. P. Lovecraft

“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”
–Robert Bloch

“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style–broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”
–David Gemmell

“Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”
–Stephen King

Customer Reviews

A last! A big book of REH horror!
Here, at last, is a hefty trade edition containing the bulk of Robert E. Howard's horror stories. Best known as an author of heroic fantasy, Howard was also a most able practitioner in the horror genre. The stories assembled here have heretofore been scattered about in a number of mass market paperbacks over the last forty years--two or three stories here, a half dozen or so there. It is indeed a blessing to get them all between two covers in a quality edition. Here is a volume that belongs in the core collection of every serious horror enthusiast.

Howard's horror stories fall roughly into several categories based on theme and setting. There are those with a regional southwestern setting ("The Horror from the Mound," "Old Garfield's Heart") as well as others set in the haunted piney woods region of the deep South ("Pigeons from Hell," "Black Canaan"). Memorable stories with a Celtic backdrop include "The Cairn on the Headland" and "Dermod's Bane." We also find tales of the horrid "little people" that abound in Celtic lore. Stories utilizing Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos include the memorable "The Black Stone" and adventures of occult researchers Conrad and Kirowan. Sometimes these categories overlap: "The Valley of the Lost" is a little people story with a US southwestern setting, for example.

Howard enthusiasts will debate, as we are wont to do, some of the inclusions and omissions to this volume. "Worms of the Earth" has already appeared in TWO other Del Rey Howard volumes. But then it is arguably Howard's finest story, and I dare say as good as any story written. It deserves to be as well known as "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Dunwich Horror." I wish I could get as excited over "Rattle of Bones," however.

STORIES I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SEEN INCLUDED: "The Hyena" was the first horror story Howard sold to Weird Tales (the first horror story he sold anywhere, for that matter). It forshadows the controversial "Black Canaan" in the sense that supernatural horrors reflect racial and sexual tensions. "The Moon of Zembabwei" and "Black Hound of Death" are two good "piney woods" stories that were left out, but the "piney woods" story is still well represented here. "Black Wind Blowing" was one of Howard's contributions to the "weird menace" or "shudder" pulps; the plot is outlandish, but the atmosphere of horror and impending doom is impressive. "The People of the Black Coast" is Howard's most Lovecraftian tale in some respects. Note that I said "Lovecraftian", NOT "Cthuloid." There's no Von Juntz, no Nameless Cults, none of the Mythos trappings, just a stark depiction of hapless humans as the prey of utterly alien but superior beings. "The People of the Black Coast is as much science fiction as horror, but then so is Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness."

I thought the books illustrations were very nice, and as always Rusty Burke provides an informative introduction. In a world where contemporary horror is presently dominated by chicks' overheated erotic fantasies about their imaginary vampire boyfriends, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard is like a Godsend.

Scary
For the first time I'm aware of, a systematic effort has been made to collect the majority of R E Howard's work in the horror genre. Surprisingly given the sheer number of stories and poems here, the overall quality of the volume is quite high. Of course there are a few surprising omissions here. Skullface, Valley of the Worm, Cobra in the Dream, and Grisly Horror are unaccountably absent, as is Queen of the Black Coast, one of the more horrifying entries in the Conan series. I guess these were probably ommitted because the book is rather lengthy although as above noted, the quality of the stories is quite high. Standouts here are Wolfshead, Black Canaan, Hoofed Thing, Thing on the Roof, Hills of the Dead, and Pigeons from Hell. The poems tend to have even greater moody atmospherics than the stories--not surprising given Howard's brilliance as a poet. Even the artwork is superb. Here though I have a major quibble. There simply isn't enough of it. While the previous entries in the ongoing Del Rey series of Howard's work were laden with artwork, this has one illustration at the beginning of each story and in some a full-page plate. While the artwork is beautiful and magnificently captures the spirit of the stories, several key scenes are missing although what we are presented with is simply amazing. (Personally I would have liked to see the artist's representation of that savage beauty, the Bride of Damballah, from Black Canaan.) Nonetheless despite my wish for more in this current volume, the book is well done and shows a broad swath of Howard's ability as a horror writer. I hope more are to come in this remarkable series of books.

THE SCARIEST BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ!!!
This book is outstanding has more than 50 hair raising stories and 523 pages of pure terror! Robert E. Howard is best known for writing Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and other famous characters. I was elated to get this book as there are some stories I've never read before! The most chilling story that gave me nightmares is Pigeons From Hell. Read it late at night by candlelight and if you here someone whistling - it's too late! The Stranger on the Ground got to me, too. They're all excellent! Check out the REH Foundation & Forum.