Although Robert E. Howard had previously worked out the conventions of sword and sorcery in his earlier Solomon Kane and Kull tales, the publication of “The Phoenix on the Sword” marks an important event in the history of the genre: Conan, the most famous sword and sorcery barbarian, had arrived.
Read MoreThis week: New Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories, the Conan Netflix series, Lovecraft, Poe, Frazetta, and the latest goings-on in sword-and-sorcery.
Read MoreN.C. Wyeth created a body of work that has influenced American Illustration up to the present day. If you love the art of Frank Frazetta or Brom, thank Wyeth.
Read MoreIt appears again and again in horror fiction: The lost journal detailing the events of the story. While there are plenty of good horror stories that are written in third person, many of the best are written in the first person. More interesting is when such novels use multiple forms of media with multiple narrators to tell the story. The media might be journal entries, letters, or even newspaper reports. I will look at three examples: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” and Jean Ray’s Malpertuis.
Read MoreOn November 2nd DMR Books will bring Manly Wade Wellman’s final novel Cahena back into print for the first time since 1986. Rich in historical detail and dramatic action, this is a story to rival the great war epics of all time.
Read MoreThis week: Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Gary Gygax on Jack Vance, Weird Tales, Planet Stories, Dune, and more.
Read MoreShadow of the Wolf is a book that I first read back in 2013. I decided to re-read it and refresh my memory. It was even better than I remembered it to be. Anyone looking for violent, bloody and sex-filled historical S&S will not be disappointed.
Read MoreThere are surprising parallels between Merritt’s The Metal Monster and Robert E. Howard’s tale of Kull, “The Striking of the Gong”.
Read MoreThis week: Solomon Kane, Corum, shoggoths, Choose Your Own Adventure, Henry Kuttner, viking metal, and more.
Read MoreFrank Herbert’s Dune contains numerous layers of reference, resonance and meaning. Some of those resonances have a distinctly Howardian feel.
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