The DMRtian Chronicles, 1/30/2022
This week: Elric, Conan, Clark Ashton Smith, Edmond Hamilton, ‘80s barbarian movies, and more.
Read MoreBeneath The Boiling Inrush of The Seas
In the late 19th century, the Lost Race/World novel had emerged as a major force with H. Rider Haggard’s She: A History of Adventure and its countless imitators. At the same time, there was a resurgence of speculation about the possible existence of Plato’s Atlantis. So perhaps it was inevitable that writers would decide to tell the story of the most famous lost civilization of all.
Read MoreBlack Sam Bellamy and the Witch of Wellfleet
Bellamy’s rise from treasure scavenger to pirate captain, capped by the capture of the Whydah Galley in 1717, and its destruction in a howling nor’easter in April of that year, enshrined Bellamy in legend and folklore. Among the folktales that surround Black Sam is the legend that he launched his pirate career for the love of Mary Hallet, who would herself go down in history as The Witch of Wellfleet.
Read MoreVampires, Skin-walkers and Lost Childhoods: The Widow’s Son by Ryan Williamson
The Widow’s Son starts with its protagonist, Zarahemla Two-Crows, Special Agent of the Federal Occult Research Bureau, escorting a psychopathic Skin-Walker prisoner to justice. We are in the Arizona Territory in the late 1870s and the (very) big taciturn special agent has his hands full. The “weird west” doesn’t get any weirder than this.
Read MoreWhen in Rome...
Their remarkable achievements notwithstanding, the Romans also did a lot of harm, physically, socially and politically. Conquered tribes and nations were absorbed into the Roman way of life. So you might ask, what has this got to do with Sword and Sorcery? I’m coming to that.
Read More2021: A Reading Retrospective
This past year has given everyone their fair share of trials and tribulations. It's a wonderful thing to find respite from our daily grind in a good book. In this past year I read about sixty books. In this post I wanted to share some of the books that made my year not only bearable but enjoyable.
Read MoreWho Was Clifford Ball?
Who was Clifford Ball? Serious readers of sword and sorcery fiction may think they already have the answer. It goes like this. Clifford Ball was a reader and fan of Weird Tales in its 1930s heyday. As an early successor to Howard, his work has attracted a bit of scholarly mention since the 1970s. But Ball was a fantasy writer for only a brief portion of his life. Who was he beyond that?
Read MoreThe DMRtian Chronicles, 1/23/2022
This week: Robert E. Howard, A. Merritt, Clark Ashton Smith, Elric, Northwest Smith, Captain Blood, weird menace stories, and more.
Read MoreRobert E. Howard: Tiers of Canonicity
When it comes to a study of Robert E. Howard and the texts he left behind, any serious scholar soon runs into contradictions. What might be found in an earlier draft or a fragment might be at some variance with what was actually published. So, which version 'counts'? This is where the "basis for judgment; standard; criterion" comes into play.
Read More"Black Wind Blowing": An REH Story from Depression-era Texas
"Black Wind Blowing" first appeared in Thrilling Mystery magazine, issue June 1936. It’s a reasonable assumption that it would be among the last of Robert E. Howard’s stories actually published in his lifetime.
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