Howard, Robert E
Entry updated 12 June 2023. Tagged: Author.

(1906-1936) US author, along with H P Lovecraft the central fashioner of generic American fantastic fiction before 1940, excluding sf: in Howard's case, Sword and Sorcery, and in Lovecraft's case supernatural horror as such (but also Horror in SF). Howard's few contributions to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos do not bring out the sf elements, and he did not himself write any full-scale sf – although Almuric (May-August 1939 Weird Tales; 1964) is a Planetary Romance in the manner of Edgar Rice Burroughs – but his association with Lovecraft and Weird Tales (where almost all his significant work first appeared) helped spur the sf community's interest in his extravagant Sword-and-Sorcery stories, initially through the publication by Arkham House of a full and well-edited selection from his Weird Tales work, Skull-Face and Others (coll 1946; vt in 3vols: Skull-Face and Others 1976 UK, The Valley of the Worms, and Others 1976 UK and The Shadow Kingdom 1976). From this point on, Howard was increasingly recognized as the real parent and inspiration of the sword-and-sorcery (or Heroic Fantasy) genre (although earlier writers have been retrospectively recruited to it by historians), which existed as an enclave of the sf marketplace until fantasy became a marketing category in the late 1960s, after which his work enjoyed a spectacular posthumous boom. This phenomenal posthumous elevation of his name, and proliferation of various editions of his works (and of sometimes excessively feeble reworkings of unpublished draft material into commercial fiction), is an important part of the history of American Fantasy [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], but not of the history of American sf, and is not dealt with here. The Checklist below is very highly selected.
Howard's first professionally published story was "Spear and Fang" for Weird Tales in July 1925, and he quickly became an amazingly prolific writer of vigorous adventure fiction in several pulp genres, including the Western, most but not all nonfantastic – several of these being assembled in The Black Stranger and Other Tales (coll 2005) – and the Solomon Kane tales of adventure. One of the latter, Red Shadows (August 1928 Weird Tales; 2010 chap), is a lurid example of the Apes as Human story. Very soon he began to specialize – lovingly, and with huge energy – in adventure tales featuring primordial Heroes, including Kull and Bran Mak Morn, both of whom now seem in hindsight to have been dress rehearsals for his most celebrated creation, Conan the Barbarian. Each one of these characters is a physically domineering figure (though Bran Mak Morn is comparatively slender); each of them, at one point or another, rules a kingdom or two. Kull's domains are the earliest, and his claim to eminence rests in part on a connection to the Matter of Atlantis; Bran Mak Morn is (in Howard's peculiar understanding of the term) a Celtic ruler, and his main foes are the perfidious Romans; Conan comes chronologically between the two, and is by far the most widely travelled of them all, so that his traversal of the lands of the Hyborian Age he dominates (including the Aquilonia he comes to rule) has sometimes the nature of a tour of a quasi-orientalized array of Lands of Fable [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below]. The Lost World atmosphere of these tales is never, in the case of the three pre-eminent heroes, made literal: they visit one another, by supernatural means; but they are not themselves, nor are their kingdoms, ever discovered by visitors from a time to come. Heroes in the Wind: From Kull to Conan: The Best of Robert E Howard (anth 2009) edited by John Clute focuses on these three central figures.
All the Conan stories were published in Weird Tales, seventeen of them between 1932 and 1936; four more were published posthumously. The subsequent exfoliation of the sequence (and its padding by L Sprague de Camp, Björn Nyberg and Lin Carter with tales extruded from Howard drafts and notes) is not a matter of direct concern for this encyclopedia [but see Checklist for early volumes from Gnome Press 1950-1955]. The only early title of interest here is probably Conan the Conqueror (December 1935-April 1936 Weird Tales as "The Hour of the Dragon"; 1950; vt The Hour of the Dragon 1977), the only novel in the sequence, and more redolent of the Lost World tale than some shorter works, though a novella like Red Nails (July-October 1936 Weird Tales; 1975) comes very close to that idiom with its savage depiction of the Arrested Development of warring cultures trapped in a vast edificial City over a huge span of years. Using the original magazine texts, Donald M Grant issued handsome illustrated editions of many of the Conan stories including The People of the Black Circle (1974), A Witch Shall Be Born (1975), The Tower of the Elephant (coll 1975), Red Nails (1975), Rogues in the House (coll 1976), The Devil in Iron (coll 1976), Queen of the Black Coast (coll 1978), The Pool of the Black One (coll 1986) and The Hour of the Dragon (1989). A useful recent assemblage of Howard's own Conan tales in their original versions (as established in the twenty-first century by the Robert E Howard Foundation) is The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition (coll 2007) edited by Stephen Jones (1953- ). Most other Conan titles are unreliable for those who wish only to read what Howard wrote.
Howard wrote at high speed and his early work is unsophisticated, but the vigor and skill of his tales increased markedly over the short span of his career. There is no question that a sometimes querulous fatalism shadows the kinetic exhilaration of much of his oeuvre; a fact which feeds necessarily into the drama of his final years – a bioflick, The Whole Wide World (1996), sensitively depicts this period. It is certain that Howard had contemplated Suicide for some time; and the news of his mother's imminent death – by relieving him of financial responsibility for her – provided him with the occasion. His suicide at the age of thirty brought to a premature end what had already been an extraordinarily productive career. [JC/MJE/BS]
see also: Fanzine; Gods and Demons; Magic; Publishing; Sex; Small Presses and Limited Editions.
Robert Ervin Howard
born Peaster, Texas: 22 January 1906
died Cross Plains, Texas: 11 June 1936
works (selected)
series
Conan
- Conan the Conqueror: The Hyborean Age (New York: Gnome Press, 1950) [first appeared December 1935 Weird Tales as "The Hour of the Dragon": Conan: hb/John Forte and David Kyle]
- Conan the Conqueror (New York: Lancer Books, 1967) [rev of the above as edited by L Sprague de Camp: Conan: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Conan: The Hour of the Dragon (New York: Berkley Books, 1977) [vt of the above: with 1967 revisions by L Sprague de Camp excised: Conan: pb/Ken W Kelly]
- The Hour of the Dragon (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1989) [vt of the above: Conan: hb/Ezra Tucker]
- The Sword of Conan (New York: Gnome Press, 1952) [coll: Conan: hb/David Kyle]
- King Conan: The Hyborean Age (New York: Gnome Press, 1953) [coll: Conan: hb/David Kyle]
- The Coming of Conan (New York: Gnome Press, 1953) [coll: Conan: hb/Kelly Freas]
- Conan the Barbarian (New York: Gnome Press, 1955) [coll: Conan: hb/Ed Emshwiller]
- The People of the Black Circle (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1974) [coll: Conan: hb/David Ireland]
- A Witch Shall Be Born (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1975) [first appeared December 1934 Weird Tales: Conan: hb/Alicia Austin]
- The Tower of the Elephant (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1975) [coll: Conan: hb/Richard Robertson]
- Red Nails (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1975) [first appeared July 1936 Weird Tales: Conan: hb/George Barr]
- Rogues in the House (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1976) [coll: chap: Conan: hb/Marcus Boas]
- The Devil in Iron (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1976) [coll: Conan: hb/Dan Green]
- Queen of the Black Coast (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1978) [coll: Conan: hb/Michael R Hague]
- "... and their memory was a bitter tree ...": Queen of the Black Coast and Others (Silver Spring, Maryland: BlackBart, 2008) [coll: exp of the above: edited by Tim Underwood: illus/Brom and Frank Frazetta: hb/Brom]
- The Pool of the Black One (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1986) [coll: Conan: hb/Hank Jankus]
- The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition (London: Gollancz, 2007) [coll: edited by Stephen Jones (1953- ): Conan: hb/nonpictorial]
Complete Conan
- Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (London: Wandering Star, 2002) [coll: Complete Conan: illus/Gary Gianni: hb/Mark Schultz]
- Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Two (1934) (London: Wandering Star, 2003) [coll: Complete Conan: illus/hb/Gary Gianni]
- Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935) (London: Book Palace/Wandering Star, 2009) [coll: Complete Conan: illus/hb/Gregory Manchess]
Weird Works of Robert E Howard
This series reprints all Howard's contributions to Weird Tales, plus some items from other magazines, in their original magazine texts.
- Shadow Kingdom (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2004) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Moon of Skulls (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2005) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- People of the Dark (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2005) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Wings in the Night (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2005) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Valley of the Worm (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2006) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Gardens of Fear (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2006) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Beyond the Black River (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2007) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Hours of the Dragon (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2007) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Black Hounds of Death (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2008) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
- A Thunder of Trumpets (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2010) [Weird Works of Robert E Howard: hb/Stephen Fabian]
collections and stories
- Skull-Face and Others (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1946) [coll: hb/Hannes Bok]
- Skull-Face Omnibus (London: Neville Spearman, 1975) [vt of the above: hb/Reg Boorer]
- Skull-Face and Others (London: Panther, 1976) [coll: rev vt: comprising the first third of the above: pb/Chris Achilleos]
- The Valley of the Worms, and Others (London: Panther, 1976) [coll: rev vt: comprising the second third of the above: pb/Chris Achilleos]
- The Shadow Kingdom (London: Panther, 1976) [coll: rev vt: comprising the last third of the above: pb/Chris Achilleos]
- The Challenge from Beyond (Washington, District of Columbia: Pennsylvania Dutch Cheese Press/A Weltschmerz Production, 1954) with Frank Belknap Long, H P Lovecraft, A Merritt and C L Moore [chap: Round-Robin story: first September 1935 Fantasy Magazine: pb/]
- The Illustrated Challenge from Beyond (West Warwick, Rhode Island: Necronomicon Press, 1978) with Frank Belknap Long, H P Lovecraft, A Merritt and C L Moore [chap: vt of the above: Round-Robin story: illus/pb/David Ireland]
- Always Comes Evening: The Collected Poems of Robert E Howard (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1957) [poetry: coll: hb/Frank Utpatel]
- Always Comes Evening (San Francisco, California, and Columbia, Pennsylvania: Underwood-Miller, 1977) [poetry: coll: rev of the above: one poem and new introduction added: hb/Keiko Nelson]
- The Dark Man and Others (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1963) [coll: hb/Frank Utpatel]
- Red Shadows (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant Publisher, 1968) [hb/Jeff Jones]
- The Sowers of the Thunder (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, Publisher, 1973) [coll: Oriental tales: illus/hb/Roy G Krenkel]
- The Book of Robert E. Howard (New York: Zebra Books, 1976) [coll: edited by Glenn Lord: pb/Jeff Jones]
- The Second Book of Robert E. Howard (New York: Zebra Books, 1976) [coll: edited by Glenn Lord: pb/Jeff Jones]
- Bran Mak Morn: A Play, and Others (Bloomfield, New Jersey: Cryptic Publications, 1983) [coll: chap: title story written 1922/23: Bran Mak Morn: pb/Stephen Fabian]
- Shadows of Dreams: Poetry of Robert E Howard (Hampton Falls, New Hampshire: Donald M Grant, 1989) [poetry: coll: chap: hb/Rick Berry]
- Bran Mak Morn: The Last King (London: Wandering Star, 2001) [coll: Bran Mak Morn: hb/Gary Gianni]
- The Black Stranger and Other Tales (University of Nebraska Press, 2005) [coll: title story is Conan: pb/]
- Kull: Exile of Atlantis (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2006) [coll: Kull: pb/Justin Sweet]
- The Best of Robert E Howard, Volume 1: Crimson Shadows (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2007) [coll: pb/Jim and Ruth Keegan]
- The Best of Robert E Howard, Volume 2: Grim Lands (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2007) [coll: pb/Jim and Ruth Keegan]
- Heroes in the Wind: From Kull to Conan: The Best of Robert E Howard (London: Penguin Books, 2009) [coll: edited by John Clute: pb/Image Source/Jupiter Images]
- Red Shadows (Los Angeles, California: Paradox Entertainment, 2010) [novelette: chap: first appeared August 1928 Weird Tales: pb/nonpictorial]
about the author
- L Sprague de Camp. "The Miscast Barbarian: Robert E. Howard" in Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1976) [nonfiction: coll: hb/Tim Kirk]
- Glenn Lord. The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M Grant, 1976) [nonfiction: by the agent of Howard's estate: hb/Marcus Boas]
- Robert E Weinberg. The Annotated Guide to Robert E. Howard's Sword & Sorcery (West Linn, Oregon: Starmont House, 1976) [nonfiction: pb/"Marion Boas", a possible misprint for Marcus Boas]
- Wayne Warfield, editor. The Ultimate Guide to Howardia 1925-1975 (Aberdeen, Maryland: Hall Publications, 1976) [bibliography: chap: pb/Gene Day]
- L Sprague de Camp. Dark Valley Destiny: The Life of Robert E. Howard (New York: Bluejay Books, 1983) with Catherine Crook de Camp and Jane Whittington Griffin [nonfiction: remotely based on The Miscast Barbarian above: hb/Kevin Eugene Johnson]
- Don Herron, editor. The Dark Barbarian: The Writings of Robert E. Howard: A Critical Anthology (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984) [nonfiction: anth: hb/]
- Mark Finn. Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E Howard (Austin, Texas: MonkeyBrain Books, 2006) [nonfiction: hb/]
- Mark Finn. Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E Howard (no place given: lulu.com, 2006) [nonfiction: exp rev of the above: pb/]
- Darrell Schweitzer, editor. The Robert E Howard Reader (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2010) [nonfiction: anth: Reader: pb/]
- Fred Blosser. The Annotated Guide to Robert E. Howard's Weird Fantasy (no place given: Pulp Hero Press, 2020) [nonfiction: pb/]
links
- The Official Robert E Howard Website
- The Works of Robert E Howard
- The Robert E Howard Foundation
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Robert E Howard
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry