Before he invented the Hyborian Age and Conan the Barbarian, Robert E. Howard populated the arid plains of his native Texas and the fetid swamps of nearly Lousiana with cultists, demons, dark gods, and unspeakable things from the dawn of time and from fever-haunted realms of lunacy.
In this book, the second in the "Informal Guide to Robert E. Howard" series, Howard scholar Fred Blosser analyzes each of REH's regional stories, unpacking their plots, their themes, and their unexpected linkages to Howard's other works.
Despite its quality, Howard's regional fiction is relatively unknown today. Instead of lusty barbarians, the heroes in these tales are two-fisted rural everymen caught up in infernal schemes beyond their ken. With six-shooter in place of sword, they meet toe-to-toe the depraved horrors and gibbering monstrosities that gather in remote cabins, dismal plantations, and small, secret-ridden towns.
With Blosser as your guide, you'll shake loose from Conan and experience an important but often overlooked facet of Robert E. Howard's storytelling genius.
The book includes a selected reading list and a lengthy discussion of Roy Thomas' adaptation of REH's better regional fiction into sword-and-sorcery tales for Marvel's Conan the Barbarian comic book.
