Howard Days 2018: A Trip Report by Todd B. Vick

This year was my seventh straight year to attend Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas. Every year I meet new people and learn new things, and that alone keeps me wanting to come back the next year. But in addition to meeting new people and learning new things, there is so much else going on, trying to take it all in can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. This year’s theme was celebrating REH Fans and the keynote speaker was, Bill “Indy” Cavalier, long time Howard fan and OE (Official Editor) of The Robert E. Howard United Press Association (REHupa). Moreover, most of the panels this year were geared to the fandom of Robert E. Howard. Every year I can summarize the event itself usually in one word. This year that word is fellowship.

It may have simply been the group I spent the most time with this year, but there were a lot of people who knew one another via the internet but had never met before in person. So "meeting" for the "first time," so to speak was a prominent feeling and activity. That was the case for me with several online friends who also attended the event this year. David J. West, author and guest writer here at On An Underwood No. 5, whom I have known online for many years, attended this year’s event for the first time. We had previously discussed him possibly attending previous Howard Days, and I had explained that I could pick him up from the airport and we could always drive to the event together. This year he took me up on that offer, and I’m glad he did. Getting to meet David J. West and hang out with him this year was a highlight for me. Moreover, when we arrived in Cross Plains, West was looking for others whom he had met online but had not met in person, so we eventually crossed paths with author Keith West (a regular attender to Howard Days), Jason M. Waltz (Rogue Blades Entertainment), and eventually we connected with author Ty Johntson. I was also able to reconnect with other regular Howard Days attendees (e.g. Bobby Derie, Scott Cupp, Scott Valeri, Russell Andrew, and many others). I was also able to finally meet Rob King (and his wife) who has helped me a little in my current research.

Hot (and a little bothered) Off The Press by Gary Romeo

A Critique of Patrice Louinet’s The Robert E. Howard Guide

Robert E. Howard Days 2018 saw the release of Patrice Louinet’s The Robert E. Howard Guide (Skelos Press, 2018).  It is in the tradition of Robert Weinberg’s The Annotated Guide to Robert E. Howard’s Sword & Sorcery (Starmont House, 1976) and Marc Cerasini and Charles E. Hoffman’s Robert E. Howard Starmont Reader’s Guide (Starmont House, 1987).  Patrice’s book is less weighty than either of these books in that it gives only brief commentary on the stories mentioned.

Most entertaining for me were the summaries of fifty great REH stories.  Patrice revisits the twenty best in Chapter 3, followed by thirty more in Chapters Four and Five.  It is always fun to remember why you love REH in the first place and the comments on these stories really do reemphasize why REH is a writer worthy of respect and study.

There is little new here for older REH fans but there may be things for older and newer REH fans to digest and argue about.  Especially Chapter One where Patrice discusses common misconceptions about Howard. 

Chamber of Darkness #4

The first myth brought to task is that Howard was convinced Conan had really existed.  Patrice rightly destroys this notion mostly originating from John Milius.  It has always been my opinion that Milius may have read Chamber of Darkness #4 (Marvel Comics, 1970).  This issue contains a very good story by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith entitled “The Sword and the Sorcerers.”  The story features a sword & sorcery author named Len Carson.  Len is having nightmares about his Starr the Slayer character and decides to kill him off.  Starr materializes from the ether and kills off Len before Len can kill him in his story.  This is a great tale about a sword and sorcery author and is easily morphed into it being about Robert E. Howard if you are so inclined.

Updates and New Projects by Todd Vick

Hello, Readers!

Sorry for my absence. It has been a few months since anything has been posted here at On An Underwood No. 5. Even so, there are several things to announce and a few new projects on the horizon for those of you interested in Weird Tales, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, etc.

First, I've been feverishly researching and writing an upcoming biography about Robert E. Howard. I submitted a proposal for the biography to the University of Texas Press and met with the senior editor of UT Press last May in Austin, Texas. He told me they were interested in seeing two chapters from the work, so I was given the thumbs up to move forward. There's a whole story about how all this unfolded, something I'll save for an upcoming article here. Anyway, this project has had me traveling to various places all over the state of Texas. Because of this, a new idea for a series here at On An Underwood No. 5 about those research/biography trips has developed and hopefully the first in that series will be posted here relatively soon. A number of fun adventures have been had on these research trips, new places discovered, and lots of Texas history learned. So be expecting this series.

Second, the new Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies is soon to be released. According to Mark Hall on the Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies' Facebook page:

Vol. 8, No. 2 is finishing up in layout and then off for proofing, so it should be available for purchase in a few weeks. Contents for this 70+ pages of Howard goodness is as follows: Gunter's Local Color and Its Underlying Meaning in Robert E. Howard’s Weird Western, Southern Gothic Horror and Detective Stories. Vick's The Mistaken Identity of a Barbarian: Conan, Hero or Anti-Hero? and a review by Jason Carney on a recent Karl Edward Wagner collection.

I'll certainly announce its release when that occurs, so be watching for that.

Third, if you have not already bought or subscribed to the recent Skelos: The Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy, then I highly recommend it. It has a nice mix of new weird fiction, non-fiction essays, poetry, and books reviews. If you are interested, you can subscribe or buy individual copies at the Skelos Press website.

Fourth, have you tried to track down copies of the two volume set titled, A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, only to discover it costs hundreds of dollars? Good News! Hippocampus Press will soon republish the set and you can now pre-order it at their website.

Fifth, if you are not a member yet of the Robert E. Howard Foundation, then you can become one for free or pay for a membership (which is now tax deductible and greatly helps the Foundation with funds to publish books, etc.) at their website.

Sixth, Howard Days in Cross Plains,. Texas is just a little over 4 months away. If you are wanting information about attending this year's event you get info here and here.

That's all for now. I'll also be attempting to get new guest writers and articles here for 2017. And remember, be looking for upcoming posts about my biography/research trips. Have a great 2017! Cheers!