A Book Review: The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales by Todd B. Vick

This review is a month or so late, but with looming deadlines for writing projects, more on the horizon, and working 70 hour weeks, it’s a wonder it got finished at all. Lauren Bucca at Rowan & Littlefield was kind enough to mail me a review copy of this book. I’m very glad she did. I’ve read about a dozen or more academic anthologies on the various writers of Weird Tales, with an emphasis on Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. While some have been hit and miss—meaning, some of the chapters in a volume have been very good, others not so much—this volume was faithfully strong throughout.

Edited by Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks (chair and co-chair of the pulp studies for the Popular Culture Association), this volume covers nearly every aspect of Weird Tales (the pulp fiction magazine) and some of its most popular writers from the early years. There are chapters devoted to the history of Weird Tales, literary reflections, and/or movements within its pages (e.g. weird modernism), collaborations of its writers, genres that stem from it (e.g. sword & sorcery), with special attention to H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, and other topics. While this review will not be a chapter by chapter review per se, I will attempt to cull and discuss what I thought were some of the more interesting chapters and briefly describe the others (which are also very interesting and well worth reading).

Jason Ray Carney begins the volume with a discussion about the tenuous history of Weird Tales magazine, its lower than imagined level of readership—peaking at around fifty-thousand readers at the height of its popularity. He also details just how frail the magazine’s financial state throughout its existence. This chapter brings to the forefront some surprising facts and nice information, laying the nice groundwork for the over-all volume. If you are new to Weird Tales, then by all means read this chapter.

Jonas Pridas’ chapter on modernism within the pages of Weird Tales is quite interesting. Declaring that modernist writers were published in pulp magazines, they have, none-the-less been largely ignored. He takes a birds-eye view of modernist literature (some weird and some not) inside and outside of the magazine Weird Tales. Pridas discusses trends in various Modernist frameworks of weird literature, including science, Darwinism, and devils.

Daniel Nyikos discusses Weird Tales writers within the Lovecraft Circle. This is a group that carries on regular correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft and each other, developing friendships with each other as they shared ideas, interests, and stories. Nyikos calls them a type of literary intelligentsia. This chapter was quite interesting since it details how these writers carried on with one another and their work.

Morgan T. Holmes’ chapter on the sword-and-sorcery in Weird Tales has, of course, a strong emphasis on Robert E. Howard and Conan the Cimmerian. However, Holmes also takes a look at Clark Ashton Smith and C.L. Moore’s contributions to the sword and sorcery sub-genre. Delving into the origins of sword and sorcery, Holmes demonstrates how the sub-genre develops and ultimate folds into current authors' works. He also has a section called ‘Sword-And-Sorcery Oddities’ that is intriguing, examining a few writers of note who perhaps made small but important contributions to Weird Tales and the sword and sorcery sub-genre.

Lately, scholars have been delving into issues of sex within the weird fiction genre. One such scholar is Bobby Derie, an H.P. Lovecraft aficionado. His chapter titled ‘Great Phallic Monoliths’ examines the use of sex, or the lack thereof, in Lovecraft’s stories. While some see this type of academia as fringe, even unnecessary, often times these kinds of studies uncover aspects about writers that help us understand why they used the source material they did and why they wrote some of the things they did. So, dismissing this type of critical research is not altogether wise. And, Derie is a leading scholar in this field. His chapter examines the sexual nature of Lovecraft and what various biographers and other HPL scholars have said about the topic, adding, of course, his own research to the issue.

Weird Tales, November 1932

The editors, Everett and Shanks each have excellent chapters well worth reading. Shanks delves into Robert E. Howard’s work titled 'Worms of the Earth'. Shanks takes a look at what Virginia Richter has called the “anthropological anxiety” of western culture in post-Darwin literature. Howard’s 'Worms of the Earth' makes use of anthropological themes and tropes in this story. Shanks points out that Howard’s use of “little people” function as a euhemeristic source for the legends of elves, dwarfs, and other fairylike creatures. And 'Worms' is not the first time Howard used such characters. Shanks provides a nice summation of Howard’s use of these kinds of characters, how they are used in 'Worms of the Earth' and the influences of these tropes from other authors Howard had read.

Everett’s chapter is titled ‘Eugenic Thought in the Works of Robert E. Howard.’ Eugenics is the school of thought ("science") that uncovers how races can be improved by careful breeding. Howard certainly read some of the more popular (and some relatively unknown) anthropologists of his day. Naturally, the ideas he learned from reading these scientists aided him in creating various characters in his stories; pigmy or ‘little people’ races in particular. Everett takes his readers through the history of eugenics, how Howard uses it in his stories and his correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft.

Briefly, other chapters cover how the Weird Tales writers collaborated via their correspondence, and the end results (Nicole Emmelhainz), Scott Connors, a Clark Ashton Smith scholar, has a wonderful chapter titled ‘Pegasus Unbridled.’ Connors discusses the harsh reality of the pulps being reduced to a kind of “ghettoization” and why, perhaps, that wrongfully occurred. Geoffrey Reiter discusses world building in the works of Clark Ashton Smith. Jonathan Helland delves into gender, women, Brundage, and C.L.  Moore, in the October 1934 Weird Tales issue. Lastly, Paul W. Shovlin has a chapter devoted psychological “madness” of Robert Bloch’s weird stories, and Sidney Sondergard discusses what he aptly sub-titles ‘Harold Lawlor’s Self-Effacing Pulp Fiction.’

Having already read about a dozen academic anthologies devoted to Lovecraft, Howard, and even Clark Ashton Smith, as well as other pulp writers and writers of weird tales, I can safely say this is one of the better collections. And even though it has a hefty price tag (even the eBook is a bit high), it is very much worth it if you are interested in delving into critical secondary works about some of the greatest popular (pulp) fiction writers of the early to mid-20th century. I highly recommend it!

Advocating the Need for Critical Research: Robert E. Howard in Academia by Todd B. Vick

When I first read Tower of the Elephant back in 1981[1], I never imagined that 34 years later I'd be reading that work again with a critical mind and, using it as resource material for an upcoming article about Conan the Cimmerian for the 2016 PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association) conference in Seattle, Washington. But over the last 34 years, that is exactly where Robert E. Howard’s stories have migrated—to critical academic studies. In too many ways, this trend has been slower than a snail traveling through peanut butter. Additionally, many Howard fans have resisted the transition of their favorite author being placed under the academic microscope; sometimes with ardent vituperation against such a thing.

But, studying Howard and his works is, perhaps, not the ruination many have claimed it might be. In fact, I’m fairly confident the opposite will occur. REH criticism and studies will only elevate Howard to 1) a larger and broader audience, and 2) to greater opportunities for more material being published about Howard and his works, thus making the man and his work more important. More important than what, you might ask? The hard and fast answer: more important than being merely delegated to a hack pulp fiction writer. Robert E. Howard is anything but a hack writer. Of course, not all of Howard’s material is actually worthy of academic consideration, but a lot of it is. Additionally, there is a long history of pulp (popular) writers who have transitioned from being called “hacks” to being studied: Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and many others.

Marquette University

When I entered Marquette University back in August of 2001 to work on a Ph.D in philosophy, the graduate school had one professor who was in the process of getting a book published titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale.[2] At the time I thought that was rather strange. Here I had just wrapped up my Master’s degree, was entering into a prestigious university to complete my education on what I considered a serious field of study and one of my professors was working on the philosophical aspects of a comic book character/television show. At the time I honestly thought this was crazy, but when he later told me that there was a whole branch of popular culture studies doing that very thing (PCA/ACA), and it was gaining in popularity, I stopped to ponder the possibilities. Years later, in 2012, when I attended my first Robert E. Howard Days and Jeff Shanks discussed his recent trek to the latest PCA/ACA conference, my ears immediately perked up. I remembered what my former professor told me back at Marquette. I got excited. Here was a great way to dig my heals into something I had been interested in since back in 1981 when I first encountered The Tower of the Elephant. I must admit, it has been an uphill climb ever since.

Here’s what I mean by uphill climb. I went home from that 2012 REH Days and began to try and dig up academic material on/about Robert E. Howard. At the time, there was scant material available. What was previous published several decades ago was difficult to find. When I did manage to find it, the sellers asked for enormous amounts of money. Bottom line: it was very frustrating. So, I did what any hardcore fan would do, I kept searching. I hoped that eventually I would encounter a listing for one of the half dozen academic books that had actually been published since 1984. Sure enough, I ran into an inexpensive copy of The Dark Barbarian edited by Don Herron. When the book arrived, it was not what the seller had advertized, so I quickly complained and ended up getting the book for free. That was a nice break. The book that was sent to me was an ex-library copy. Let me stress this: An EX-LIBRARY copy. The library was getting rid of it probably because it had not been checked out in a decade or longer. While I was happy to get a copy of the book, the fact that the Tacoma Public Library was getting rid of it was a good sign that it was 1) outdated, and 2) no longer being checked out or used. I say all that to say this.

From 1984 to 2012 when I first began searching for academic material on Howard, only a handful of material had been “published.” I put published in quotation marks because much of that material was published independently and not widely available. In 2012 when I began looking, here’s what was available[3]:

1. The Dark Barbarian edited by Don Herron. This book is the granddaddy of REH criticism. I’m using the term granddaddy in the sense that it is the first and oldest academic work out there (published in 1984). Many libraries are now selling their copies off. Since 2012, I’ve seen dozens of other ex-library copies at various online book seller’s sites. While this book is very important, it is also old for an academic book. Since 1984 there has been so much more information uncovered and written about Robert E. Howard (especially from 2012 to the time of this article in 2015). This means that this book is 1) becoming more and more outdated and thus in several ways obsolete, and is 2) in need of a revision or an updated version with newly written material.
   
2. Cromlech: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Criticism edited by Marc A. Cersini & Charles Hoffman. This series (which only includes 3 volumes over a three year period) was first published in 1985. It was, however, published independently and is extremely difficult to find today. The first volume of this series actually contains what is considered to be the first academic essay[4] ever written[5] on/about one of Robert E. Howard’s characters—Conan the Cimmerian. This series ended after volume three was published in 1988.
3. The Dark Man Journal: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies edited by Rusty Burke. This academic journal was the brainchild of Rusty Burke with the help of Marc Michaud. Unfortunately, the journal was not well received by fans when it was first released back in 1990. That’s correct, REH fandom lamented that this type of academic journal would be the ruin of Robert E. Howard. Fortunately (no surprise at all) that never happened and the Journal, under the editorial work of Mark Hall, is still alive and kicking today. Also, back issues are fairly easy to find, and you can usually get them for about $5.00 to $10.00.

All the above, along with a few intentionally unmentionable works prior to 1984, were what fans and would-be-scholars of REH had to work with from 1984 to 1990 (and pretty much into the early 2000s). Each of these works are important in their own way but are scarce (or very expensive) and a bit dated for academic works. Moreover, if you go to a university library or public library you’ll be out of luck.[6] As for biographies about Howard, only three existed from 1976 to 1986 that could actually be called biographies: The Last Celt edited by Glenn Lord, Dark Valley Destiny by L. Sprague de Camp, and One Who Walked Alone by Novalyne Price Ellis. From 1986 until 2006 no other biographies existed (except for a brief biography by Rusty Burke). Then, in 2006 (20 years after Novalyne Price Ellis’ One Who Walked Alone) Mark Finn published Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard. The biographical arena for REH Studies is still very much wide open and in great need of additional attention.

Additionally, about a decade or so ago, as everyone should know, Del Rey published eleven volumes of Robert E. Howard’s work. All of these works were published in their original publication format and each edition included nice introductions and appendices with academic essays. Moreover, the Del Rey series in itself was an academic achievement and to that end are crucial in furthering REH studies[7].  So, getting Howard’s primary works is quite easy. But, secondary works, which is what many scholars also use when doing research, are hard to come by. Fortunately, this scarcity and difficulty is slowly changing. Since my first visit to REH Days in 2012, several academic collections that include works on/about Robert E. Howard have been published. All of these are readily available at any university or public library (esp. through interlibrary loan).

Since 2012, these are the academic collections that have included works on/about Robert E. Howard:

1. Pulp Fiction of the 1920s and 1930s (Critical Insights) edited by Gary Hoppenstand. This work actually contains a wide variety of essays (chapters) on various pulp fiction writers and a wide variety of topics. Jeff Shanks has an article in this collection titled History, Horror, and Heroic Fantasy: Robert E. Howard and the Creation of the Sword-and-Sorcery Subgenre. I recently managed to find a copy for a meager $13.95 from an online seller. However, you don’t even have to buy this book since it is fairly easy to get a reading copy (bound or ebook) through interlibrary loan.
   
2. Undead in the West I & Undead in the West II edited by Cynthia J. Miller & A. Bowden Van Riper. Both these volumes cover all kinds of weird western works from the pulps and otherwise. Jefferey Shanks and Mark Finn have a collaborated essay (chapter) in volume two titled Vaqueros and Vampires in the Pulps: Robert E. Howard and the Dawn of the Undead West. Once again, I managed to find both these volumes for just under $30.00 each. But both are available in university and public libraries.
3. Conan Meets The Academy: Multidisciplinary Essays on the Enduring Barbarian edited by Jonan Pridas. This edition is one of the first academic works to solely focus on Howard’s character, Conan the Cimmerian. Jeff Shanks & Frank Coffman (mainstays in REH studies) have chapters in this volume. The book covers a wide variety of topics from Hyborian Age archaeology to Statistics in the Hyborian Age (Stylometry in REH’s stories) to issues of masculinity and video gaming.
4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy by Deke Parsons.  This work is a part of the “Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy” series (47) and takes a look at the birth of modern fantasy via Tolkien and Howard.
5. Race and Popular Fantasy Literature by Helen Young. I have only read the first chapter of this work, but it is available at the University of Texas at Arlington library (and other university libraries as well), so I’ll be reading the full book soon. Young deals with the issue of race in the works of Howard and Tolkien.
6. The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror edited by Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks. This is a newly published collection of academic essays on the history of Weird Tales (the pulp magazine) and its authors (e.g. H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith). Topics range from the first decade of Weird Tales, the Lovecraft circle, to Lovecraft and postmodernism and world building and gender studies in Weird Tales. 

The above are six (actually #2 counts as two, so seven) good examples of newly published academic works in REH (and Weird Tales) studies that have been published since 2012.[8] I am sure I have missed a few. The good news is, this list will only continue to grow. Even so, the crucial element in academic works is their easy availability. Do university and public libraries have them on their shelves, or at least have the ability to get them? The broader a works availability, the more often it will be accessed and used (cited from).

Moreover, as all the above six (actually seven) volumes have been published, the Dark Man Journal also continues to be published. But, as with any good peer reviewed academic journal, The Dark Man Journal needs to be listed on JSTOR (short for Journal Storage). The last time I checked on their site, it was not present. Why is this important? For two reasons: first, all university libraries access this site, and second, the public also has access to the site now. Back when I was at Marquette, JSTOR could only be accessed by universities, that has changed since then. This is also one of the go to places for academic research using journals, and there are millions of academic journals out there. Once The Dark Man Journal is on JSTOR, that will help open a larger door for a solid academic reference for REH Studies.[9]

A few months back several other things happened in the arena of REH Studies that is a plus. First, The Dark Barbarian & The Barbaric Triumph were put in eBook format.[10] While this will make it much more affordable for interested parties to obtain a copy, it still does not help those two works presence in university or public libraries. Most university students doing research will track a book through their library first. Plus, Don Herron did not update or improve either of the two volumes. Second, Brian Leno, who used to post regularly on the Two-GunRaconteur (TGR) website,[11] also released an eBook of some of his best material[12] titled Lovecraft’s Southern Vacation: A Robert E. Howard LitCrit Triple Punch Pack. I recently ordered a copy and look forward to reading its contents.[13]

So, all in all, REH studies & criticism is on the rise. A lot of first rate material is being released, and I know there will be even more in the future. And, despite the naysayers, these kinds of work will only increase Howard’s popularity amongst readers who may have never heard of him nor read any of his works. But more importantly, REH Studies will also help insure that future readers and researchers will be established to help carry the works of the Texas tale-spinner into the future.

Notes:

[1] I first read Tower of the Elephant from an Ace paperback edition titled Conan with Frank Frazetta's cover art for the story Rogues in the House. Howard, Robert E., De Camp L. Sprague, and Lin Carter. Conan. New York: Ace, 1967. Print.

[2] South, James B., ed. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago: Open Court, 2003.

[3] I use “available” loosely here, since most of this material was next to impossible to find.

[4] Conan the Existential by Charles Hoffman. An interesting fact, Charles Hoffman was the guest speaker at my first REH Days back in 2012. He discussed this work in detail in one of his panels. This led me to track down the Cromlech 3 volume set. It took me 2 years to actually find a copy of the set.

[5] It could be debated that the first real academic essay ever to be written on/about Robert E. Howard (or one of his characters) belongs to P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark, Ph.D. titled A Probable Outline of Conan’s Career published in 1938. A copy of that essay can be obtained through Jeffrey Shanks’ Skelos Press (www.Skelospress.com)

[6] With the exception of The Dark Barbarian. However, several libraries told me they no longer had a copy (I’m sure they sold theirs) and they were not able to get it via interlibrary loan due to it becoming scarcer.

[7] Easily accessible primary materials are crucial in any academic endeavor. The Del Rey collection did a fine job of replacing the older Lancer/Ace works and pastiches (and the various textual interpolations).

[8] I should note here that back in 2008, S.T. Joshi published a work titled Barbarism vs. Civilization: Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft in Their Correspondence. This article first appeared in the journal Studies in the Fantastic No. 1, Summer 2008.

[9] From my understanding, or at least I’ve heard it through the grapevine, Mark Hall is in the process of getting The Dark Man Journal on JSTOR.

[10] These two works can be purchased together strictly on Kindle eReaders.

[11] From my understanding, Brian has recently requested his material be removed from TGR. This is quite unfortunate, especially since he seemed to have a fairly solid following on that site. I used to read his material faithfully at TGR.

[12] You can get this latest release only on Kindle eReaders.

[13] I cannot speak of its academic prowess, but all the previous essays I’ve read from Brian Leno have been first rate and well worth reading.

Study This, Not That!: A Suggested Bibliography for REH Studies, Part Three

REH Secondary Works . . .

In any form of research secondary works/sources can be crucial. However, it should be pointed out that where there is a secondary source to support a primary source and the primary source is still available, always use the primary source. This is especially true if you end up writing articles/papers on the topic at hand. I don't say this in an attempt to dissuade the use of secondary sources but to emphasize the fact that primary sources are far superior to secondary sources. At the academic level of research to use a secondary source as if it is a primary source is intellectual dishonesty, and always frowned upon. 

However, secondary sources are wonderful resources, especially those from learned scholars and experts. And, if a secondary source is the only source available for specific information then by all means use it. But don't be quick to draw absolute conclusions based solely upon a secondary source. I'm not saying anything here that is not already widely accepted in academic circles, and this kind of research methodology has been in practice for decades (centuries even).  With that in mind, here are some of the best secondary sources that I have encountered in my research of Robert E. Howard.

History/Historical Documents . . .

Read This . . .

Current REH studies/scholarship is very fortunate to have Rob Roehm and his father Bob Roehm in the research field digging up REH history and historical documents. I love history. In fact, I love the type of history that most history buffs find boring. The gritty details about people's lives: where they are from, where they went to school, where they used to hang out, where they traveled, why they traveled to these places, how they were raised, who were their relatives, all the documents surrounding these facts, and why that all matters. This is the kind of history that the Roehms have researched, uncovered, and made known to everybody in REH scholarship and fandom. If you are unaware of their works, then you are missing out on one of the most important ingredients in REH studies. Aside from actually tracking down articles that Rob has written (e.g. old REHupa zines, the REH Two-Gun Raconteur website, and other various books/magazines) the Roehms currently have two books available. The first is titled Howard's Haunts: A Photographic Journey Through Robert E. Howard's Texas and Events of the Howard Centennial. I bought this book from the REH House and Museum three or four years ago. It was so interesting I read through the whole book in one sitting and have read it several more times since. It details places like Peaster, Dark Valley, Menard, Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Cisco, Rising Star, Fredricksburg, etc., It also covers events such as REH Days in Cross Plains, the 100th birthday bash for REH in Fort Worth, TX, REH Publications for 2006, and a chapter by Mark Finn  about The World Fantasy Convention in Austin, TX in 2006. The book is loaded with historical photographs and current photographs. Their second book is titled The Brownwood Connection: A Guide for Robert E. Howard Fans. This book provides historical details about REH's time in Brownwood during High School, College, and other visits he made to that city. This book is replete with photographs, scans of historical documents, school yearbooks, maps, newspaper articles, legal/court documents, time tables, etc. All accompany a solid written explanation of the facts, documents, events, etc. This book is so detailed at times that even train schedules from back in Howard's day are included. There's even a section about Novalyne Price in the appendices. Any serious researcher should not be without these two volumes. (Note: technically, a lot of this material—especially the actual historical/legal documents—are primary sources. Even so, I've included these works in the secondary sources section due to the current photographs and current travels accounts, esp. in Howard's Haunts, not being essential primary data/sources. However, any historical/legal documents, etc. from this material should be considered primary data and treated as such.)

Another book edited by Rob Roehm I recently purchased is titled School Days in the Post Oaks. As of this article I have yet to read this work so I really cannot review it for you, but I do know (and this is the reason I bought a copy) that it is a collection of newspaper articles about REH and his time/events in the Post Oak area. Click the link I've provided for further details.


Academia . . .

Read This . . .

Current Robert E. Howard fans are quite fortunate that they have a fairly nice size pool of rigorous academic (and academic type) material in which to swim. This certainly has not always been the case. I will not list single articles that are in larger anthologies here (see a few a those below*). There are single volumes devoted to nothing but Howard studies. It is important to note that with academic material the more current a work, the "better" it is. I do not mean "better" in terms of quality, but rather better in the sense that it is freshest, and the most up-to-date research (and usually considers previous research). The first volume that comes to mind in terms of academia, and the most dated, is Don Herron's edited volume titled The Dark Barbarian. This academic collection, published in 1984, was the first of its kind. And quite frankly, several of the articles still hold up today. For REH academic study I would actually recommend beginning with this volume. Now, I should point out several things here. First, some of the chapters mention dating issues of particular manuscripts, and these issues have currently been resolved thanks to the work of later scholars. Second, some of the chapters are not written in formal academic styles. This is only important in so far as that is probably what kept this volume from making serious inroads into academic circles. Third, there are current articles/volumes that are far more rigorous in their assessment, research, and presentation than this volume. But, as I mentioned before this volume set a precedent and therefore ought to have been taken much more seriously than it was. Another feature of REH studies that does not exist in other academic circles of the same kind is that REH studies/scholars have their own peer reviewed journal. I cannot stress how important this is. I also cannot stress how important it is for REH fans to support this effort and keep it alive by purchasing these journals when they are released. The peer reviewed journal is called The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies. The reason this journal is so important is that good solid university libraries always make an effort to obtain all peer reviewed journals in pretty much every field. To have one out there means that Howard's work has a far greater chance of being studied at the university level. Plus, The Dark Man journal must adhere to academic standards (e.g. writing in a particular academic style - MLS). If you can find back issues of these journals you will essentially have found a goldmine of REH articles and research. These journals are a must read in REH research/studies.

Another excellent volume in the academic category is titled Two-Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard. Now, while this volume is not published via an academic/university press, many of the articles are written by professors and scholars (e.g. S.T. Joshi, Frank Coffman, Glenn Lord, Charles Gramlich, Lorenzo DiTommaso, etc.). This anthology is still in print and that says a lot about the quality of its contents since it was published in 2006 (8 years ago since the posting of this article). Another academic volume that was recently published is titled Conan Meets the Academy. This volume was edited by Jonas Prida who is an assistant professor of English and Head of the English department at the College of St. Joseph, Rutland, Vermont. Published by McFarland it is the first academic volume to focus solely on one of REH's characters. The articles are geared more toward the cultural impact REH's character Conan the Cimmerian has had on culture. Even so, it is a great volume to own, the articles are well researched, thoughtful, and well documented.

*Other volumes with single articles about Robert E. Howard's work include Undead in the West II: They Just Keep Coming. This volume contains an article written by Jeffrey Shanks and Mark Finn titled Vaqueros and Vampires in the Pulps: Robert E. Howard and the Dawn of the Undead West. Jeff Shanks also has a nice article in an academic volume titled Pulp Fiction of the 1920s and 1930s. This volume is edited by Gary Hoppenstand and Jeff's article is titled History, Horror and Heroic Fantasy: Robert E. Howard and the Creation of the Sword and Sorcery Subgenre.

Journals, Fanzines, and Miscellaneous Books/Works . . .

Read This . . .

Over the decades many REH journals and fanzines have come and gone. If you are adventurous, like to collect things, and know where to look you can track down some real jewels. You won't have to work too hard though to get your hands on one of the last surviving REH journals, and one of the better ones to be created (which is probably why it was brought back). The journal I'm talking about is REH: Two-Gun Raconteur. This journal has been around since the 70s—yes, that's a long time. I've been buying copies for at least 5 or so years and have tracked down several back issues. The journal is toted as The Definitive Robert E. Howard Journal, and it lives up to that declaration. It has its origins in the mid 70s, and was the brainchild of Damon C. Sasser. Sasser told me he thought it up in the midst of the REH boom of the 70s when there were only three active fanzines in operation: Fantasy Crossroads (of which I have several issues), The Howard Review, and REH: Lone Star Fictioneer (of which I have several issues). The journal took a bit of a break around the late 80s early 90s and then started back up in 2003 and has since then been published to date. Damon C. Sasser is still the editor today. This journal is always loaded with excellent articles (some on a scholarly level). Here are some of the past contributors: Damon C. Sasser, Patrice Louinet, David Hardy, Brian Leno, Jeffrey Shanks, Barbara Barrett, Rob Roehm, Don Herron, Bill Cavalier, Steve Tompkins, Frank Coffman, Mark Finn, Jim and Ruth Keegan, Michael L. Peters (illustrations), Timothy Truman (illustrations), Charles R. Saunders, Deuce Richardson, Morgan Holmes, Rusty Burke, etc. (I'm sure I've missed a few names). It also includes stories by Robert E. Howard. Each issue is lavishly illustrated. Back issues of these journals are frequently sought. I've seen them sell for as much as $35.00 on Ebay. Current issues are for sale here.



Robert E. Howard: The Power of the Writing Mind is a small independent work allegedly edited by Ben Szumskyj (but in reality edited by Leo Grin, per a reliable source). Regardless of its editor, it is well worth tracking down. It has articles by Joe Marek, Patrice Louinet, Rusty Burke, Leo Grin, stories by Robert E. Howard (An Untitled Story, The Devil's Woodchopper, three autobiographical letters, Double Cross, The Right Hook - this is a photocopy of the actual manuscript, and a High School Theme) illustrations by Gary Gianni, Mark Schultz, images from the portfolio of Rick McCollum Rick Cortes, and David Burton.  There is also a nice interview with Glenn Lord. While this is not a crucial volume to own, it is a solid volume and worth getting.

A good solid book that has provided me with hours of fun reading and information not only about Robert E. Howard but about REH fandom has been The Man From Cross Plains: A Celebration of Two-Gun Bob Howard edited by Dennis McHaney. While this book is not necessarily one that makes for great study and research, it is one that will give you an excellent idea about Cross Plains, TX and REH fandom. I put it in here for that reason. There are some informative chapters that will go much deeper than merely fandom (e.g. Chris Gruber's chapter titled Atavists All? Howard's Boxing Hero's as Throwbacks) but most are fan related, Howard's influences on various people, Cross Plains as a home away from home, etc. Regardless, the book is well worth reading and I highly recommend it.


I hope that this three part series will at least give interested persons a good starting point to really dig their heels in and begin researching the Texas tale-spinner. Keep in mind this list is certainly not exhaustive. It's not intended to be. Anyone reading this who has other suggestions feel free to list them in the comments. I know for a fact more research material is slated to appear in the future, until then happy researching. Cheers!