Robert E Howard

We all started at his wild shriek and he reeled from the corner screaming, a thing like a black cable writhing about his arm. As we looked aghast, he crashed down in the midst of the tiled floor and there tore to fragments with his bare hands the hideous reptile which had struck him."Oh Heavens " he screeched, writhing about and staring up at his mates with wild, crazed eyes. "Oh, Grand Dieu, I burn, I die Oh, saints, grant me ease "Even Bellefonte's steel nerves seemed shaken at this terrible sight, but John Gower remained unmoved. He drew a pistol and flung it to the dying man."You are doomed," said he brutally. "The venom is coursing through your veins like the fire of Hell, but you may live for hours yet. Best end your torment."La Costa clutched at the weapon as a drowning man seizes a twig. A moment he hesitated, torn between two terrible fears, then as the burning of the venom shook him with fiercer stabbings, he set the muzzle against his temple, gibbering and yammering, and jerked the trigger. The stare of his tortured eyes will haunt me till Doomsday, and may his crimes on earth be forgiven him for if ever a man passed through Purgatory in his dying, it was he."By God " said Bellefonte, wiping his brow. "This looks like the hand of Satan "

Those who are familiar with the previously published versions of the stories presented here in Spicy Adventures are in for a surprise in this volume. For if Howard's agent, Otis Kline - and us - thought that Howard's stories were perhaps too tame for publisher Armer, it turned out, upon examination of the surviving carbons and drafts, that it was in fact exactly the opposite: all of the stories had been heavily censored when first published in Spicy Adventures (and thus in the 1983 edition.) In typical fashion, Howard had gone further than the guidelines imposed, stretching the boundaries as much as possible, probably because he understood what his readers wanted. This was nothing new.All of the Howard stories and portions thereof contained in Spicy Adventures come from Howard's original typescripts, manuscripts, and carbons. Virtually all of them were scanned from the Glenn Lord collection, now at the University of Texas, Austin; the Robert E. Howard collection at Texas A&M University; or the typescript collection at Cross Plains Library.CHANGES FROM THE 1ST EDITION: In this Ultimate Edition, previously edited versions of "The Girl on the Hell Ship," "Ship in Mutiny," and "Daughters of Feud" have been restored to typescript. Five "new" earliest-known drafts have been added: "Desert Blood," "Dragon of Kao Tsu," "Murderer's Grog," "Guns of Khartoum," and "Daughters of Feud." We have also replaced the previous "early" drafts of "The Girl on the Hell Ship" and "Ship in Mutiny" with their earliest known drafts.

Those who are familiar with the previously published versions of the stories presented here in Spicy Adventures are in for a surprise in this volume. For if Howard's agent, Otis Kline - and us - thought that Howard's stories were perhaps too tame for publisher Armer, it turned out, upon examination of the surviving carbons and drafts, that it was in fact exactly the opposite: all of the stories had been heavily censored when first published in Spicy Adventures (and thus in the 1983 edition.) In typical fashion, Howard had gone further than the guidelines imposed, stretching the boundaries as much as possible, probably because he understood what his readers wanted. This was nothing new.All of the Howard stories and portions thereof contained in Spicy Adventures come from Howard's original typescripts, manuscripts, and carbons. Virtually all of them were scanned from the Glenn Lord collection, now at the University of Texas, Austin; the Robert E. Howard collection at Texas A&M University; or the typescript collection at Cross Plains Library.CHANGES FROM THE 1ST EDITION: In this Ultimate Edition, previously edited versions of "The Girl on the Hell Ship," "Ship in Mutiny," and "Daughters of Feud" have been restored to typescript. Five "new" earliest-known drafts have been added: "Desert Blood," "Dragon of Kao Tsu," "Murderer's Grog," "Guns of Khartoum," and "Daughters of Feud." We have also replaced the previous "early" drafts of "The Girl on the Hell Ship" and "Ship in Mutiny" with their earliest known drafts.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.