The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard (85 page)

The Cairn on the Headland

Text taken from
Strange Tales
, January 1933. In a letter to H. P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932

(probably very shortly after the magazine had appeared), Howard wrote: “The editor took liberties with

‘The Cairn on the Headland.’ In the original version, O’Brien was born in America. The editor changed this and made O’Brien a native of Ireland, but neglected to change the line: ‘We were countrymen in that we born in the same land.’ That would seem to make ‘Ortali’ an Irishman, too, when I intended him for an American-born Italian.” We have restored the characters’ original nationalities by using text from an existing draft typescript of the story. That existing draft does not bear a title, indicating it was probably a first draft. The magazine version features an epigraph: “And the next instant this great red loon was shaking me like a dog shaking a rat. ‘Where is Meve MacDonnal?’ he was screaming. By the saints, it’s a grisly thing to hear a madman in a lonely place at midnight screaming the name of a woman dead three hundred years.—The Longshoreman’s Tale.” This epigraph does not appear in the draft typescript, and as it telegraphs an important story element, which seems uncharacteristic of Howard, we have left it off.

224.34.6: fired; 227.29.4:
Strange Tales
has, after “American,” “though born and raised here” text here is from the draft typescript; 227.29.6: typescript has “answered, “my” 228.20.2:
Strange Tales
has

“ancestors” “birth” in draft typescript; 228.20.12-13:
Strange Tales
has “have passed the best part of my life” “was born” in draft typescript; 235.38.4: comma after “cairn” 237.39.1: comma after

“superstition’

Worms of the Earth

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, November 1932. In a letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa December 1932, Howard noted several errors in the magazine appearance of the story: “Concerning “Worms of the Earth”–I must have been unusually careless when I wrote that, considering the errors–such as “her” for

“his”, “him” for “himself”, “loathsome” for “loathing”, etc.. I’m at a loss to say why I spelled Eboracum as Ebbracum. I must investigate the matter. I know I saw it spelled that way, somewhere; it’s not likely I would make such a mistake entirely of my own volition, though I do frequently make errors. Somehow, in my mind, I have a vague idea that it’s connected in some way with the Gaelic “Ebroch”–York.”

240.8.3: Ebbracum; 243.13.5: him; 244.1.6: Ebbracum; 248.15.1: Ebbracum; 248.17.11: Ebbracum; 249.21.9: Ebbracum; 251.11.2: Ebbracum; 251.17.10: Ebbracum; 253.3.3: laugh; 253.11.6: her; 253.11.15: loathsome; 253.25.5: there is a dash rather than a hyphen in “night-things” 260.1.3: comma after “cast” 262.19.1: Ebbracum; 266.29.1: Ebbracum’s; 266.32.5:
Cæsar
The Symbol

Text taken from
Ariel
, Autumn 1976. No changes have been made for this edition.

The Valley of the Lost

Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, a copy of which was provided by the Robert E. Howard Foundation. There are two draft typescripts extant: one titled, the other not. The titled draft has numerous editorial markings, probably by
Strange Tales
editor Harry Bates, who wrote to Howard on October 4, 1932: “Mr. Clayton the other day instructed me to discontinue Strange Tales, and as a result I have to return your story, “The Valley of the Lost,” even marked up as it is with the editorial pencilings. I started to rub out the pencilings but that did not seem to improve the looks of the manuscript much, so I left off.”

Many of these editorial markings entirely obscure the original underlying text, making some readings problematic. 269.12.1: “South-west” hyphenated at line break; 269.18.1: right (typed to extreme right edge of paper); 269.18.6: Reynolds; 269.19.1: Donnelly (typed to extreme right edge of paper); 269.22.9: whole-sale; 270.1.10: comma after “pay” 270.3.2: punctuation following “range” obscured; 270.4.1: developement; 270.5.1: country-side; 270.8.8: Reynolds; 270.9.5: Reynolds; 270.11.11: comma after “down” 270.13.6: well now; 270.22.9: it appears a comma was marked out after “speedy”

270.24.7: awhile; 270.27.4: Reynolds; 270.28.3: no comma after “slope” 270.32.6: it appears a comma was marked out after “Ord” 270.35.13: didnt; 270.36.17: no closing quotation mark (typed to extreme right edge of paper); 270.37.1: comma after “Well”, no dash; 270.37.8: comma after “Fletcher”, no dash; 270.38.5: dont; 270.39.8: its; 271.15.17: comma after “valley” 271.27.11: he; 271.31.10: aint; 271.33.5: cant; 271.37.11: cant; 271.38.14: cant; 272.1.3: wont; 272.3.15: at least one character has been obscured before “right”, possibly “a” right” or “a-right” 272.12.8: cant; 272.15.12: something obscured before “walking”, probably “a-” 272.23.2: Reynolds; 272.24.9: no comma after “and”

272.41.4: shorted; 272.41.11: redmen; 273.6.7: re-opened; 273.11.9-10: comma after “Valley” rather than “and” 273.14.7: comma after “stones” 273.17.5: half destroyed; 273.20.2: and which; 273.30.11: country-side; 274.27.1: “a” not in titled typescript, is in untitled draft; 274.33.3: it appears a comma was marked out after “where” 274.33.8: it appears a comma was marked out after “sanity” 274.36.9: high heeled; 274.41.9: foot-step; 275.8.1: a word has been marked out before “dead” “stone-dead” in earlier draft; 275.18.5: suddeness; 276.4.3: no comma after “shaken” 276.20.1: letters are marked out after

“burro” 276.22.12: it appears a comma was marked out after “aversion” 276.22.13: comma after “now”

276.30.7: comma after “was” 277.19.9: punctuation after “ears” obscured, possibly a colon; 277.20.3: word obscured, probably “he” 277.25.9: under-tone; 277.34.9: squamy; 277.40.13: conciousness; 278.1.6: inner-most; 278.4.5-6: no commas after “dim” and “strange” 278.28.10: it appears a comma was marked out after “valley” 281.4.5: inhumaness; 281.8.8: an editorial marking for a comma is superimposed over Howard’s typed punctuation, possibly a semicolon; 281.9.11: semicolon rather than comma; 281.11.8: a letter has been marked out, possibly this read “survivals” 281.31.8: the initial letter is faint in the copy; “Hell” in earlier draft; 281.37.12: an editorial marking for a comma is superimposed over Howard’s typed punctuation, possibly a semicolon; 281.38.1: an editorial marking for a comma is superimposed over Howard’s typed punctuation, possibly a semicolon; 282.2.1: carvent (earlier draft has “crystallinecarven”); 282.5.8: ever (typed to extreme right edge of paper); earlier draft has “every”

282.9.11: network; 282.10.1: honey-combing; 282.26.10: redmen; 282.29.1: no comma after

“Meanwhile” 282.35.12: “to” is written (not in REH’s hand) over a typed word beginning with “o”, probably “of” 282.37.7: it appears a comma was marked out after “gain” 283.13.12: something is marked out, no more than two letters, between “stood” and “among” 283.14.5: land-slide; 283.32.6: it appears a comma was marked out after “eyes” 283.33.6: A word has been marked out, with “Its”

hand-written above (not in REH’s hand); earlier draft has “The” 283.41.1: A word has been marked out; earlier draft has “And” 284.16.7: lower-case “l” hand-written over indecipherable typed letter; 284.16.9: upper-case “H” hand-written over indecipherable typed letter; 284.18.7: it appears a comma has been marked out after “sane” 284.19.6: upper-case “H” hand-written over indecipherable typed letter; 285.17.1: punctuation obscured by editorial marking; 285.24.1: A word has been marked out, probably

“And” 285.26.10: side-ways; 285.28.8: comma after “serpent” rather than “and” 286.3.1: it appears a comma has been marked out after “walks” 286.10.9: no comma after “sunlight” 286.26.10: titer; 286.31.1: concious; 286.40.9: didnt; 287.2.5: wasnt; 287.2.7: a letter marked out before “it”, probably

“h” 287.2.15: a letter marked out before “it”, probably “h” 287.8.9: word has been marked out, appears to be “done” 287.9.5: word of about 3-4 letters marked out, possibly “done” 287.16.1-19.4: these four sentences are all written as one paragraph; 287.18.3: its; 287.19.4: something has been scratched out after “look”, possibly dashes or an ellipsis; 287.24.8: punctuation (if any) obscured by editorial marking; earlier draft has comma after “fists” 287.28.3: no comma after “and” 287.28.7: it appears a comma has been marked out after “sticks” 287.31.14: it appears a comma has been marked out after “saddle”

287.32.8: it appears a comma has been marked out after “fuse” 287.33.11: earth-quake; 287.37.3: a letter appears to have been marked out after “rock”, possibly “s” 288.20.1: Reynolds
The Hoofed Thing

Text taken from
Weirdbook Three
, 1970 (as “Usurp the Night”). 289.8.1: of; 289.12.1: “run-down”

hyphenated at line break; 289.18.4: delapidation; 290.18.3: no closing quotation mark; 293.3.8: profusedly; 294.14.12: comma after “emerge” 298.25.11: old fashioned; 298.36.3: comma rather than period after “panted” 301.9.18: no comma after ‘I’ 302.40.9: “a” not in original
The Noseless Horror

Text taken from
Magazine of Horror
, February 1970. 305.5.7: no period after “experience” 308.20.2: lauresl; 308.21.2: no closing quotation mark; 309.22.9: lights; 310.16.6: eyes; 310.34.7: no period after

“barred” 311.6.6-7: “noseless one” set in double quotation marks rather than single; 312.27.4: comma after “indeed” 313.1.13: stair case; 314.20.7: no; 314.39.7: amazed; 317.5.15: brinks; 317.9.3: “Singh”

not in original

The Dwellers Under the Tomb

Text taken from
Lost Fantasies 4
, 1976. Two earlier draft typescripts are extant, one 13 pages and one 18 pages. The typescript used for the
Lost Fantasies
(and
Black Canaan
, Berkley, 1978) publications was not available for this edition. 318.3.2: squeled; 318.21.7: deoman; 319.11.1: sould; 319.17.5: death rattle; 319.18.3: Jonas; 319.37.2: mightmare; 320.8.5-9.3: text between “strike” and “sensation” not in
Lost Fantasies
version; text taken from 18 page draft typescript; 320.27.8: He; 320.31.9: figeting; 320.32.11: A; 320.33.5: no closing quotation mark; 320.39.14: he’s; 321.11.6: that; 321.13.11: through; 321.16.1: undulation; 321.20.10: a; 321.23.8: ancestrial; 321.25.4: stripe; 321.29.8: rock; 321.31.7: for; 321.41.2: “it” not in
Lost Fantasies
version; this passage not found in drafts; 322.11.14: shattering; 322.12.8: moon lit; 322.20.2: feat; 322.25.3: comma rather than period after “know”

322.26.3-4: Itmight; 322.36.3: recognized; 323.16.8: creek; 323.41.8: lie; 324.1.10: “not” not in
Lost
Fantasies
version; passage not found in drafts; 324.13.4: reverted; 324.27.4: appaled; 324.33.4: “in”

not in
Lost Fantasies
version; passage not found in drafts; 324.37.5: closing quotation mark after “out.”

324.39.1: Open quotation mark before “Are” 325.22.12: earthly; no comma after “earthly” 326.14.4: desipte; 326.14.7: sceptics; 326.26.6: no open quotation mark; 329.3.6: no comma after “roughly”

329.16.3: vertiable; 329.16.11: jug; 330.23.2: though; 330.25.3: back; 330.32.1: steal-thy; 331.1.2: droppin; 331.22.17: comma after “rare” 332.31.11: comma after “labyrinths” 333.29.14: errored; 334.16.1: in habited; 334.25.9: no comma after “sliding” 334.33.3-34.2: text between “be” and “trace”

not in
Lost Fantasies
version; passage not found in earlier drafts; text taken from
Black Canaan
; 335.26.10: “writhing” not in
Lost Fantasies
version, text from 18 page draft typescript; 335.36.6: back; 335.39.6: shone; 336.1.13: guant; 336.13.12: no comma after “grey” 336.14.5: eyes; 336.22.8: sone
An Open Window

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, September 1932. No changes have been made for this edition.

The House of Arabu

Text taken from
Avon Fantasy Reader
, 1952 (as “The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen”). An untitled first draft typescript and an incomplete, titled, second draft typescript of this story are extant. It seems likely that someone else, perhaps agent Oscar Friend, was responsible for rewriting the story for
Avon
Fantasy Reader
. The heading was not used in
Avon Fantasy Reader
; it is taken from the second draft.

339.5.10: “love-making” hyphenated at line break; 340.34.4: no comma after “conversation” 343.5.7: no closing quotation mark after “accursed” 343.11.11: Mycenæans; 345.26.7: networks; 353.21.1: no closing quotation mark after “eternity” 354.36.4: word; 357.21.1: no comma after “with” 357.32.2: like; 358.32.7: laugher; 358.33.9: making

The Man on the Ground

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, July 1933. No changes have been made for this edition.

Old Garfield’s Heart

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, December 1933. No changes have been made for this edition.

Kelly the Conjure-Man

Text taken from
The Howard Collector
, Summer 1964. 376.8.7: 1850’s; 377.19.12: the period is placed after the closing quotation mark; 378.22.5: “70’s

Black Canaan

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, June 1936. 385.17.8: “white-washed” hyphenated at line break (hyphenated in draft typescript); 385.20.5: the period is placed after the closing quotation mark; 399.21.14: “criss-crossed” hyphenated at line break (hyphenated in draft typescript); 402.26.6: period rather than comma after “whispered” 405.11.14:
dance
;

To a Woman

Text taken from
Modern American Poetry—1933.
No changes have been made for this edition.

One Who Comes at Eventide

Text taken from
Modern American Poetry—1933
. No changes have been made for this edition.

The Haunter of the Ring

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, June 1934. No changes have been made for this edition.

Pigeons from Hell

Text taken from
Weird Tales
, May 1938. 426.33.13: “sleep-walker” hyphenated at line break; 427.13.6: “corpse-like” hyphenated at line break; 428.35.2: “hat-brim” hyphenated at line break; 428.39.11: county-seat; 430.22.5: “sun-bathed” hyphenated at line break; 434.5.12: “down” repeated; 435.35.7: county-seat; 436.18.11: county-seat; 439.25.1: “men-folks” hyphenated at line break; 443.10.8: builded