The Works of Robert E Howard

We’re back and we’re hitting the books. That’s probably not fair, though. Just because they’re full of boxing tales doesn’t mean they can hit back. And two-fisted stories don’t actually seem to have any fists of their own. We’re beginning to suspect that this fiction stuff is all made up. Main Topic: The Works of Robert E Howard This episode is the conclusion of our two-part look into the life and works of Robert E Howard. Last time, we offered an overview of Howard’s life. This time, it’s the turn of his work. As well as being the creator of Conan the Cimmerian, Solomon Kane, Kull of Atlantis, and the Pictish king, Bran Mak Morn, Howard initiated both the sword and sorcery and weird western genres. In his sadly short career, Howard wrote horror, boxing yarns, comedies, historical adventures, and action stories. With the encouragement of his friend H P Lovecraft, he penned tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. And that’s without mentioning his voluminous poetry output. He was as versatile as he was prolific. While we cover the broad strokes of his career, we would need dozens of episodes just to catalogue his work. As a result, this is an incomplete and highly idiosyncratic summary of Howard’s career and legacy. Our next episode wraps up this series by exploring one of Howard’s most famous stories, “The Tower of the Elephant”. Robert E Howard Resources Our main research sources for this episode are: * Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E Howard by Mark Finn* A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H P Lovecraft and Robert E Howard edited by S T Joshi, David E Schultz and Rusty Burke* Nameless Cults: The Cthulhu Mythos Fiction of Robert E Howard edited by Robert M Price Links Things we mention in this episode include: * Conan the Cimmerian* Solomon Kane* Robert E Howard’s poetry* “The Sea” by Robert E Howard* “Spear and Fang” by Robert E Howard* Weird Tales* “Red Nails” by Robert E Howard* Sailor Steve Costigan* Boxing pulp magazines* Post Oaks & Sand Roughs by Robert E Howard*