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Post by deepermagic on Sept 26, 2018 12:03:27 GMT -5
I'd be interested in everyone's take on this.
What are the best Howard stories one can read leading up to Halloween?
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Post by Char-Vell on Sept 26, 2018 12:12:47 GMT -5
Pigeons from Hell
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Post by zarono on Sept 26, 2018 13:28:34 GMT -5
Dig Me No Grave, Pigeons From Hell, and The Horror from the Mound.
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Post by Char-Vell on Sept 26, 2018 14:11:19 GMT -5
Dig Me No Grave, Pigeons From Hell, and The Horror from the Mound. We should all agree to cosplay Steve Brill for Halloween.
I imagine him as a Hud-type individual:
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Post by emerald on Sept 26, 2018 15:16:41 GMT -5
Dig Me No Grave, Pigeons From Hell, and The Horror from the Mound.
I also second Zarono's selections. Pigeons from Hell seems to me the apex of REH's pure horror fiction.
But I gotta suggest The Black Stone, The Fire of Asshurbanipal (which delivers rousing action along with the horror), Black Canaan.
And the Solomon Kane tale, Skulls in the Stars, which has a ghostly menace that scared the hell out of me when I was a youngster and still gets under my skin today.
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Post by deepermagic on Sept 27, 2018 10:43:34 GMT -5
Nice selection so far. Can anyone think of any actual references to Halloween in Howard's work/writings?
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Post by deuce on Sept 27, 2018 11:13:30 GMT -5
Nice selection so far. Can anyone think of any actual references to Halloween in Howard's work/writings? Despite REH's Celto-/Gaelophilia, there is about zero mention of any of the "quarter days" like Halloween or May Day in any of his writings. I can't recall even one and I've read his letters multiple times. Quite odd. The Black Stone takes place on Midsummer's Eve and REH wrote one Christmas story. Ponder that: one Christmas story but no Halloween yarn. I need to start a Howardian Holidays thread. 'Tis the season. |
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Post by zarono on Sept 27, 2018 11:57:08 GMT -5
I should have added "In the Forest of Villefere" to my list, excellent short werewolf tale suitable for Halloween reading.  |
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Post by keith on Sept 28, 2018 5:11:03 GMT -5
I'm very much with Demonic Berserkers Char-vell and Zarono. I'd suggest, myself, yes, Pigeons From Hell (can there be any question about that?) along with Dig Me No Grave and The Black Stone. I also have distinct soft spots for The Thing on the Roof and The House of Arabu.
If poetry is eligible here, I nominate without hesitation The Song of a Mad Minstrel.
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Post by deepermagic on Oct 10, 2019 9:56:51 GMT -5
What are you reading this Halloween season?
I kicked things off today with Pigeons From Hell
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Post by Von K on Oct 12, 2019 2:02:07 GMT -5
Well, deepermagic, if I don't get a chance to catch up with one of the few REH yarns I haven't read yet I'll likely re-visit House of Arabu and perhaps follow up with Fire of Asshurbanipal.
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Post by deepermagic on Oct 14, 2020 9:12:29 GMT -5
What are you reading this Halloween season?
I've yet to tackle REH, but I've dipped into some J.S. Le Fanu and M.R. James' ghost stories, as well as Roger Zelazny's "A Night in the Lonesome October".
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Oct 15, 2020 15:21:50 GMT -5
Nice selection so far. Can anyone think of any actual references to Halloween in Howard's work/writings? Despite REH's Celto-/Gaelophilia, there is about zero mention of any of the "quarter days" like Halloween or May Day in any of his writings. I can't recall even one and I've read his letters multiple times. Quite odd. The Black Stone takes place on Midsummer's Eve and REH wrote one Christmas story. Ponder that: one Christmas story but no Halloween yarn. I need to start a Howardian Holidays thread. 'Tis the season. I read this thread yesterday and was thinking about it on my run this morning. One theory why Howard never mentions Halloween may possibly be it was not celebrated in the small towns he lived in. Southern towns, especially in the 19-teens and 1920s were very Christian-centered, so Halloween did not fit into Southern culture at the time. I looked around on the web and found an article titled, "History, Home, and Haints: Halloween in the South" by Shane Gilreath. He had this to say: "Halloween was recognized as an official holiday in the United States in 1937, but that didn’t stop the old puritanical arguments surrounding it. This time, those controversies even spread to the South. By the 20th Century, the harmless pranks and mischief of the antebellum period became vandalism and destruction, particularly in urban areas where defacements grew past toilet papering trees. They even took on a night of their own: Devil’s or Mischief Night. It was around this time, as well, that religious bodies began increasingly to view the holiday as something aligned with paganism, evil, and devil worship, beliefs which some still hold today." I found that interesting. A bit off topic from the thread, but since Deuce brought in up-- I know, two years ago!--I thought I would post it. Link to the article here: likethedew.com/2011/10/13/history-home-and-haints-halloween-in-the-south/#.X4itBtBKiUk |
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Post by Von K on Oct 15, 2020 17:40:46 GMT -5
Thanks linefacedscrivener, interesting theory. What are you reading this Halloween season? Mine will be Worms of the Earth, which nicely coincides with Jason's choice for the Story of the month thread. Been meaning to re-read that one in light of some commentary on it made by the late REH aficionado Larry Richter. |
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