Crom's Conan the Barbarian Web Site

Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian

Let me start by saying that Robert E. Howard had one of finest and most off-skew imaginations of sword and sorcery writers of that time. Compare him with the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien for the creation of, not just a character, but entire worlds complete with history, cultures, races, empires, heroes, and villians.

He was and continues to be a driving influence on many modern day writers.

The best way to know Robert E. Howard is to read his work.

Click here for Robert E. Howard works currently in Print

Click Here to search for OUT OF PRINT books

Now, Howard created many characters aside from Conan that are as rich and colorful and the barbarian. So, if you will indulge me, let me give you some quotes from one of my favorite characters, Solomon Kane.

He was a man born out of his time - a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier... a knight errant in the somber clothes of a fanatic. A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urgeto right all wrongs, protect all weaker things, avenge all crimes against right and justice. Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistant in only one respect - he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.
- Robert E. Howard

"While evil flourishes and wrongs go rank, while men are persecuted and women wronged, while weak things, human or animal, are maltreated, there is no rest for me beneath the skies, nor peace at any board or bed."
- Solomon Kane

If those quotes grabbed your attention, you should find the Robert E. Howard Library Softcovers for Solomon Kane, Cormac Mac Art, and Kull. Now on to the discussion of Conan.

The stories are listed in order of first publication of the REH version.
as listed by The Robert E Howard Site)

"The Phoenix on the Sword"
      Weird Tales, December 1932
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
"The Scarlet Citadel"
      Weird Tales, January 1933
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
"The Tower of the Elephant"
        Weird Tales, March 1933
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
        The Tower of the Elephant, Donald M. Grant, 1975 (reprinted in trade paperback, Grosset & Dunlap, 1978)
"Black Colossus" Click here to buy Black Colossus
    Weird Tales, June 1933
        Black Colossus, Donald M. Grant, 1979
"Xuthal of the Dusk" (as "The Slithering Shadow")
     Weird Tales, September 1933
"The Pool of the Black One"
        Weird Tales, October 1933
        The Pool of the Black One, Donald M. Grant, 1986
"Rogues in the House"
        Weird Tales, January 1934
        Terror By Night, Selwyn & Blount Ltd., 1934
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
        Rogues in the House, Donald M. Grant, 1976
"Iron Shadows in the Moon" (as "Shadows in the Moonlight")
        Weird Tales, April 1934
        Black Colossus, Donald M. Grant, 1979
"Queen of the Black Coast"
        Weird Tales, May 1934
        Avon Fantasy Reader #8, 1948
        Fantastic Magazine Sword & Sorcery Annual, 1975
        Queen of the Black Coast, Donald M. Grant, 1978
"The Devil in Iron"
        Weird Tales, August 1934
        The Devil in Iron, Donald M. Grant, 1976 (reprinted in trade paperback, Grosset &
        Dunlap, 1978)
        The People of the Black Circle, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback,
        Berkley Books, 1977)
"The People of the Black Circle"
        Weird Tales, September 1934 (part one), October 1934 (part two), November 1934 (part three)
        The People of the Black Circle, Donald M. Grant, 1974
        The People of the Black Circle, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback,
        Berkley Books, 1977)
"A Witch Shall Be Born"
        Weird Tales, December 1934
        Avon Fantasy Reader #10, 1949
        A Witch Shall Be Born, Donald M. Grant, 1975
        The People of the Black Circle, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback,
        Berkley Books, 1977)
"Teeth of Gwahlur" (as "Jewels of Gwahlur" Click here to buy Jewels of Gwahlur)
        Weird Tales, March 1935
        Jewels of Gwahlur, Donald M. Grant, 1979
        The People of the Black Circle (G.P. Putnam's Sons, Berkley Books)
"Beyond the Black River"
        Weird Tales, May 1935 (part one), June 1935 (part two)
        Red Nails, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback, Berkley Books, 1977)
"The Man-Eaters of Zamboula" (as "Shadows in Zamboula")
        Weird Tales, November 1935
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
        The Devil in Iron, Donald M. Grant, 1976 (reprinted in trade paperback, Grosset &
        Dunlap, 1978)
        Red Nails, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback, Berkley Books, 1977)
        The Hour of the Dragon
        Weird Tales, December 1935 (part one), January 1936 (part two), February 1936 (part three),
        March 1936 (part four), April 1936 (part five)
        The Hour of the Dragon, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback, Berkley
        Books, 1977)
        The Hour of the Dragon, Donald M. Grant, 1990
"Red Nails"
        Weird Tales, July 1936 (part one), August 1936 (part two), September 1936 (part three)
        Red Nails, Donald M. Grant, 1975
        Red Nails, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback, Berkley Books, 1977)
"The Hyborian Age"
        The Hyborian Age, LANY Cooperative Publications, 1938
        Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
        Skull-Face Omnibus (Neville-Spearman [Jersey] Ltd., 1974; reprinted as 3-volume paperback,
        Panther Books Ltd., 1976)
        Red Nails, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977 (also published in paperback, Berkley Books, 1977)
"The Vale of Lost Women"
        The Magazine of Horror, no. 15, Spring 1967
        Queen of the Black Coast, Donald M. Grant, 1978
"The God in the Bowl"
        The Tower of the Elephant, Donald M. Grant, 1975 (reprinted in trade paperback,
        Grosset & Dunlap, 1978)
"The Frost-Giant's Daughter"
        Rogues in the House, Donald M. Grant, 1976
        Echoes of Valor II, TOR Books, 1989
        The Dark Man #1, Necronomicon Press, 1990 (rough draft only)
        Untitled synopsis (as "The Hall of the Dead")
        The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard, Donald M. Grant, 1976
        Untitled fragment (as "The Hand of Nergal")
        The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard, Donald M. Grant, 1976
        Untitled fragment and synopsis (as "The Snout in the Dark")
        Jewels of Gwahlur (Donald M. Grant) (fragment only)
        Cromlech #3 (Cryptic Publications) (synopsis only)
        Untitled fragment and synopsis (as "Drums of Tombalku")
        The Pool of the Black One, Donald M. Grant, 1986 (fragment only)
        Cromlech #3, Cryptic Publications, 1988 (synopsis only)
"The Black Stranger"
        Echoes of Valor, TOR Books, 1987
"Wolves Beyond the Border" (fragment and synopsis)
        unpublished
"Hour of the Dragon" Click here to buy Hour of the Dragon

What can be said about Conan that you may or may not already know. First, Howard's Conan is not found in the movies, on TV, or in Comic Books. He can only be found in Howard's stories. Understand that like any media, print has its own qualities that can not be easily duplicated in any visual media.

Many of his stories, whether unfinished or written for other characters, have been edited for use in the ongoing Conan Saga. Although, this might seem very unorthodox, it has been done.