REH's Weird West

[Finarvyn]

Anyone have a list of the supernatural "weird west" stories penned by Robert E. Howard?

I know he wrote a bunch of western stories, but I'm most interested in the supernatural ones.

[kesher]

Hey, Fin. You want this book. As far as I know, it collects all his "weird" West stories. I haven't read my copy for, I dunno, 15 years, but now I'm gonna have to read it again.

Here are the stories:

The Dead Remember
Black Canaan
Kelly the Conjure-Man
The Valley of the Lost
The Man on the Ground
Black Hound of Death
"For the Love of Barbara Allen"
The Hoofed Thing
Moon of Zambabwei
The Horror from the Mound

Oh, and when I started reading the reviews, one of the reviewers helpfully summarized each story:

A mix of brooding postbellum Southern settings, and some Lovecraftian style stories (Howard and Lovecraft were long-distance friends and affected each other's work). Note that this volume uses Howard's unexpurgated original language, and doesn't prettify the post-War South. Several stories feature Scotch-Irish bloodfeuds sprung from the dust of Texas.
"The Dead Remember" - Set in 1877 and told in the form of letters and official documents, unusual for Howard. Jim Gordon, the author of the first letter, decided to take time out from a cattle drive at the home of Joel, an ex-slave he knew and get some food. Losing all his money at dice after getting plastered on tequila, Gordon shot and killed Joel and his fortune-telling wife Jezebel - and Jezebel, dying, says he won't live out the year.

"Black Canaan" - A rumor of an oncoming uprising in the Black River end of that part of Louisiana known as Canaan brings the narrator home from New Orleans to check out the real situation among those only a generation from slavery. But someone has unearthed some African magic that's even worse for the oppressed than the oppressors...

"Kelly the Conjure-Man" - The title character, born a slave and rumored to be the son of a Congo ju-ju man, held immense power in the Ouachita pinelands of Arkansas, where he settled after the War.

"The Valley of the Lost" - John Reynolds, last surviving fighting man of his Texan clan in the aftermath of yet another gunfight in the Reynolds-McCrill feud, takes shelter in haunted Lost Valley rather than die unavenged. Some places, though, are better lost. This tale bears the marks of Howard's long-time friendship with H.P. Lovecraft; enjoy.

"The Man on the Ground" - A very short story of a fatal fight in another Reynolds blood-feud.

"Black Hound of Death" - Here we have an evil-cult-of-Malik Nous story, but different from "Dig Me No Grave"in _Beyond the Borders_.

"'For the Love of Barbara Allen'" - John Grimes, after hearing one of his grandfather's tales of the campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest, is swept into a flashback of a past life, as his grandfather's brother. "[War] upsets the balance of things, and throws lives into confusion that eternity cannot make right."

"The Hoofed Thing" - Crossover Cthulhu-type story, but with more brawn than Lovecraft himself normally deployed.

"The Moon of Zambebwei" - This is something like "Black Canaan", but far different in detail. Richard Ballville, absolute master of Ballville Manor in the Deep South, has held Constance Brand a prisoner for three years, faking her death - but now he's dying, and has only one hope for her survival: his rival and worst enemy, Bristol McGrath. The relationship between Ballville and McGrath is almost more interesting than anything else. McGrath would kill Ballville if he weren't already dying, and Ballville regrets nothing and rejoices in McGrath's past suffering, but they can trust each other on the most important matter in their world.

"The Horror from the Mound" - Steve Brill, who regrets leaving herd work for his failing farm, chaffs his neighbor Lopez on avoiding the Indian mound near the boundary of their lands. Unexpectedly, Lopez lets drop that de Estrada, a Spanish explorer famed for his gold, actually left it, and it's cursed - but Brill doesn't believe in curses, more's the pity.

Here's a blurb from the back that I think is priceless for this sort of project:

Its European discoverers called the American continent the "New World", pitifully unaware of the ancient evils lurking there, their prehistoric origins antedating even the arrival of the Indians, whose legends warn of accursed places where hidden dwellers wait for human prey. And from the Old World trailed evils equally ancient and loathsome to threaten men's souls and sanity.

If that doesn't get a campaign started, I don't know what will!

In fact, it'd be a project I'd be interested in contributing to...

[Finarvyn]

Nov 22, 2010 11:35:31 GMT -6 kesher said:

Hey, Fin. You want this book. As far as I know, it collects all his "weird" West stories. I haven't read my copy for, I dunno, 15 years, but now I'm gonna have to read it again.

If that doesn't get a campaign started, I don't know what will!

In fact, it'd be a project I'd be interested in contributing to...

That book looks familar. I think I may have it on my shelf already!

I'll have to look. I started THE VULTURES OF WHAPETON becasue I thought I remembered that it has supernatural western stories in it ... but so far no supernatural.

It would be fun to see what we can some up with, campaign-wise. I suspect that most of the weirdness comes in the form of (1) subhumans lurking in caves, and (2) eerie feelings of dread, but I'm hoping I'm wrong.

[kesher]

I'm on the second story, and so far it's mostly been voodoo curses and "conjer men" [sic], including a vengeful ghost. 'Course, it's Howard writing in his times, so the ex-slaves are portrayed much like the "blacks" of his Conan stories...

I'm pretty sure the "Hoofed Thing" is actually, well, a hoofed thing...

[Finarvyn]

Here is a list of REH’s “Weird West” stories according to Wikipedia, but not in the book you recommended:
* The Haunted Hut
* A Horror in the Night
* Old Garfield's Heart
* Pigeons From Hell
* Secret of Lost Valley
* The Shadow of the Beast
* The Shadow of Doom

These are also in the book you recommended, but not on the Wikipedia list. It’s possible that some of these could be stories with alternate titles.
* Black Canaan
* Kelly the Conjure-Man
* The Valley of the Lost
* Black Hound of Death
* The Hoofed Thing
* Moon of Zambabwei

These are on both lists:
* The Dead Remember
* For the Love of Barbara Allen
* The Horror from the Mound
* The Man on the Ground

This is where I get frustrated, since I just don’t find lists that match.

[kesher]

AH! Pigeons from Hell! I've read that somewhere...

Well, if we both keep looking, I bet we can put together a definitive list!

[Finarvyn]

Nov 22, 2010 11:35:31 GMT -6 kesher said:

Here's a blurb from the back that I think is priceless for this sort of project:

Its European discoverers called the American continent the "New World", pitifully unaware of the ancient evils lurking there, their prehistoric origins antedating even the arrival of the Indians, whose legends warn of accursed places where hidden dwellers wait for human prey. And from the Old World trailed evils equally ancient and loathsome to threaten men's souls and sanity.

If that doesn't get a campaign started, I don't know what will!

By the way ... that is an awesome blurb!

[arcadayn]

Great project guys! Exalt to both of you for your work so far.

Nov 22, 2010 11:35:31 GMT -6 kesher said:

If that doesn't get a campaign started, I don't know what will!

In fact, it'd be a project I'd be interested in contributing to...

So, are you thinking of a retro-clone mash-up of Boot Hill and OD&D? There is an awful lot of cool stuff you could throw in there. I was just watching a show on the History channel the other day that talked about all of the different peoples that are reputed to have visited America before Columbus. Vikings, Polynesians, ancient Israelites - fits very well with that back cover blurb!

[Finarvyn]

Nov 22, 2010 14:05:11 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Nov 22, 2010 11:35:31 GMT -6 kesher said:

Hey, Fin. You want this book. As far as I know, it collects all his "weird" West stories. I haven't read my copy for, I dunno, 15 years, but now I'm gonna have to read it again.

That book looks familar. I think I may have it on my shelf already!

I'll have to look. I started THE VULTURES OF WHAPETON becasue I thought I remembered that it has supernatural western stories in it ... but so far no supernatural.

Just finished VULTURES OF WHAPETON and am moving on to TRAILS IN DARKNES. Much more supernatural in flavor!

Nov 28, 2010 9:52:42 GMT -6 arcadayn said:

So, are you thinking of a retro-clone mash-up of Boot Hill and OD&D?

I haven't gotten that far, yet. At this point I want to assemble some "sourcebook" style notes, then I can ponder whether it'll be straight Boot Hill or some BH/OD&D blend, or what.

[kesher]

I just finished TRAILS IN DARKNESS, which had some great, great stories, all supernatural in bent. I will say, and I realize the time this was all written, not to mention the times he was portraying, that some of the baldly racist language really made me wince. Far worse than Lovecraft, far worse even than his Conan stories.

Anyway, I'm onto WOLFSHEAD, which has some of his best stories ever. Only one WW tale, though, which is already in TRAILS OF DARKNESS.

Here's the ToC:

Wolfshead : The Black Stone
Wolfshead : The Valley of the Worm
Wolfshead : Wolfshead
Wolfshead : The Fire of Asshurbanipal
Wolfshead : The House of Arabu
Wolfshead : The Horror from the Mound (in ToD)

Again, though only the one is WW, there's useful ideas in all of them.

In an actual game, I'd be inclined to just use BH with maybe the addition of Passions of some sort. I also think past lives (atavism) would need to figure in somehow...

[Finarvyn]

Hmmm. I haven't read Wolfshead, but most of the other titles sound familar.

[arcadayn]

You guys still working on this one?