Solomon Kane: The Hills of the Dead

Solomon Kane #5

by Robert E. Howard, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Kirk (Cartographer)

Warrior Against the Wicked

In a world ruled by piracy, stalked by vampires, peopled by cities of the inhuman, he stood tall amid the terrors of the Dark Continent. Kane, a man of savage and unconquerable courage, strode deep into the jungles, forever slashing his diamond-edged rapier as evil guided the creatures of the night toward him. Wicked whispers of death touched him. Haunted horrors of the world beyond life reached for him. But Kane never halted his march, for he would never rest until the final, epic duel between light and dark was waged...and won.

Contents:
* The Mystery of Solomon Kane Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
* The Hills of the Dead
* Hawk of Basti Completed by Ramsey Campbell
* The Return of Sir Richard Grenville
* Wings in the Night
* The Footfalls Within
* The Children of Asshur Completed by Ramsey Campbell
* Solomon Kane's Homecoming

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Short Stories, Pulp, Fiction, Sword and Sorcery, Adventure

141 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1930

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Africa again, Kane’s old friend N’Longa (the witch doctor from “Red Shadows”) gives the Puritan a magic wooden staff, the Staff of Solomon, which will protect him in his travels. Kane enters the jungle and finds a city of vampires.

Good writing, excellent action, and a unique idea. Not only is the vampire a fairly uncommon theme in Sword & Sorcery literature, but those featured in Howard’s story are of a savage brutal animated corpse-race that inhabit the jungles of Africa, more of that of the Haitian voodoo zombie legends. They are tribal monsters with crimson eyes and black, dusky skin – a far cry from the sensual, debonair bloodsuckers.

aaaaand its deeply racist, making all the black people use cave-man speak and are stupid, bestial and magical.

3/5 Cool idea to have a puritan fight vampires, downgraded due to it being uncomfortable implementation.

[Dartharagorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kane stories in my opinion are some of Howard's finest works. If you haven't treated yourself to these amazing stories, you definitely need too!

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solomon Kane was always my favorite of REH's major heroes; he doesn't just brood more than King Kull ever did, but instead of being a "barbarian" unfettered by civilization's constraints, he had actual internal conflict, reconciling his Puritan faith with both the violence in his life and his keen attractions to the mysteries and mysticism of the "dark continent."

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

N’Longa makes his return from Red Shadows! Lots of talk about how dark and scary Africa is, it's basically the pulp version of Heart of Darkness. They team up and fight vampires.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/060...

[Omar Amat · Rating 4 out of 5]

great adventure with some excelent horror elements!

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Συλλογή πέντε ιστοριών, με ήρωα τον Πουριτανό Εγγλέζο Σόλομον Κέιν, έναν άντρα που έχουν δει πολλά τα μάτια του και δεν φοβάται τίποτα. Έχει σαφώς μπόλικες διαφορές με τον Κόναν τον Βάρβαρο, αλλά είναι και αυτός ένας πολύ ενδιαφέρων χαρακτήρας. Πρώτη φορά τον συναντώ σ'αυτές τις πέντε ιστορίες...

Οι ιστορίες είναι οι εξής: Οι λόφοι των νεκρών, Φτερούγες στη νύχτα, Η γαλάζια φλόγα της εκδίκησης, Κροτάλισμα από κόκαλα και Κρανία στ'αστέρια, και είναι όλες τους πολύ καλές, σκοτεινές, απίστευτα ατμοσφαιρικές και με πολλές σκηνές γραφικής βίας.

Η πρώτη ιστορία έχει να κάνει με τον Κέιν που ταξιδεύει στην Αφρικανική ζούγκλα και εκεί θα συναντήσει... ιθαγενείς βρικόλακες. Με την βοήθεια ενός γέρου μαύρου μάγου, του Ν'Λόνγκα, θα καταφέρει να πολεμήσει αυτά τα τέρατα.

Στην δεύτερη ιστορία της συλλογής ο Κέιν εξακολουθεί να είναι στην Αφρική, μόνο που τώρα θα πολεμήσει ενάντια σε φτερωτούς ανθρώπους, κάτι πεινασμένα και μακάβρια πλάσματα που κάνουν επιδρομές σε ένα φτωχό χωριό και σκοτώνουν άγρια τους κατοίκους του- με τους κανιβάλους να περιτριγυρίζουν το μέρος.

Στην τρίτη ιστορία ο Κέιν θα προσπαθήσει να εκδικηθεί έναν βάρβαρο πειρατή, ο οποίος έχει κάποιες μαγικές δυνάμεις.

Στην προτελευταία ιστορία, η οποία είναι αρκετά σύντομη, ο Κέιν και ένας ξένος που μόλις γνώρισε θα συναντήσουν ένα βράδυ μπροστά τους ένα χάνι με έναν σκοτεινό τύπο να το διευθύνει.

Και στην τελευταία ιστορία, η οποία είναι επίσης σύντομη, ο Κέιν θα πολεμήσει με μια σκιά, ένα φάντασμα, χωρίς να μπορεί να του κάνει πολλά πράγματα εν αντιθέσει με εκείνο που μπορεί να σκοτώσει.

Όλα τα διηγήματα ήταν πολύ καλογραμμένα με εξαιρετικές και ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές σκοτεινών και τρομακτικών τοπίων και γεγονότων - πραγματικά, μπορεί το βιβλίο ν'ανήκει στο ράφι της φαντασίας αλλά έχει μπόλικα στοιχεία τρόμου. Δεν είναι να διαβαστεί βράδυ, σκιάζεσαι όσο να'ναι...

[Ceraeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre est composé de plusieurs nouvelles et courts récits mettant en scène le personnage de Solomon Kane, vagabond puritain anglais. Ses aventures le confrontent aux forces du mal, qu'elles prennent la forme de spectres, magie noire ou vaudou, vampires et autres joyeusetés. Les récits vont souvent à l'essentiel, avantage du format, et sont très intéressantes à lire, avec un personnage principal doté d'un certain charisme, à défaut de nous être vraiment sympathique.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but then again, not that good. It was cool how these stories all tell one narrative of his adventures in Africa, where the first volume had no links besides Kane existing. Wings In The Night was the best Kane story overall, it avoided a lot of the cliches that bored me in other stories (like villains taking Kane alive only for him to inevitably escape and kill them all), and the chapter The Madness Of Solomon Kane was badass, loved seeing him utterly lose his shit.

[David Sven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to this on the SFF Audio Podcast. I liked the narrator but I enjoyed the discussion more than the actual book.

Solomon Kane rescues an African village from hoards of vampires. The book itself was only an hour and the discussion afterwards made it worth it.

2 stars

[Brendan Columbus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solomon Kane is Robert E. Howard's 1932 character that could easily be written in 2021. Bloody adventures through darkest Africa through the dangers of the jungles, cannibals and monsters, Solomon Kane is just always fun to read. The fact that he is a ripped Puritan with two guns and a sword only adds to the pulpiness.

[Mark Tallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars. This is the second Solomon Kane story that I've read, written by Robert E. Howard. Howard, regarded by many as the greatest pulp fiction writer ever, does not disappoint with this very enjoyable horror short story.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mission 2026: Binge reviewing all previous Reads, I was too slothful to review back when I read them

Robert E. Howard’s 'Solomon Kane: The Hills of the Dead' deepens the bleak moral universe sketched in earlier Kane stories, and, on rereading, it felt less like an adventure and more like an obsessive descent. What struck me most was how the story amplifies the theme of pursuit, not just of an external evil but of an inner compulsion that Kane himself barely questions. The undead menace is lurid and grotesque, yet it is never allowed to eclipse Kane’s own severity. His righteousness is relentless, almost frightening in its refusal to acknowledge limits. Kane does not weigh risks or consider alternatives; once he recognizes evil, pursuit becomes inevitable, even if it leads into literal tombs and spiritual exhaustion. Howard’s handling of horror here is more physical than cosmic. The decay, the crawling dread, and the claustrophobic spaces, all press in on the body as much as the mind. I found myself struck by how joyless the victory feels. Defeating evil does not restore order or offer relief; it merely confirms Kane’s isolation and hardens his resolve. There is no sense that the world has improved, only that one manifestation of corruption has been extinguished. The story refuses catharsis. Kane survives, but survival feels like continuation rather than reward. What lingered with me was the unsettling suggestion that Kane’s moral clarity comes at the cost of his humanity. He is effective precisely because he is willing to endure what others would flee, but that endurance also seals him into a life without softness, community, or rest. 'The Hills of the Dead' ultimately reads as a grim meditation on the price of absolute moral certainty. It asks, without ever explicitly posing the question, whether a world that requires such relentless purity to confront its evils is itself already beyond redemption.

Recommended.

[Wes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another inherited book from a dearly departed friend. Brought to you by the creator of Conan, these stories are all of a similar format. Solomon differs from Conan as far as convictions and motivations, but the end result of an encounter with Solomon or Conan is pretty much the same.

This Solomon Kane book, like others, is made up of short stories, but these short stories are chronological and they do weave into a longer narrative.

Great stuff if you're into the pulp adventures of the 20's and 30's but just kind of Meh if you're over those kinds of stories. Howard was a fun and prolific writer for the genre, but there are a lot of Howard stories floating around out there that were not finished by him. Howard was prolific, yes, but he also killed himself at a very young age, leaving behind a great pile of unfinished work. With all the various collections floating around, it gets really hard to tell what was finished, edited and published by him.

Violent, bloody, pulp fun for fans of the genre or the casual Conan fan who is curious about other Howard creations.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audible edition. An adventurer, Solomon Kane, explores the mysteries of Africa. A voodoo stave, a damsel in distress, and a city of vampires keep Kane's life interesting. Eurocentrism is to be expected from this time period, but the racism and sexism is tiring. Not a lot to recommend this.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty average. One of the weakest of the Kane stories. Not much buildup, anticlimactic and the action isn’t nearly as exciting or full of tension. It was okay though, pretty decent for its length.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some racist remarks.

[Daken Howlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raccolta dei racconti di Solomon Kane che comprende anche il mio racconto preferito della serie, homecoming.
Solomon Kane,a differenza della creazione più famosa di Howard, Conan il barbaro, è un personaggio malinconico e misterioso, è anche lui un'anti-eroe, ma lo è per la sua natura di puritano, disposto a distruggere qualunque cosa possa minacciare la fede e disposto a qualunque sacrificio, anche personale, pur di mantenere il suo voto.
Le sue avventure lo porteranno a scoprire l'essenza tutt'altro che ultraterrena del male in questo mondo, ma è difficile dire quante delle creature e delle popolazioni misteriose e perdute in un lontano passato incontrate dal pellegrino siano realmente malvagie, e quante sia viste come tali dal nostro per la loro natura pagana.
Non tutti i racconti in questa raccolta sono allo stesso livello,ma in generale il livello è molto alto.

[Little Timmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Robert E. Howard is my all time favorite writer, but for many years much of his work was heavily edited. This is another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howard's stories. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another time period. Don't read this book unless you just can't find any others of Howard's unedited books to read. Message me if you need a list of what is good from this awesome fantasy and action writer.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The English Puritan Solomon Kane is perhaps Robert E. Howard's most interesting character ( for me, anyway). In this book of six stories and one poem, Ramsey Campbell wrote the introduction and completed two of the stories, which had been left uncompleted by Howard. I can see why REH fans would be upset by this but it was OK for me--as long as we have the original stories available, which we do.
Great adventure mixed with horror, set in a most interesting time period--the Elizabethan Age of the late 16th Century.

[Анатолій Волков · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Холмы мертвых» Соломон Кейн снова на Африканском континенте и продвигается по джунглям следуя зову сердца, что-то его тянет в глубь континента, быть может то самое шило ж… которое многим путешественникам и фанатикам мешает жить спокойной жизнью. Рассказ является своеобразным приложением «Багровых теней», в ней так же присутствует жрец Нлонга, который дарит Кейну ведьмовской посох. На этот раз Кейну и Нлонге предстоит разобраться с племенем вампиров, терроризирующих африканский континент. Многое в сюжете этого рассказа уже знакомо тем, кто читал остальные рассказы.

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

αυτή η πορτοκαλί σειρά της ωρόρα, μπορεί να έβγαλε μόνο εφτά ή οχτώ μα ήταν η βάση για τα 77 που ακολούθησαν
όλα είναι ένα και ένα εκτός από τον σκοτεινό κόσμο
αν τα βρείτε συλλέξτε τα και απολαύστε τα

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a novel way to get rid of undead. It's a surprise I hadn't thought of it before... though it might have been even more effective, narratively speaking, without the bit of clumsy foreshadowing.

Three and a half.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Solomon Kane stories. Most can be found in various collections.