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Skull face
"Pictures in the Flames" by Richard Lupoff
"Skull-Face"
"The Lord of the Dead"
"Names in the Black Book"
"Taveral Manor" (Completed by Richard Lupoff)
338 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1929
9 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,981 books2,643 followersRobert 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
October 30, 2021
This is a collection of four stories by Howard modeled after Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, so the premise is by definition on the racist side. They're good adventure stories, though, and among Howard's best in the weird-menace genre, with plenty of brilliant story-telling and almost non-stop action. The best known, of course, is Skull-Face, which appeared in Weird Tales magazine in 1929. The fourth story, Taverel Manor, is one that Howard planned as a sequel to it but never completed; it was finished by Richard A. Lupoff for this edition. The two middle stories, Lord of the Dead and Names in the Black Book, feature characters with different names but seem to be otherwise the same. He sold the first to a magazine that went under before it was printed, and the sequel appeared in Super-Detective Stories magazine in 1934. Lupoff contributes an interesting introduction to the book that details the history of the stories and Howard's confusing use of similar character names. This Berkley edition also has a couple of interior illustrations that are unattributed but look like they may have come from Weird Tales, as well as a nice Ken Kelly cover that's reproduced as an elongated fold-out poster in the interior, though they don't list the artist anywhere.
October 24, 2020
This was quite fun in a way over the top way. I'd only read one of these tales before, and reading them all in a row was quite the pell-mell, helter-skelter, adrenaline rush! Mystery, terror, blood n guts, romance, treachery, death, fear, survival -- an awesomely delightful smorgasbord of mucking fisticuffs and mighty fun! Thick and dangerous plots filled with murky motivations and blood-thrilling battles of wit and brawn! Massive fists of powerful writing pummel the readers' senses into an euphoric overload until everything hums with the passion of a master storyteller.
July 3, 2020
3.5
"La poesía del señor Howard (extraña, belicosa y aventurera) no era menos notable que su prosa. Poseía el auténtico espíritu de la balada y la épica, y se hallaba marcada por el latido de la rima y una poderosa imaginería del temple más inconfundible y personal"
H. P. Lovecraft.
Antología de 5 relatos originalmente publicados en weird tales. Son relatos típicos del pulp pero con la impronta de autor. Sobresale el misterio, la aventura Y lo detectivesco.
Abarca temas como: los cultos, licantropia, magia, vampirismo, vudú ,entre otros.
Ampliamente disfrutabe y entretenido pero no llega a ser de lo mejor de Howard,
No recomiendo esta edición en particular que tiene varios problemas.
"La poesía del señor Howard (extraña, belicosa y aventurera) no era menos notable que su prosa. Poseía el auténtico espíritu de la balada y la épica, y se hallaba marcada por el latido de la rima y una poderosa imaginería del temple más inconfundible y personal"
H. P. Lovecraft.
Antología de 5 relatos originalmente publicados en weird tales. Son relatos típicos del pulp pero con la impronta de autor. Sobresale el misterio, la aventura Y lo detectivesco.
Abarca temas como: los cultos, licantropia, magia, vampirismo, vudú ,entre otros.
Ampliamente disfrutabe y entretenido pero no llega a ser de lo mejor de Howard,
No recomiendo esta edición en particular que tiene varios problemas.
October 23, 2014
A rainy day after a long, tiring one gave me a good excuse to sit down & read this. They're great stories, some of the best that REH ever did, IMO. They're horror/mystery stories & bring out some of the finest points of his writing. The biggest gripe I have with this book is Lupoff's introduction.
The first & last stories, "Skull-Face" & "Taveral Manor", feature Gordon, an English detective loosely associated with Scotland Yard but pretty much autonomous, & Stephen Costigan, an American who fought in WWI. The pair have their adventures mostly in England. Costigan is perhaps one of the most human of all Howard's characters. He's a man shattered mentally by war who becomes 'a dope fiend'. Both stories go into a bit of detail about opium & hash. There is definitely a supernatural thread in the story, that being Skull-face himself, but the rest is pretty much natural.
Steve Harrison is the hero of the middle two stories, "Lord of the Dead" & "Names in the Black Book" He's an American police detective working River Street in China town in a major US city. He is in charge of the area & pretty much autonomous, which lets him get into lots of trouble that looks somewhat supernatural on the surface, but is strictly natural.
Richard A. Lupoff wrote the introduction & finished the final story, "Taveral Manor" aka "The Return of Skullface". While he started off the introduction well, Lupoff, in the third person, started a paragraph describing his completion of the story by saying he would reveal how much of it he wrote & finished that same paragraph by saying it would be revealed later. There was no further explanation, such as an afterword. He completely pissed me off with that bit of word play. If anyone knows exactly how much he did write, I'd be interested in finding out. Probably from
I found the end of Lupoff's introduction weird & intentionally confusing. He compares Stephen Costigan to Steve Harrison, saying they may be the same character. I disagree. He then points out that Stephen Costigan is not to be confused with Steve Costigan (aka Dennis Dorgan), the main character in REH's humorous boxing stories. Duh, of course not. It's not worth mentioning, as it only serves to confuse.
Lupoff also compares Steve Harrison's nemisis, Erlik Khan, with Skull-face. Again, they have similarities, but aren't the same. I don't know why he bothers, but I think this is the reason for separating the two Skull-face stories with the other two. Lupoff also says that Joan in the two Harrison stories may be two different characters, but I failed to see how she could be. The story itself specifically references her place in the previous one & yes, her last name is mentioned in both (Lupoff says it isn't).
I any case, REH did write a lot of similar stories & characters. Given that he wrote over 500 stories in about a decade for the pulp market, that's hardly surprising. In some cases, such as Steve Costigan/Dennis Dorgan, he did just change the names so the story could be published in another magazine &/or under another name. Many of his heroes shared similar attributes that he found appealing. Anyone who read stories featuring Kull & Conan can see that they're very similar. Lupoff goes to extremes trying to connect these heroes & create confusion, IMO. I won't be looking for anything else by him, but will continue to enjoy Howard's writings.
The first & last stories, "Skull-Face" & "Taveral Manor", feature Gordon, an English detective loosely associated with Scotland Yard but pretty much autonomous, & Stephen Costigan, an American who fought in WWI. The pair have their adventures mostly in England. Costigan is perhaps one of the most human of all Howard's characters. He's a man shattered mentally by war who becomes 'a dope fiend'. Both stories go into a bit of detail about opium & hash. There is definitely a supernatural thread in the story, that being Skull-face himself, but the rest is pretty much natural.
Steve Harrison is the hero of the middle two stories, "Lord of the Dead" & "Names in the Black Book" He's an American police detective working River Street in China town in a major US city. He is in charge of the area & pretty much autonomous, which lets him get into lots of trouble that looks somewhat supernatural on the surface, but is strictly natural.
Richard A. Lupoff wrote the introduction & finished the final story, "Taveral Manor" aka "The Return of Skullface". While he started off the introduction well, Lupoff, in the third person, started a paragraph describing his completion of the story by saying he would reveal how much of it he wrote & finished that same paragraph by saying it would be revealed later. There was no further explanation, such as an afterword. He completely pissed me off with that bit of word play. If anyone knows exactly how much he did write, I'd be interested in finding out. Probably from
I found the end of Lupoff's introduction weird & intentionally confusing. He compares Stephen Costigan to Steve Harrison, saying they may be the same character. I disagree. He then points out that Stephen Costigan is not to be confused with Steve Costigan (aka Dennis Dorgan), the main character in REH's humorous boxing stories. Duh, of course not. It's not worth mentioning, as it only serves to confuse.
Lupoff also compares Steve Harrison's nemisis, Erlik Khan, with Skull-face. Again, they have similarities, but aren't the same. I don't know why he bothers, but I think this is the reason for separating the two Skull-face stories with the other two. Lupoff also says that Joan in the two Harrison stories may be two different characters, but I failed to see how she could be. The story itself specifically references her place in the previous one & yes, her last name is mentioned in both (Lupoff says it isn't).
I any case, REH did write a lot of similar stories & characters. Given that he wrote over 500 stories in about a decade for the pulp market, that's hardly surprising. In some cases, such as Steve Costigan/Dennis Dorgan, he did just change the names so the story could be published in another magazine &/or under another name. Many of his heroes shared similar attributes that he found appealing. Anyone who read stories featuring Kull & Conan can see that they're very similar. Lupoff goes to extremes trying to connect these heroes & create confusion, IMO. I won't be looking for anything else by him, but will continue to enjoy Howard's writings.
February 8, 2016
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.
April 24, 2020
3.5 Stars
The best way to describe this collection is "Robert E. Howard's Fu Manchu Stories." Erlik Khan is very much Howard's Fu Manchu character, and this collection is all about the villain and the detectives that chase him down. There's plenty of wild action and some monsters even show up.
If you are a fan of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories, of if you like Howard's detective tales, you'll enjoy this one. I'm still more of a Solomon Kane/Conan fan, and also enjoy Howard's horror stories, but this was still fun.
The best way to describe this collection is "Robert E. Howard's Fu Manchu Stories." Erlik Khan is very much Howard's Fu Manchu character, and this collection is all about the villain and the detectives that chase him down. There's plenty of wild action and some monsters even show up.
If you are a fan of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories, of if you like Howard's detective tales, you'll enjoy this one. I'm still more of a Solomon Kane/Conan fan, and also enjoy Howard's horror stories, but this was still fun.
January 27, 2015
This review is of the novella "Skull-Face," originally serialized in 1929...which means Robert E. Howard was 23 when he wrote this...blast him. :)
Howard has often been called "a storyteller." And that's absolutely right. It is, to me, one of the most mysterious qualities a writer has; despite the quality of the dialogue or the preposterousness of the situations, a story is being told and the reader is swept along.
The outlines of "Skull-Face" were well-established ever 85 years ago: a criminal mastermind is making himself felt in London, the first-person hero is opposing him, along with a granite-jawed police inspector and a brave, lovely woman torn between her duty to the mastermind and her love for the first-person hero. In many ways, "Skull-Face" is a pastiche of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels, which themselves were twists on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The difference is that Howard turns the dial on everything up to eleven. "Skull-Face", AKA The Scorpion or Kathulos of Egypt, isn't just an evil "Oriental" running the occasional hashish-house and assassinating people in preparation for the Chinese overthrow of the world...that would be too easy! Kathulos is an undead sorceror from sunken Atlantis, people! And the hero isn't just a naive but good-hearted American thrust into a maze of intrigue...no, Stephen Costigan is a shell-shocked WWI vet in London who is a hashish addict! Later, for his own reasons, Kathulos gives him an elixir which is a kind of super-dope; making him a sort of Captain America, if Captain America were a crazed drug addict. It's amazing to read a thriller where the hero is not, in fact, quite sane for 98% of the story. And when one sub-plot involves him dressing up as an escaped gorilla, you feel that maybe YOU'RE on drugs as you read the story.
Some have called "Skull-Face" racist and--yeah, it's kind of racist, but it isn't JUST racist. The racial aspect is fascinating. Skull-Face's short-term plan is to unite all the non-white peoples of the world to destroy the European and American empire. So, murderous plots aside, you could almost look at him as the hero! (Although his ultimate goal is somewhat less beneficial for his minions.) In 1929, there was obviously an awareness that the then-current state of affairs (every country in Africa under European colonial rule, India a British territory, Southeast Asia under European control)was not very popular. The explosions would come just 25 years later, and so while Howard's story is extreme in every way, it's about something real.
There are also some weird sexual undertones; some have detected homoerotic themes in Howard's work, and the narrator is certainly enamored in a way of the heroic, handsome English inspector, John Gordon (who, although working against the black, yellow and brown peoples of the world is himself impeccably tanned); on the other hand, it may also be that the two heroes are two aspects of Howard's dream-self. Gordon is who he might like to be -- handsome and infallible. Costigan, the dope fiend, is closer to what he perhaps feared he was -- a "brute" despite his learning and cultural awareness, and not in control of himself. There is also a fairly amazing scene where our hero, with great tenderness, handcuffs the heroine to a bed in order to free her from the mental control of Kathulos.
The story hurtles from one event to the next, and there's sometimes the feeling that Howard is typing faster than he's thinking; plots are introduced and then dropped, sometimes with an explanation ("The Master has changed his mind") and sometimes not. Sometimes people know more than they should; but Howard is such a storyteller that the weaknesses of the story--written, again, when he was 23--seem more like the stuff of dreams. A hashish dream of a "dope fiend," perhaps.
Howard has often been called "a storyteller." And that's absolutely right. It is, to me, one of the most mysterious qualities a writer has; despite the quality of the dialogue or the preposterousness of the situations, a story is being told and the reader is swept along.
The outlines of "Skull-Face" were well-established ever 85 years ago: a criminal mastermind is making himself felt in London, the first-person hero is opposing him, along with a granite-jawed police inspector and a brave, lovely woman torn between her duty to the mastermind and her love for the first-person hero. In many ways, "Skull-Face" is a pastiche of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels, which themselves were twists on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The difference is that Howard turns the dial on everything up to eleven. "Skull-Face", AKA The Scorpion or Kathulos of Egypt, isn't just an evil "Oriental" running the occasional hashish-house and assassinating people in preparation for the Chinese overthrow of the world...that would be too easy! Kathulos is an undead sorceror from sunken Atlantis, people! And the hero isn't just a naive but good-hearted American thrust into a maze of intrigue...no, Stephen Costigan is a shell-shocked WWI vet in London who is a hashish addict! Later, for his own reasons, Kathulos gives him an elixir which is a kind of super-dope; making him a sort of Captain America, if Captain America were a crazed drug addict. It's amazing to read a thriller where the hero is not, in fact, quite sane for 98% of the story. And when one sub-plot involves him dressing up as an escaped gorilla, you feel that maybe YOU'RE on drugs as you read the story.
Some have called "Skull-Face" racist and--yeah, it's kind of racist, but it isn't JUST racist. The racial aspect is fascinating. Skull-Face's short-term plan is to unite all the non-white peoples of the world to destroy the European and American empire. So, murderous plots aside, you could almost look at him as the hero! (Although his ultimate goal is somewhat less beneficial for his minions.) In 1929, there was obviously an awareness that the then-current state of affairs (every country in Africa under European colonial rule, India a British territory, Southeast Asia under European control)was not very popular. The explosions would come just 25 years later, and so while Howard's story is extreme in every way, it's about something real.
There are also some weird sexual undertones; some have detected homoerotic themes in Howard's work, and the narrator is certainly enamored in a way of the heroic, handsome English inspector, John Gordon (who, although working against the black, yellow and brown peoples of the world is himself impeccably tanned); on the other hand, it may also be that the two heroes are two aspects of Howard's dream-self. Gordon is who he might like to be -- handsome and infallible. Costigan, the dope fiend, is closer to what he perhaps feared he was -- a "brute" despite his learning and cultural awareness, and not in control of himself. There is also a fairly amazing scene where our hero, with great tenderness, handcuffs the heroine to a bed in order to free her from the mental control of Kathulos.
The story hurtles from one event to the next, and there's sometimes the feeling that Howard is typing faster than he's thinking; plots are introduced and then dropped, sometimes with an explanation ("The Master has changed his mind") and sometimes not. Sometimes people know more than they should; but Howard is such a storyteller that the weaknesses of the story--written, again, when he was 23--seem more like the stuff of dreams. A hashish dream of a "dope fiend," perhaps.
April 8, 2023
Many years ago, in a previous lifetime (ok, that's not true but it sounded appropriate), I enjoyed Robert E. Howard's Conan books. I still have the series sitting on my bookshelf. Anyway, a couple of years ago, I ordered another of his early books, Skull-Face, a novella originally published in 1946.
The story reminded me of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu fantasy thrillers; being that an ancient being, aka Skull-Face, threatens the world by rousing the ancient forces of Africa and Asia against the western world. The story focuses on an American WWI veteran, Stephen Costigan. Suffering from war injuries, both physical and mental, Stephen has succumbed to world of hashish, his mind slipping into a dream world. His money spent, he is 'cured' by the Master of the hashish den, a skull-like figure who he only sees in a cloud of smoke.
The cure Skull-face provides is instantaneous and Costigan feels a debt of gratitude to the mysterious individual. But of course, all is not as it seems. Skull-face wants Costigan for his secret aims; firstly to impersonate an English spy and later to kill an archeologist. At this point, Costigan's basic humanity begins to take over and he determines to foil Skull-face, even at the risk of his own life.
With the help of Gordon, an English agent and also of Zuleika, a beautiful woman, also under the thrall of Skull-face, but willing to assist Costigan, the story moves along quickly, as the forces of good battle the forces of 'evil'. Who is Skull-face? Well, read this story and you'll find out. You'll also find out who it all ends up. (Note. There are racist stereotypes in this story.) Still, an action-packed, drug fueled fantasy adventure. (3.0 stars)
The story reminded me of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu fantasy thrillers; being that an ancient being, aka Skull-Face, threatens the world by rousing the ancient forces of Africa and Asia against the western world. The story focuses on an American WWI veteran, Stephen Costigan. Suffering from war injuries, both physical and mental, Stephen has succumbed to world of hashish, his mind slipping into a dream world. His money spent, he is 'cured' by the Master of the hashish den, a skull-like figure who he only sees in a cloud of smoke.
The cure Skull-face provides is instantaneous and Costigan feels a debt of gratitude to the mysterious individual. But of course, all is not as it seems. Skull-face wants Costigan for his secret aims; firstly to impersonate an English spy and later to kill an archeologist. At this point, Costigan's basic humanity begins to take over and he determines to foil Skull-face, even at the risk of his own life.
With the help of Gordon, an English agent and also of Zuleika, a beautiful woman, also under the thrall of Skull-face, but willing to assist Costigan, the story moves along quickly, as the forces of good battle the forces of 'evil'. Who is Skull-face? Well, read this story and you'll find out. You'll also find out who it all ends up. (Note. There are racist stereotypes in this story.) Still, an action-packed, drug fueled fantasy adventure. (3.0 stars)
October 24, 2025
Dentro de la obra de Howard, esta novela corta (o relato largo) se me hace un poco floja. A su estilo no le sentaban demasiado bien estos argumentos de conspiraciones mundiales a lo Sax Rohmer y encima, la traducción de esta edición no me parece demasiado buena (tampoco tiene mucho sentido el cambio de título de "Skull face" a "El templo de Yun-Shatu") Canaan Negro, el relato que completa el libro me parece bastante mejor, pero también sufre por la traducción.
January 16, 2016
Its chapters are stories about the typical strong Howardian hero against the evil Skull-Face. Finishing the first one I thought it was a great story, a mystery thriller with a global conspiracy, drug dealing, Atlantis and remniscent of the original Dracula. What more could you ask for? Well, the rest of the chapters/stories don't offer anything more than that. In fact, it's pretty much the same thing again in the end so if you judge it as a novel you don't do it justice and it doesn't get a good mark. But the first story is an underrated gem and the rest are similar thus quite good. The last one was largely written by another writer and I think it shows since it's somewhat inferior. Still, a must for every Howard fan.
November 12, 2019
My first non-Conan REH book. A great short story.
June 10, 2020
Four stories where REH does his own version of Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu-Manchu. Naturally REH's ultimate villain is of Atlantean instead of Chinese origin, and the hero is a two fisted brawler of extraordinary physical stamina and strength. REH takes this Fu-Manchu mashup and truly makes it his own, and the first story "Skull-Face" is of high quality and and an excellent thriller. Since REH was selling his stories to pulps he couldn't always use the same names each time, so the next two stories in the collection feature "Erlich Khan" as the villain and a different two fisted hero, but despite minor changes they are basically more adventures of Skull-Face. The last story, "Taverel Manor", was an unfinished story by REH and should have been left unfinished. It's an awful mess, and even the parts written by REH needed some reworking before this one could be published.
Here REH proves once again that he can write in any genre successfully. He goes from sword and sorcery to the detective novel to make a buck by mimicking the currently (1929) popular Dr. Fu-Manchu. Who in turn had been a knock-off of Sherlock Holmes. Who had been strongly influenced by C. Auguste Dupin, who was a straight-up copy of Monsieur Lecoq. People might badmouth derivative fiction but some great things can come out of it. So think of Skull-Face the next time you see Inspector Clouseau.
Here REH proves once again that he can write in any genre successfully. He goes from sword and sorcery to the detective novel to make a buck by mimicking the currently (1929) popular Dr. Fu-Manchu. Who in turn had been a knock-off of Sherlock Holmes. Who had been strongly influenced by C. Auguste Dupin, who was a straight-up copy of Monsieur Lecoq. People might badmouth derivative fiction but some great things can come out of it. So think of Skull-Face the next time you see Inspector Clouseau.
November 2, 2021
Auténtico pulp. Pura diversión.
September 16, 2009
I've had this sitting on my nightstand for over a year, and every so often, I would read a few pages before going to sleep. The stories all feature variations of the same characters:
Stephen Costigan/Steve Harrison- barbarian detective and sometimes drug addict.
Erlik Khan/Kathulos- Fu Manchu like evil mastermind, or possibly an immortal Atlantian sorcerer.
Joan La Tour/Zuleika- either a sultry Eurasion with a murky past, or an Asian slave girl owned by Kathulos.
Occassionaly, Stephen/Steve, the hulking and sometimes drug addled cop/secret serviceman/war vet, partners up with the likes of detective John Gordon, or Khoda Khan, an Afghan "raised in a code of blood-feud and vengence".
All these months, these characters have been locked in a seemingly endless struggle with each other as I've been taking my sweet old time reading their pulp adventures. Every other page, someone is being drugged, poisoned, falling through a trap door, sacrificed on an altar, or having their head split down to their teeth with exotic cutlery. Speaking of which, I need to find a steel cap to wear beneath my hoodie. Erlik Khan never leaves the lair without one. You too, can cheat death the next time someone tries to cleave your head in two. I just can't believe I've actually finished the book- it's kind of sad.
Special thanks to Steve Banes for sending this to me however many years ago.
Stephen Costigan/Steve Harrison- barbarian detective and sometimes drug addict.
Erlik Khan/Kathulos- Fu Manchu like evil mastermind, or possibly an immortal Atlantian sorcerer.
Joan La Tour/Zuleika- either a sultry Eurasion with a murky past, or an Asian slave girl owned by Kathulos.
Occassionaly, Stephen/Steve, the hulking and sometimes drug addled cop/secret serviceman/war vet, partners up with the likes of detective John Gordon, or Khoda Khan, an Afghan "raised in a code of blood-feud and vengence".
All these months, these characters have been locked in a seemingly endless struggle with each other as I've been taking my sweet old time reading their pulp adventures. Every other page, someone is being drugged, poisoned, falling through a trap door, sacrificed on an altar, or having their head split down to their teeth with exotic cutlery. Speaking of which, I need to find a steel cap to wear beneath my hoodie. Erlik Khan never leaves the lair without one. You too, can cheat death the next time someone tries to cleave your head in two. I just can't believe I've actually finished the book- it's kind of sad.
Special thanks to Steve Banes for sending this to me however many years ago.
May 25, 2011
Delicious pulp adventures about a master criminal bent on world domination and the hero(es) who are there to frustrate his efforts. The villain's name changed from story to story (these were published in magazine form) and I think the hero's may have, too, but the stories are easily grouped into one collection. If you dig Fu Manchu-esque high adventure from a less-culturally sensitive time, these make great reading for pool-side or a lazy, rainy day.
September 1, 2025
Probably the most racist work of Howard’s I’ve read...but a pretty good yarn given the era it was written. He clearly didn’t understand drugs, however, ascribing to hashish qualities it doesn’t possess.
January 3, 2015
BAASis saaks ehk isegi kahe, aga Goodreadsi skaalal saab hinne vaid üks olla... kui kunagi viitsin, siis ehk isegi vormistan lugemishoiatuse ulmeblogisse ja BAASi...
December 22, 2022
This collection was my first experience any of Robert E. Howard's non-Conan stories. I enjoyed these earlier, more crime-focused stories, although they're pretty formulaic, not his strongest work, and contain some racial stuff that makes them age poorly.
"Skull-Face"- 3/5
The main story, featuring drug-addicted WWI vet Stephen Costigan's struggle against a resurrected Atlantean sorcerer Kathulos, who wants to take over the world. It's a decent pulpy crime adventure with a little supernatural flavor.
"Lord of the Dead"- 3/5
A small-scoped, less-supernatural version of the first story, featuring Detective Steve Harrison (a more put-together version of Costigan) investigating the criminal underground of Chinatown, which is run by Erlik Kahn (a more human version of Kathulos).
"Names in the Black Book"- 4/5
My favorite of the collection. A sequel to "Lord of the Dead," it largely follows the same formula but with a tighter, more exciting plot and more interesting characters.
"Taverel Manor"- 2/5
A direct sequel to "Skull-Face," this story was completed from a fragment by another author and feels like two entirely different stories mashed together with only the thinnest connection. The beginning reads like a Steve Harrison-led mystery while the end feels like something taken straight out of Conan. Both parts are interesting, but they DO NOT fit together.
"Skull-Face"- 3/5
The main story, featuring drug-addicted WWI vet Stephen Costigan's struggle against a resurrected Atlantean sorcerer Kathulos, who wants to take over the world. It's a decent pulpy crime adventure with a little supernatural flavor.
"Lord of the Dead"- 3/5
A small-scoped, less-supernatural version of the first story, featuring Detective Steve Harrison (a more put-together version of Costigan) investigating the criminal underground of Chinatown, which is run by Erlik Kahn (a more human version of Kathulos).
"Names in the Black Book"- 4/5
My favorite of the collection. A sequel to "Lord of the Dead," it largely follows the same formula but with a tighter, more exciting plot and more interesting characters.
"Taverel Manor"- 2/5
A direct sequel to "Skull-Face," this story was completed from a fragment by another author and feels like two entirely different stories mashed together with only the thinnest connection. The beginning reads like a Steve Harrison-led mystery while the end feels like something taken straight out of Conan. Both parts are interesting, but they DO NOT fit together.
November 20, 2020
This one hurt. Robert E. Howard is probably my favorite writer. The way he strings words together is like no one else, and it's fantastic.
This book, however, especially the titular story 'Skull-Face,' is so intensely racist that it put me in a bad mood for much of the reading. The other three stories are fairly typical of their time with their themes of the 'Yellow Peril.' You got a lot of that, and a lot of general exoticism toward the East, be it India, China, or Japan. Heck, lump the Middle East and North Africa in there, too. As a fan of adventure stories and film, I'm no stranger to that. And while I recognize that there are issues with it, I can kind of compartmentalize it and still enjoy the adventure. The story 'Skull-Face' however, is on a different level. It's Birth of a Nation levels of vile. It isn't just racist, it pushes some really reprehensible ideas. And it pushes them heavily.
Even the editor, Richard A. Lupoff mentioned it in his introduction from the 1970s. Though he passes it off as just a quirk or minor note. I couldn't do that. The racism in 'Skull-Face' isn't just set dressing as it is in the other stories. It's the core idea, and it's ugly.
This book, however, especially the titular story 'Skull-Face,' is so intensely racist that it put me in a bad mood for much of the reading. The other three stories are fairly typical of their time with their themes of the 'Yellow Peril.' You got a lot of that, and a lot of general exoticism toward the East, be it India, China, or Japan. Heck, lump the Middle East and North Africa in there, too. As a fan of adventure stories and film, I'm no stranger to that. And while I recognize that there are issues with it, I can kind of compartmentalize it and still enjoy the adventure. The story 'Skull-Face' however, is on a different level. It's Birth of a Nation levels of vile. It isn't just racist, it pushes some really reprehensible ideas. And it pushes them heavily.
Even the editor, Richard A. Lupoff mentioned it in his introduction from the 1970s. Though he passes it off as just a quirk or minor note. I couldn't do that. The racism in 'Skull-Face' isn't just set dressing as it is in the other stories. It's the core idea, and it's ugly.
August 5, 2022
Un libro mítico de la colección Super Terror Martinez Roca, que cogí con mano expectante y este fue el resultado:
"Rostro de Calavera", novela corta acerca de un mago atlante y sus planes para conquistar el mundo. Me defraudó y aburrió sobremanera, demasiado predecible y cortada. Se nota que era novela por entregas.
"Cabeza de lobo", mejor con esta historia de hombres-lobo en una África exótica. Después leí su primera parte, "En el bosque de Villefere", igual de buena.
"La piedra negra", ¡qué buen cuento!, ya lo había leído hace más de quince años en Los Mitos de Cthulhu, pero se me había olvidado lo grotesco del ritual, además de esa última aparición. Esplendido.
"El horror del montículo", corta historia de vampiros ambientada en Texas, donde logra poner los pelos de punta. Lo que más me gustó del libro.
"Canaan negro", gran historia de vudú en unos pantanos inmundos, rebosantes de criaturas, magia negra y lujuria. Muy recomendable.
Resumiendo, si no es por las 84 páginas de la novela que da título al libro, sería una joya perfecta, ya que además contiene "In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard " escrito por Lovecraft en 1936 (un año antes de su muerte), y un prólogo de August Derleth.
"Rostro de Calavera", novela corta acerca de un mago atlante y sus planes para conquistar el mundo. Me defraudó y aburrió sobremanera, demasiado predecible y cortada. Se nota que era novela por entregas.
"Cabeza de lobo", mejor con esta historia de hombres-lobo en una África exótica. Después leí su primera parte, "En el bosque de Villefere", igual de buena.
"La piedra negra", ¡qué buen cuento!, ya lo había leído hace más de quince años en Los Mitos de Cthulhu, pero se me había olvidado lo grotesco del ritual, además de esa última aparición. Esplendido.
"El horror del montículo", corta historia de vampiros ambientada en Texas, donde logra poner los pelos de punta. Lo que más me gustó del libro.
"Canaan negro", gran historia de vudú en unos pantanos inmundos, rebosantes de criaturas, magia negra y lujuria. Muy recomendable.
Resumiendo, si no es por las 84 páginas de la novela que da título al libro, sería una joya perfecta, ya que además contiene "In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard " escrito por Lovecraft en 1936 (un año antes de su muerte), y un prólogo de August Derleth.
July 1, 2024
This novel isn't a good read. Its protagonist isn't memorable (beyond the required note that the name Stephen Costigan has been reused by the author and is unrelated to his recurring protagonist of the same name), and the book itself is essentially a Fu Manchu derivative. Even if the titular villain is an ancient Atlantean, there's nothing separating this from the dime-a-dozen Yellow Peril dime novels of the day.
Racist prose? Check. The villains are part of a united global conspiracy of various colonized nations? Check. The "heroes" declare their need to defend white supremacy? Check and check.
I can't recommend this, unless you're a Howard completist, or want to read works tangentially connected to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
Racist prose? Check. The villains are part of a united global conspiracy of various colonized nations? Check. The "heroes" declare their need to defend white supremacy? Check and check.
I can't recommend this, unless you're a Howard completist, or want to read works tangentially connected to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
April 6, 2025
Started a strong three (not amazing, but readable and interesting enough), but as it went on I got more an more weary of it. It's what I don't like about most pulp fiction (from any age), it's surface-y and plot heavy, there's no art to the sentences, the characters aren't rich and complex, nothing's particularly suprising, and about 60% of the way through, when I was just thinking "why aren't you over already," I stopped.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
August 14, 2024
Empezó un poco floja, pero ésta novela fuera de la linea de Conan ha ido de menos a más. Es, tal cual, una campaña de Cthulhu años veinte, se podría adaptar sin tocar una coma. El estilo de Howard de mantiene fuera de la linea de Conan, y diría que se acerca un poquito más a Lovecraft (y mira que ya se notaba la influencia en Conan). La presencia femenina, la habitual de este autor: un florero con patas locamente enamorada del prota sin mucho que decir. También se mantienen sus habituales racistadas, aunque aquí menos disimuladas que en Conan. Cosas de la época, supongo. Una historia muy entretenida.
June 15, 2024
The protagonist has the same name as the main character of most of Howard's boxing novels, but is not the same. He's a drug addict, constantly in the fog of hashish and opium just wasting away in a den.
He is chosen by the "Master" and given an elixir which immediately cures his addictions and leaves him feeling more fit than he's ever been.
He finds himself pressed into service, but with his sanity he has found his morality again. The Master aims to control the world and leads to quite an adventure.
He is chosen by the "Master" and given an elixir which immediately cures his addictions and leaves him feeling more fit than he's ever been.
He finds himself pressed into service, but with his sanity he has found his morality again. The Master aims to control the world and leads to quite an adventure.
July 22, 2018
What a fearsome foe is Skull-Face! Our narrator, prey to an opium den, is rescued from the dire drug my a mysterious man, who it turns out has been dredged from far beneath the sea...
A riveting novella by the creator of Conan the Barbarian, that I have read now a number of times. The perspective on gender roles is certainly a product of its time, but overall this is a fascinating story.
A riveting novella by the creator of Conan the Barbarian, that I have read now a number of times. The perspective on gender roles is certainly a product of its time, but overall this is a fascinating story.
March 31, 2021
This is rather good supernatural thriller type novella that has a lot of twists and turns and an interesting plot. Unfortunately, it is massively racist which takes away from the whole, of it's time I guess.
July 3, 2024
Absolutely marvelous at illustrating the racism and the fear that "lesser races" will reverse the existing order by becoming masters and the white people becoming slaves.
That a mummy is the big bad just makes things better. There are layers upon layers of racist anxieties here.
That a mummy is the big bad just makes things better. There are layers upon layers of racist anxieties here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2018
And THIS, kids is why you don't do drugs!
October 30, 2018
An interesting twist on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories with an antediluvian twist.
February 23, 2020
DNF: too racist.
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