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Pigeons from Hell
Warriors as great as Howard's most famous characters - CONAN, CORMAC, and BRAN MAK MORN - inhabit the dark fearsome abyss of the gods, the scythian world from which the pigeons from hell emerge to torment earthly man. Monsters and nightmares, dream snakes and hyenas, thrive in this fantasy world that happened yesterday - or even before the dawn of time. It's all here, in the most enthralling collection ever of weird and fantastic adventures by Robert E. Howard, master fantician and creator of CONAN.
Contents:
Pigeons From Hell
The Gods of Bal-Sagoth
People of the Dark
The Children of the Night
The Dead Remember
The Man on the Ground
The Garden of Fear
The Hyena
Dig Me No Grave
The Dream Snake
In the Forest of Villefere
Old Garfield's Heart
The Voice of El-Lil
Contents:
Pigeons From Hell
The Gods of Bal-Sagoth
People of the Dark
The Children of the Night
The Dead Remember
The Man on the Ground
The Garden of Fear
The Hyena
Dig Me No Grave
The Dream Snake
In the Forest of Villefere
Old Garfield's Heart
The Voice of El-Lil
315 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1938
22 people are currently reading
1150 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,985 books2,649 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 130 reviews
July 16, 2024
The Whistler In the Dark
PIGEONS FROM HELL
by Robert E. Howard
No spoilers. 5 stars. Griswell woke with a start, his nerves on edge with a premonition of lurking danger...
He woke up in the old, dilapidated Blassenville plantation manor with no idea where he was and how he had gotten there...
Then he remembered...
He was on a sleeping pallet before the dark fireplace. His friend John Branner was asleep on his pallet beside him...
The moon was overcast with clouds, and everything was black and shadowy. Griswell tried to recall what had disturbed his sleep...
But...
There was no sound in the house, and there was no sound outside except the mournful hoot of an owl far away in the woods...
Griswell thought: It must have been a nightmare so terrible that it woke me up...
In his dream-nightmare...
The two men came rattling and bouncing in their car over a rocky road through a forest. They were far from their New England home...
They were looking for a place to stop for the night when they spotted the old mansion where they now slept...
... Its balustraded galleries rose in the middle of the dark forest of pines. The deserted mansion beckoned to them with its antebellum splendor and decay...
They parked along the rutted road, and they went up the walkway. Pigeons rose from the balustrades in a fluttering flock...
The door sagged on broken hinges. Thick dust was everywhere. They went into the great room, and they laid out their pallets in front of the dark hearth...
Then they got into bed fully clothed...
And now...
Griswell dreamed of three women hanging from the rafters, which caused him to experience a chill down to his soul...
In the darkness, he heard whistling on the
floor above. Griswell was frozen with fear...
Abruptly...
Branner rose from his pallet and slowly ascended the stairs like a sleepwalker. The whistling continued, luring Branner up the stairs in a trance-like state...
The whistling suddenly stopped, but Branner's slow, steady tread could still be heard...
Then Branner's footsteps came to a halt, and the night held its breath...
An awful scream broke the silence...
... and then the footsteps resumed. Branner was descending the staircase holding a bloody hatchet...
His skull was split in half...
I became acquainted with this story while watching an hour long episode of Boris Karloff's series THRILLER. The episode was also called PIGEONS FROM HELL, and it followed this novella pretty closely and was scary.
This was a great, atmospheric story. I recommend trying to find that THRILLER collection also.
PIGEONS FROM HELL
by Robert E. Howard
No spoilers. 5 stars. Griswell woke with a start, his nerves on edge with a premonition of lurking danger...
He woke up in the old, dilapidated Blassenville plantation manor with no idea where he was and how he had gotten there...
Then he remembered...
He was on a sleeping pallet before the dark fireplace. His friend John Branner was asleep on his pallet beside him...
The moon was overcast with clouds, and everything was black and shadowy. Griswell tried to recall what had disturbed his sleep...
But...
There was no sound in the house, and there was no sound outside except the mournful hoot of an owl far away in the woods...
Griswell thought: It must have been a nightmare so terrible that it woke me up...
In his dream-nightmare...
The two men came rattling and bouncing in their car over a rocky road through a forest. They were far from their New England home...
They were looking for a place to stop for the night when they spotted the old mansion where they now slept...
... Its balustraded galleries rose in the middle of the dark forest of pines. The deserted mansion beckoned to them with its antebellum splendor and decay...
They parked along the rutted road, and they went up the walkway. Pigeons rose from the balustrades in a fluttering flock...
The door sagged on broken hinges. Thick dust was everywhere. They went into the great room, and they laid out their pallets in front of the dark hearth...
Then they got into bed fully clothed...
And now...
Griswell dreamed of three women hanging from the rafters, which caused him to experience a chill down to his soul...
In the darkness, he heard whistling on the
floor above. Griswell was frozen with fear...
Abruptly...
Branner rose from his pallet and slowly ascended the stairs like a sleepwalker. The whistling continued, luring Branner up the stairs in a trance-like state...
The whistling suddenly stopped, but Branner's slow, steady tread could still be heard...
Then Branner's footsteps came to a halt, and the night held its breath...
An awful scream broke the silence...
... and then the footsteps resumed. Branner was descending the staircase holding a bloody hatchet...
His skull was split in half...
I became acquainted with this story while watching an hour long episode of Boris Karloff's series THRILLER. The episode was also called PIGEONS FROM HELL, and it followed this novella pretty closely and was scary.
This was a great, atmospheric story. I recommend trying to find that THRILLER collection also.
August 21, 2015
While on vacation, two men decide to spend the night in an abandoned plantation house, ignorant of its terrifying past. Can they survive the darkness that dwells within the Blassenville house?
From the creator of Conan comes this creepy haunted house story. It tosses the usual horror formula out the window, going for quick shocks rather than building suspense. It got a little tense at times. However...
Much like H.P. Lovecraft's, I find REH's dialogue to be pretty wooden. Also, I thought some of the characters' actions and thought processes to be pretty illogical.
Since I don't want the review to be longer than the short story, that's about all I have to say. Pigeons from Hell is fun in a pulp horror sort of way but it's in no way Howard's best work. We can look to a certain Puritan adventurer and a barbarian from Cimmeria for that. Three out of five stars.
From the creator of Conan comes this creepy haunted house story. It tosses the usual horror formula out the window, going for quick shocks rather than building suspense. It got a little tense at times. However...
Much like H.P. Lovecraft's, I find REH's dialogue to be pretty wooden. Also, I thought some of the characters' actions and thought processes to be pretty illogical.
Since I don't want the review to be longer than the short story, that's about all I have to say. Pigeons from Hell is fun in a pulp horror sort of way but it's in no way Howard's best work. We can look to a certain Puritan adventurer and a barbarian from Cimmeria for that. Three out of five stars.
December 4, 2023
Scariest story about pigeons that I've ever read.*
Not that it was truly about pigeons (the few there were had very little relevance to the plot), which was a tremendous disappointment. I love pigeons. Every single time I visit a new place, I end up with dozens of photos of the local pigeons and, like, two of the actual landmarks.
But other than the distinct lack of pigeons, this short tale far exceeded my expectations. Considering that it was originally published in a magazine called Weird Tales (whose name doesn't exactly scream “we publish fine literature!”) 85-ish years ago, it's really quite well-written and creepy. There's murder and voodoo and a pretty terrifying scene involving a hatchet.
Overall rating: 4.25 stars, rounded down. The title is hella misleading, though.
*Granted, my only exposure to pigeon-based stories up until now has been Mo Willem's Pigeon series. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! are my two personal favorites, in case you were wondering.
Not that it was truly about pigeons (the few there were had very little relevance to the plot), which was a tremendous disappointment. I love pigeons. Every single time I visit a new place, I end up with dozens of photos of the local pigeons and, like, two of the actual landmarks.
But other than the distinct lack of pigeons, this short tale far exceeded my expectations. Considering that it was originally published in a magazine called Weird Tales (whose name doesn't exactly scream “we publish fine literature!”) 85-ish years ago, it's really quite well-written and creepy. There's murder and voodoo and a pretty terrifying scene involving a hatchet.
Overall rating: 4.25 stars, rounded down. The title is hella misleading, though.
*Granted, my only exposure to pigeon-based stories up until now has been Mo Willem's Pigeon series. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! are my two personal favorites, in case you were wondering.
May 12, 2015
Pigeons From Hell by Robert E. Howard This short story was a blast! It's been recommended to me many times and I've always been too busy to work it in. Being on the front edge of a reading slump, and usually having good luck with short stories to get me out of it, I decided to finally read this classic. It's short, sweet and scary. What more could you want?
"He began to feel that he would go mad if he did not leap to his feet, screaming, and burst frenziedly out of that accursed house-not even the fear of the gallows could keep him lying there in the darkness any longer..."
What could possibly scare a grown man so? You'll have to read this and find out.
Highly recommended!
Edited to add: Here's a link to get the story free and legally:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1793/pi...
"He began to feel that he would go mad if he did not leap to his feet, screaming, and burst frenziedly out of that accursed house-not even the fear of the gallows could keep him lying there in the darkness any longer..."
What could possibly scare a grown man so? You'll have to read this and find out.
Highly recommended!
Edited to add: Here's a link to get the story free and legally:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1793/pi...
May 23, 2015
A Southern Gothic short story about voodoo and revenge. It was creepy and kept me in suspense from beginning to end!
January 8, 2021
Pigeons From Hell /Palomas Del Infierno - Rober Howard (1934-postumamente)
"A su alrededor todo era oscuridad, y corría ciegamente. Se dijo a sí mismo que debió de huir de la casa y haber corrido varias millas, quizás, antes de que su agotado cerebro empezara a funcionar. No le importaba; morir en la horca por un asesinato que no había cometido no le aterrorizaba ni la mitad que la idea de regresar a aquella mansión de horror(...)
Avanzó hacia aquel resplandor como si le empujara una fuerza irresistible. Luego se estremeció al darse cuenta de que un extraño sonido chocaba contra sus oídos: un silbido melodioso y burlón al mismo tiempo. El silbido borró todas las nieblas. ¿Qué significaba aquello? ¿Dónde estaba? El despertar llegó como el golpe aturdidor de una maza de matarife. No estaba corriendo a lo largo de un camino, ni trepando por una colina; estaba subiendo una escalera. ¡Se encontraba aún en Blassenville Manor!"
Primeramente decir que el titulo no tiene poco que ver con la historia, , es algo meramente anecdótico.
*SPOILERS*
Dos amigos , Griswell y John Branner, viajan de Nueva Inglaterra hacia el sur y pasan la noche en una antigua mansión lindera a una plantación. Griswell se despierta de un sueño turbulento y ve a Branner subir las escaleras en un completo trance. Se desata el horror cuando Branner regresa de la parte superior, como un cadáver reanimado, y en sus manos tiene la posesión de un hacha ensangrentada,la misma hacha que le había partido el propio cráneo. Griswell huye de la casa despavorido hacia el bosque.
En su huida se encuentra con el sheriff del condado,el cual ira a investigar los acontecimientos,junto con Griswell que muy a su pesar deberá acompañarlo y que por obvias razones es el principal sospechoso de la muerte de su compañero.
Me parece estupenda la construcción y narración de esta historia. Como desde el terror de lo que puede ser un lugar "embrujado" da paso a un intenso thriller, para después sumergirse en todo el trasfondo e historia en el amplio sentido de la palabra. Nos introduce en la profunda y oscura historia de estados unidos , la crueldad de las plantaciones, la esclavitud ,así como las tradiciones ,costumbres y supersticiones que tenían alguno esclavos y nativos americanos. Siempre con lo sobrenatural presente, acechando.
Todo muy bien narrado ,sin fisuras, perfectamente conectado.
Mi problema habitualmente con las historias de casas/mansiones/X lugares embrujados es que se vuelven muy monótonas,planas,repetitivas y similares entre si. pero aquí utiliza el concepto apenas como una pieza mas de la historia.lo que lo vuelve mucho mas efectivo y donde e trasfondo es en gran parte el protagonista de la historia. Ademas tenemos el concepto original de los Zombies y todo lo que eso conlleva(vudú). Hubo bastante investigación y/o conocimiento por parte de Howard evidentemente
*Las primeras paginas les van a resultar similares a Evil Dead de Sam Raimi(para los fanáticos del cine de terror)
*En 1983, Stephen King , escribiendo en Danza macabra , consideró "Palomas del infierno" como "una de las mejores historias de terror de nuestro siglo.
Es un detalle , no se si sirva como parámetro, pero creo que en esa época tenia mejor criterio para recomendar y valorar cosas. Porque actualmente no es tan atinado a la hora de recomendar obras literarias y/o cinematográficas.
"A su alrededor todo era oscuridad, y corría ciegamente. Se dijo a sí mismo que debió de huir de la casa y haber corrido varias millas, quizás, antes de que su agotado cerebro empezara a funcionar. No le importaba; morir en la horca por un asesinato que no había cometido no le aterrorizaba ni la mitad que la idea de regresar a aquella mansión de horror(...)
Avanzó hacia aquel resplandor como si le empujara una fuerza irresistible. Luego se estremeció al darse cuenta de que un extraño sonido chocaba contra sus oídos: un silbido melodioso y burlón al mismo tiempo. El silbido borró todas las nieblas. ¿Qué significaba aquello? ¿Dónde estaba? El despertar llegó como el golpe aturdidor de una maza de matarife. No estaba corriendo a lo largo de un camino, ni trepando por una colina; estaba subiendo una escalera. ¡Se encontraba aún en Blassenville Manor!"
Primeramente decir que el titulo no tiene poco que ver con la historia, , es algo meramente anecdótico.
*SPOILERS*
Dos amigos , Griswell y John Branner, viajan de Nueva Inglaterra hacia el sur y pasan la noche en una antigua mansión lindera a una plantación. Griswell se despierta de un sueño turbulento y ve a Branner subir las escaleras en un completo trance. Se desata el horror cuando Branner regresa de la parte superior, como un cadáver reanimado, y en sus manos tiene la posesión de un hacha ensangrentada,la misma hacha que le había partido el propio cráneo. Griswell huye de la casa despavorido hacia el bosque.
En su huida se encuentra con el sheriff del condado,el cual ira a investigar los acontecimientos,junto con Griswell que muy a su pesar deberá acompañarlo y que por obvias razones es el principal sospechoso de la muerte de su compañero.
Me parece estupenda la construcción y narración de esta historia. Como desde el terror de lo que puede ser un lugar "embrujado" da paso a un intenso thriller, para después sumergirse en todo el trasfondo e historia en el amplio sentido de la palabra. Nos introduce en la profunda y oscura historia de estados unidos , la crueldad de las plantaciones, la esclavitud ,así como las tradiciones ,costumbres y supersticiones que tenían alguno esclavos y nativos americanos. Siempre con lo sobrenatural presente, acechando.
Todo muy bien narrado ,sin fisuras, perfectamente conectado.
Mi problema habitualmente con las historias de casas/mansiones/X lugares embrujados es que se vuelven muy monótonas,planas,repetitivas y similares entre si. pero aquí utiliza el concepto apenas como una pieza mas de la historia.lo que lo vuelve mucho mas efectivo y donde e trasfondo es en gran parte el protagonista de la historia. Ademas tenemos el concepto original de los Zombies y todo lo que eso conlleva(vudú). Hubo bastante investigación y/o conocimiento por parte de Howard evidentemente
*Las primeras paginas les van a resultar similares a Evil Dead de Sam Raimi(para los fanáticos del cine de terror)
*En 1983, Stephen King , escribiendo en Danza macabra , consideró "Palomas del infierno" como "una de las mejores historias de terror de nuestro siglo.
Es un detalle , no se si sirva como parámetro, pero creo que en esa época tenia mejor criterio para recomendar y valorar cosas. Porque actualmente no es tan atinado a la hora de recomendar obras literarias y/o cinematográficas.
October 8, 2015
Description: This 1938 spell-binding story is one of his best. In 1983, Stephen King, wrote that he considered Pigeons from Hell to be "one of the finest horror stories of our century." With a decaying Southern family, a gruesome murder, a strange sort of "undead" creature, and, of course, evil pigeons, it makes for a story that will send a chill down your backbone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68w8h...My original encounter
January 17, 2019
It's been years since I've read it . It has atmosphere and a creepiness to it . It is an easy read . An anthology T.V series Thriller did a episode on it .
September 7, 2023
Very nice comic adaptation of Howard's horror story. nice art and writing. Very recommended
October 28, 2021
Pigeons from Hell is a collection of many of Howard's best horror stories. Most were first printed in Weird Tales magazine, but there are a handful from other pulps including Argosy, Oriental Stories, and Strange Tales. There were a large number of Howard collections in the late part of the last century with quite a bit of overlapping of content, but this one is quite representative of Howard's best craft and style, and is a fine post-Conan place to start. The titular story is a classic haunted house tale, and many of the others are excellent chillers, too. Howard was a great storyteller and pulp action/adventure writer, though his upbringing, time, and surroundings led to some racist lines. My Zebra edition has a fine Jeff Jones dinosaur cover, but there are no such beasts in the text.
February 27, 2024
The writer of Conan the barbarian rolls up with a story titled like this?
Ya boy listens.
Howard likely wrote “Pigeons from Hell” in late 1934, with the Kline agency getting the manuscript in December. It wouldn’t appear in print until two years after Howard’s death, in the May 1938 issue of the only magazine that deserved to premiere it, Weird Tales. Howard's best shown in action scenes and fantastic environments, but here he show's his skill at building atmosphere:
“. . . in many of her tales, also, appeared the old deserted plantation mansion, with the reeds growing rank about it, and the ghost pigeons flying up from the rails of the verandah.”
The piece that feels like something whispered around a winded-mountain campfire on lonesome night, shadows drawing close, and the storyteller’s words pressing them even closer. It isn’t a Birds predecessor with homicidal pigeons bludgeoning for bloody breadcrumbs.
Which would be comedy gold... Anywhooo
“Pigeons from Hell” is a tale about a lingering voodoo tradition in then contemporary (1930s) American south; putting it in modern horror sub-genres, it’s a zombie story. Not a modern zombie but a old-timey voodoo curse piloting a body towards unknown ends.
Most fun I've had all day.
Ya boy listens.
Howard likely wrote “Pigeons from Hell” in late 1934, with the Kline agency getting the manuscript in December. It wouldn’t appear in print until two years after Howard’s death, in the May 1938 issue of the only magazine that deserved to premiere it, Weird Tales. Howard's best shown in action scenes and fantastic environments, but here he show's his skill at building atmosphere:
“. . . in many of her tales, also, appeared the old deserted plantation mansion, with the reeds growing rank about it, and the ghost pigeons flying up from the rails of the verandah.”
The piece that feels like something whispered around a winded-mountain campfire on lonesome night, shadows drawing close, and the storyteller’s words pressing them even closer. It isn’t a Birds predecessor with homicidal pigeons bludgeoning for bloody breadcrumbs.
Which would be comedy gold... Anywhooo
“Pigeons from Hell” is a tale about a lingering voodoo tradition in then contemporary (1930s) American south; putting it in modern horror sub-genres, it’s a zombie story. Not a modern zombie but a old-timey voodoo curse piloting a body towards unknown ends.
Most fun I've had all day.
May 16, 2015
Absolutely phenomenal read from beginning to end! I vaguely remember reading this before in an anthology, but on its own, it is definitely a five-star read.
Highest recommendation!
Highest recommendation!
March 27, 2011
Typical Robert E, Howard fare, by which I mean excellent story-telling and in a straight-forward, no-nonsense style!
The title story of this collection is a very effective "haunted house" horror story - very creepy. Funnily enough, I was listening to the Pretenders' song, Back on the Chain Gang last night and realised that this story is most likely the source of a lyric that has always puzzled me: Got in the house like a pigeon from Hell: surely that phrase couldn't have occurred to two people independently! I'm still not sure how it relates to the rest of the song, though.
Anyway, the rest of the stories are a mixture of historical adventures, atavistic throw-backs, Cthulhu Mythos and Western horrors. He uses the motif of a modern man haunted by the memories of an ancient ancestor several times in this collection, which is probably a reflection of the time pressures he was under to create stories to meet deadlines for his magazine publisher. However, the stories themselves are sufficiently different that the reuse of this plot device can be forgiven.
I was really looking forward to reading the story that featured the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Pterosaur which grace the cover of my edition, but they don't make an appearance within - what a gyp!
I've got a number of other REH books which I've had shelved To Read for the last 15-20 years or so. This year may well be the year when I make some headway into them!
The title story of this collection is a very effective "haunted house" horror story - very creepy. Funnily enough, I was listening to the Pretenders' song, Back on the Chain Gang last night and realised that this story is most likely the source of a lyric that has always puzzled me: Got in the house like a pigeon from Hell: surely that phrase couldn't have occurred to two people independently! I'm still not sure how it relates to the rest of the song, though.
Anyway, the rest of the stories are a mixture of historical adventures, atavistic throw-backs, Cthulhu Mythos and Western horrors. He uses the motif of a modern man haunted by the memories of an ancient ancestor several times in this collection, which is probably a reflection of the time pressures he was under to create stories to meet deadlines for his magazine publisher. However, the stories themselves are sufficiently different that the reuse of this plot device can be forgiven.
I was really looking forward to reading the story that featured the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Pterosaur which grace the cover of my edition, but they don't make an appearance within - what a gyp!
I've got a number of other REH books which I've had shelved To Read for the last 15-20 years or so. This year may well be the year when I make some headway into them!
March 14, 2008
Robert E. Howard. Man what can be said, I definitely have a thing for insane geniuses, and he fits the bill to a T.
My personal favorite of his stories and one of the single scariest things I've ever read. Modern readers might be made uncomfortable, by some of the books racial undertones, but this is more simple naivette, rather then the intentional virulent racism of say HP Lovecraft. And like The Naked Prey it's racial politics are more complex then they originally appear. With Howard more or less giving his thumbs up to slaves not merely uprising against and killing their masters, but going the extra mile and damning their immortal souls as well. Now that's some dedication.
Pro-tip: This reading was accompanied by Tom Waits wonderfully creepy Bone Machine, I personally can't think of a better soundtrack to this extremely creepy bit of pulp.
My personal favorite of his stories and one of the single scariest things I've ever read. Modern readers might be made uncomfortable, by some of the books racial undertones, but this is more simple naivette, rather then the intentional virulent racism of say HP Lovecraft. And like The Naked Prey it's racial politics are more complex then they originally appear. With Howard more or less giving his thumbs up to slaves not merely uprising against and killing their masters, but going the extra mile and damning their immortal souls as well. Now that's some dedication.
Pro-tip: This reading was accompanied by Tom Waits wonderfully creepy Bone Machine, I personally can't think of a better soundtrack to this extremely creepy bit of pulp.
April 24, 2011
Review from Badelynge
First published in 1938 not long after R.E.Howard's suicide, Pigeons from Hell is a Gothic Horror tale set in the deep south of the USA. Two friends decide to spend the night in an abandoned old plantation house. The story eschews the more traditional slow build of atmosphere and tension, choosing instead to scare the pants off you in the first few pages. It certainly succeeds. The rest of the story's fear is generated by apprehension about returning to the old deserted house that has already demonstrated its terrors. It is superbly told and very creepy. It also features one of Howard's recurring characters Kirby Buckner. If I was assembling a reading list to use for developing a horror writing style I'd certainly think about including this one.
First published in 1938 not long after R.E.Howard's suicide, Pigeons from Hell is a Gothic Horror tale set in the deep south of the USA. Two friends decide to spend the night in an abandoned old plantation house. The story eschews the more traditional slow build of atmosphere and tension, choosing instead to scare the pants off you in the first few pages. It certainly succeeds. The rest of the story's fear is generated by apprehension about returning to the old deserted house that has already demonstrated its terrors. It is superbly told and very creepy. It also features one of Howard's recurring characters Kirby Buckner. If I was assembling a reading list to use for developing a horror writing style I'd certainly think about including this one.
July 13, 2018
compelling horror story by a very talented writer...
June 27, 2025
I listened to Robert E. Howard's short story "Pigeons from Hell" on audiobook today during my evening walk. I'm pretty forgiving of a lot of the ills of times past when it comes to fiction and always try to temper my judgment in context of the era, but, hoo boy, did the pervasive racism in this one have me wanting to slap my hand against my forehead an awful lot.
I'm giving this two stars for a good set-up and a couple of images early on that delivered some chills. But any creepiness and mystery was subsequently yapped to death by the characters. It didn't help that the narrator sounded just like George W. Bush when voicing the sheriff.
I should have listened to an episode of The Magnus Archives instead.
I'm giving this two stars for a good set-up and a couple of images early on that delivered some chills. But any creepiness and mystery was subsequently yapped to death by the characters. It didn't help that the narrator sounded just like George W. Bush when voicing the sheriff.
I should have listened to an episode of The Magnus Archives instead.
October 26, 2015
The perfect horror short story.
An old haunted house, gore & blood, suspense, voodoo & witchcraft, revenge! This had everything. I loved it.
I need to read more of Robert E. Howard's horror stories!
An old haunted house, gore & blood, suspense, voodoo & witchcraft, revenge! This had everything. I loved it.
I need to read more of Robert E. Howard's horror stories!
November 22, 2024
[Short story read in The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2]
January 31, 2011
I was going to give it 3 stars for it's terrible style, but these stories are so fun to read, it's like eating candy, and I'm so glad Robert E Howard wrote so much stuff before he died at around 30. I can tell he probably never rewrote a thing, but he's got a great sense of the overblown, he shamelessly drops adjectives that no one would seriously have used more recently than 150 years ago, and his action scenes beat anything I've read by anyone. Modern spy/action novelists have a lot to learn about fight scenes from Robert E Howard.
A lot of these stories are kind of spooky horror stories, love Lovecraft-inspired stuff, haunted cowboy stories, medieval fantasy stories, just fucking awesome.
A lot of these stories are kind of spooky horror stories, love Lovecraft-inspired stuff, haunted cowboy stories, medieval fantasy stories, just fucking awesome.
January 11, 2021
Being acquainted with neither Robert E. Howard nor the horror genre, I am perhaps the least qualified person being to form an opinion of this odd story, but here it is nevertheless. As far as the experience of reading the piece goes, I was engaged the whole time; the premise is chillingly intriguing, and the sense of dramatic buildup is pretty good. I don't love the solution to the mystery, but it was still a pretty good diversion.
I can't say I'm much better off for having read it, though.
I can't say I'm much better off for having read it, though.
July 24, 2024
Definitely one of the finest examples of horror pulp fiction to date. I didn't know anything about Stephan King's positive comment on the story until after I read this my second time around, but at least I know now that King has good taste in horror books. If you want a story that involves a dilapidated Southern farm, a gory axe murder by a female zombie and a creepy atmosphere, you'll like this book. I made it sound disgusting but it's just down right creepy.
Robert E. Howard inspired H.P Lovecraft. I can similarities in their writing except Howard isn't as surreal and bizarre as Lovecraft's prose. They're both great writers either way.
An early Halloween review out of the way. Can't wait to read more spooky stories!
Robert E. Howard inspired H.P Lovecraft. I can similarities in their writing except Howard isn't as surreal and bizarre as Lovecraft's prose. They're both great writers either way.
An early Halloween review out of the way. Can't wait to read more spooky stories!
June 30, 2016
Great short horror story. Creepy and enthralling from beginning to end, with a nice twist.
August 17, 2017
How could I resist a title like "Pigeons from Hell"? Obviously, I couldn't. Turns out this is a satisfyingly creepy tale from the heyday of pulp fiction.
February 28, 2022
As one of those books you're "supposed to read", I didn't get the hype.
April 1, 2018
Note: There are no dinosaurs in this book. But you'll never hear me complain about a Jeff Jones cover.
This is a collection of horror and sword & sorcery, along with a couple western tales with a Serling-esque twist. But the particular selection of stories does not give the reader a feeling of variety.
I'll start with the good. The title story is a classic. Two travelers take refuge in an abandoned house, but find that they aren't alone. I'd read an excellent graphic adaptation of this story a while back but this is the first time I've read the original prose, and it's still quite creepy.
The other story I really liked was "The Thing on the Roof", a perhaps familiar tale of a man who has taken something that doesn't belong to him from an ancient tomb. Familiar, but well-told in this case. This one was a nice surprise, as it was somehow omitted from the table of contents. (This edition is riddled with typographical errors.)
In "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth", two bitter enemies are forced to hold a truce when they are shipwrecked alone on an island of savages.
There are no less than three stories in which a modern man enters a fugue state and dreams that he is a powerful warrior from a distant time (one of which is Conan), with confusion about which is the real life and which is the dream. I don't know why the editor would have chosen so many examples of this device (and placed two of them consecutively), but it gives the impression that the author recycles ideas often. Anyway, Lovecraft did this much better over a decade earlier in "Polaris".
Speaking of Lovecraft, Howard borrows freely from his style in a number of these pieces, even using similar names. But he's not as good.
Despite my lukewarm reaction to this collection, I do plan to explore more of Howard's work, while hoping for more of the caliber of "Pigeons From Hell."
This is a collection of horror and sword & sorcery, along with a couple western tales with a Serling-esque twist. But the particular selection of stories does not give the reader a feeling of variety.
I'll start with the good. The title story is a classic. Two travelers take refuge in an abandoned house, but find that they aren't alone. I'd read an excellent graphic adaptation of this story a while back but this is the first time I've read the original prose, and it's still quite creepy.
The other story I really liked was "The Thing on the Roof", a perhaps familiar tale of a man who has taken something that doesn't belong to him from an ancient tomb. Familiar, but well-told in this case. This one was a nice surprise, as it was somehow omitted from the table of contents. (This edition is riddled with typographical errors.)
In "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth", two bitter enemies are forced to hold a truce when they are shipwrecked alone on an island of savages.
There are no less than three stories in which a modern man enters a fugue state and dreams that he is a powerful warrior from a distant time (one of which is Conan), with confusion about which is the real life and which is the dream. I don't know why the editor would have chosen so many examples of this device (and placed two of them consecutively), but it gives the impression that the author recycles ideas often. Anyway, Lovecraft did this much better over a decade earlier in "Polaris".
Speaking of Lovecraft, Howard borrows freely from his style in a number of these pieces, even using similar names. But he's not as good.
Despite my lukewarm reaction to this collection, I do plan to explore more of Howard's work, while hoping for more of the caliber of "Pigeons From Hell."
May 28, 2023
Horror/creepy sever biri olarak beni son derece tatmin eden hikayelerle dolu bu kitap aynı zamanda Western esintileri de taşıyordu. İlk kez Robert E. Howard okudum, açıkçası Conan ve Solomon Kane ile adını defalarca kez duysam da bir okumak kısmet olmamıştı kalemini, bu kitapta Kane karakterinin kısa bir öyküsü vardı ve tanışmış oldum. İçindeki hikayelerden hiçbiri beni çok sıkmadı, birkaçı birbirine benzer ozellikteydi fakat birkaç tanesi efsane iyiydi. Özellikle bir tokmak darbesi ile neolitikteki hayatına dönen adamın hikayesi ve boks maçı ile ilgili hikayeyi aşırı sevdim. (hikayelerin adına bakmak için kitaplığa zar zor sigdirdigim kitabı almak zoruma gitti de).
Laputa Kitap'ın Instagram sayfasına yazdım ve kitabın ön sözünde bahsettikleri gibi korku hikayeleri derlemesinin ikinci kısmının en yakın 2023 sonunda çıkacağını öğrendim. Bu beni bir miktar uzse de geç olsun güç olmasın, çıkar çıkmaz okurum. Pek bilinmeyen bir kitap olması üzücü, burada beni takip edip yorumlarımı okuyan biri varsa önerim olsun, eğer türü seviyorsaniz başarılı bir örneği olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Özellikle Lovecraft tarzı yazım dilini ve içerikleri seviyorsanız.
Laputa Kitap'ın Instagram sayfasına yazdım ve kitabın ön sözünde bahsettikleri gibi korku hikayeleri derlemesinin ikinci kısmının en yakın 2023 sonunda çıkacağını öğrendim. Bu beni bir miktar uzse de geç olsun güç olmasın, çıkar çıkmaz okurum. Pek bilinmeyen bir kitap olması üzücü, burada beni takip edip yorumlarımı okuyan biri varsa önerim olsun, eğer türü seviyorsaniz başarılı bir örneği olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Özellikle Lovecraft tarzı yazım dilini ve içerikleri seviyorsanız.
October 15, 2015
Fantastic 30's horror short! Sometimes you are amazed by how "little" it takes. Chilling, classic and fun. Don't know how it is that I never heard about this before? Highly recommended!
August 23, 2024
This is a collection of some of Howard’s horror stories.
‘Pigeons From Hell’ Griswell and Branner have traveled from New England to New Orleans. They decide to sleep in what appears to be an abandoned house. Only one is alive in the morning.
‘The Gods of Bal-Sagoth’ Athelstane and Turlough O’Brien are enemies. They survive a shipwreck together. They are prepared to fight to the death when they hear a blood-curdling scream.
‘People of the Dark’ John Allison enters Dagon’s cave to kill Richard Brent and steal his girl. He is hit on the head and wakes up as Conan the Reaver.
‘The Children of the Night’ (A Cthulu story) John Conrad has six visitors. They discuss anthropology and then ancient artifacts. One of them is hit with an ancient mallet and wakes up bloody wearing a loincloth.
‘The Dead Remember’ Told in a series of letters, we learn of the fate of Jum Gordon after killing a black couple shortly after the Civil War.
‘The Man on the Ground’ The story of the longstanding feud between Cal Reynolds & Esau Brill.
‘The Garden of Fear’ (A Jim Allison story) Jim Allison recalls an earlier life when he was Hunwulf, who is fleeing his tribe with his love Gudrun. She is captured by a winged man. He must defeat man-eating plants.
‘The Thing on the Roof’ (A Cthulu story) Tussman seeks help in finding a copy of the book “Nameless Cults” in the hope of finding a great treasure. Something follows him home.
‘The Hyena’ A traveler in Africa encounters Senecoza, a fetishman and his hyena.
‘Dig Me No Grave’ (A Cthulu story) John Conrad asks Kirowan for help in fulfilling the dying wish of a friend.
‘The Dream Snake’ A man tells friends of a harrowing dream he has every night until that night when he gives a scream, waking his guests.
‘In the Forest of Villefere’ De Montour is on an urgent mission and makes his way through a haunted forest at night. He encounters a man wearing a wolf mask.
‘Old Garfield's Heart’ The story of a very old cowboy with incredible powers of recovery.
‘The Voice of El-Lil’ (A Cthulu story) Bill Kirby and John Conrad and their encounter with a lost tribe of Sumeria, “the people of Eridu.”
I especially liked Pigeons from Hell, The Garden of Fear, The Voice of El-Lil and The Gods of Bal-Sogoth.
‘Pigeons From Hell’ Griswell and Branner have traveled from New England to New Orleans. They decide to sleep in what appears to be an abandoned house. Only one is alive in the morning.
‘The Gods of Bal-Sagoth’ Athelstane and Turlough O’Brien are enemies. They survive a shipwreck together. They are prepared to fight to the death when they hear a blood-curdling scream.
‘People of the Dark’ John Allison enters Dagon’s cave to kill Richard Brent and steal his girl. He is hit on the head and wakes up as Conan the Reaver.
‘The Children of the Night’ (A Cthulu story) John Conrad has six visitors. They discuss anthropology and then ancient artifacts. One of them is hit with an ancient mallet and wakes up bloody wearing a loincloth.
‘The Dead Remember’ Told in a series of letters, we learn of the fate of Jum Gordon after killing a black couple shortly after the Civil War.
‘The Man on the Ground’ The story of the longstanding feud between Cal Reynolds & Esau Brill.
‘The Garden of Fear’ (A Jim Allison story) Jim Allison recalls an earlier life when he was Hunwulf, who is fleeing his tribe with his love Gudrun. She is captured by a winged man. He must defeat man-eating plants.
‘The Thing on the Roof’ (A Cthulu story) Tussman seeks help in finding a copy of the book “Nameless Cults” in the hope of finding a great treasure. Something follows him home.
‘The Hyena’ A traveler in Africa encounters Senecoza, a fetishman and his hyena.
‘Dig Me No Grave’ (A Cthulu story) John Conrad asks Kirowan for help in fulfilling the dying wish of a friend.
‘The Dream Snake’ A man tells friends of a harrowing dream he has every night until that night when he gives a scream, waking his guests.
‘In the Forest of Villefere’ De Montour is on an urgent mission and makes his way through a haunted forest at night. He encounters a man wearing a wolf mask.
‘Old Garfield's Heart’ The story of a very old cowboy with incredible powers of recovery.
‘The Voice of El-Lil’ (A Cthulu story) Bill Kirby and John Conrad and their encounter with a lost tribe of Sumeria, “the people of Eridu.”
I especially liked Pigeons from Hell, The Garden of Fear, The Voice of El-Lil and The Gods of Bal-Sogoth.
April 20, 2011
Tauben aus der Hölle (Pigeons from Hell) ist eine Kurzgeschichte von Robert E. Howard (1906 – 1936), die zwei Jahre nach seinem Tode 1938 in den berühmten “Weird Tales“ veröffentlicht wurde. Sie erzählt die Geschichte zweier Schulfreunde aus Neuengland, die nach ihrem Schulabschluss mit dem Auto der Eltern eine Rundreise durch den Süden USA machen wollen. Als John Branner und sein Freund Griswell ein malerisches, alstes Südstastenherrenhaus entdecken, beschließen sie eine Nacht darin zu verbringen. Ein verhängnisvoller Entschluss, wie sich schon bald zeigen soll, denn das Haus ist nicht so verlassen, wie es auf den ersten Blick erscheint. Griswell wacht nachts auf und sieht, wie sein Freund Branner die staubige, alte Treppe in den ersten Stock hinaufsteigt. Griswell kann entkommen, läuft aber in die Arme von Sheriff Buckner. Nun muss er seine Erlebnisse beweisen und den Geist zur Strecke bringen, will er nicht als Mörder seines Freundes gehängt werden.
Der Autor Robert Ervin Howard dürfte den meisten wohl am besten als Schöpfer von Conan dem Barbaren bekannt sein. Er ist der Vater des “sword and sorcery” Genre und damit ein ganz Großen der Fantasyliteratur, der mit gerade mal 30 Jahren leider Selbstmord beging.
Was passt besser zu den Südstaaten als Voodoo und Zombies? Auch in dieser Folge wieder ein Klassiker, den selbst Stephen King als eine der besten Horror Geschichten unseres Jahrhunderts bezeichnete. Eine Südstaatenfamilie mit grausamer, blutiger Vergangenheit, Sklavenhaltung, grausamer Mord, verrückte alte Jungfern, Sadismus und Rache in Südstaatenambiente.
Wie gewohnt wurde die Geschichte stimmungsvoll in Szene gesetzt, und perfekt akustisch untermalt. Obwohl ich mit dem Sprecher von Griswell ein wenig meine Probleme hatte, gewöhnt man sich doch bald an ihn, auch wenn ich denke, dass er nicht ganz dem Titania Sprecherstandard entspricht.
Auch diese Geschichte ist ein in sich abgeschlossener Klassiker der Horror Literatur, der außerhalb und ohne Kenntnis der anderen Episoden der Serie gehört werden kann.
Der Autor Robert Ervin Howard dürfte den meisten wohl am besten als Schöpfer von Conan dem Barbaren bekannt sein. Er ist der Vater des “sword and sorcery” Genre und damit ein ganz Großen der Fantasyliteratur, der mit gerade mal 30 Jahren leider Selbstmord beging.
Was passt besser zu den Südstaaten als Voodoo und Zombies? Auch in dieser Folge wieder ein Klassiker, den selbst Stephen King als eine der besten Horror Geschichten unseres Jahrhunderts bezeichnete. Eine Südstaatenfamilie mit grausamer, blutiger Vergangenheit, Sklavenhaltung, grausamer Mord, verrückte alte Jungfern, Sadismus und Rache in Südstaatenambiente.
Wie gewohnt wurde die Geschichte stimmungsvoll in Szene gesetzt, und perfekt akustisch untermalt. Obwohl ich mit dem Sprecher von Griswell ein wenig meine Probleme hatte, gewöhnt man sich doch bald an ihn, auch wenn ich denke, dass er nicht ganz dem Titania Sprecherstandard entspricht.
Auch diese Geschichte ist ein in sich abgeschlossener Klassiker der Horror Literatur, der außerhalb und ohne Kenntnis der anderen Episoden der Serie gehört werden kann.
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