Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

Happy birthday, Bob.

Friday, January 22nd, 2016 was the 110th anniversary of a very beloved writer’s birth. A writer who is one of the all-time most prolific, prodigal, visually evocative, visceral, and influential writers in genre fiction.

He painted scenes with words that woke readers into worlds of obtuse mystery and poetic pristine. In “The Tower of the Elephant” we scaled the titular structure seeing a starry sky; in “The Shadow Kingdom” we heard an ancient city speak with cosmic arrogance while betraying its epoch spanning age; and in “The Valley of the Worm” we stood among broken pillars and glimpsed an otherworldly behemoth climb from a pitted abyss to the tune of demonic pipe play.

He imagined these scenes, and taught us to imagine them with him, by scarce strokes of his textual brush and the vigor of his vibrant prose and poetry.

He built vast environments and rich eons that commanded plausibility, and yet only clued us to their wonder. He convinced us that he portrayed the source of so many myths and legends trickled through the centuries.

Added onto all of this, he rethought our sense of community, and our sense of individuality, and he taught us to rethink it with him.


Ever since deciding to read his fiction just shy of a year ago, it has always entertained me, but it has also always enlightened me. In today’s society, the term “barbaric” is associated with immorality, ruthlessness and lack of sophistication. Yet Howard dared to stand and declare that barbarism was the fit state of humanity; that civilisation could be inherently and fundamentally tainted. While I and many fans do not completely agree, he has prompted us to form a new and individualist perspective on the complexion of humanity. Reading his stories we become more equipped to temper our faith in the civil, ascribe new facets to the savage, and figure a clearer and crisper sense of community and self.

More importantly, his works have nourished our individuality, independence and self-reliance. Conan targets unique ambitions avoided by others; Kull bespeaks his dubiety of Valusia’s laws and Atlantean legends; and Agnes refuses forced marriage with violent exclamation.

He has even educated us on the healthily primal; the aesthetic of unspoiled lands, the valor of the driven warrior, and the pristine form of many practices and traditions, as exemplified by this quote from “The Tower of the Elephant:”

“He [Conan] did not trouble his head about them; he knew that Zamora's religion, like all things of a civilized, long-settled people, was intricate and complex, and had lost most of the pristine essence in a maze of formulas and rituals.”

His output has nourished my life and many others, and many more to come.

In salute and gratitude to his authourship, and to the upkeep of this legacy by so many classy and helpful individuals, I have drunk beer (his most craved alcohol) to the occasion on Friday, I have mounted a poster of Kull on one of my walls and now I am posting this.

Belated Salutations to this anniversary, and to REHdom!

Happy birthday, Robert E. Howard!

It's a shame he wasn't with us longer.

I know. I think the world missed out on a great Western author - I think he would have settled in that genre eventually.

Sometimes I think it would be neat to go back in time and show him the effect he has had on the world - the books, the comics, the statues, the movies. I wonder what he would have said?

I was watching the Battle of Helm's Deep in "The Two Towers" the other day and thought.... "It'd be so cool to go back in time and show REH this movie..." I wonder what he would have made of a movie in color with special effects that he couldn't understand.

Verily, it is hard to imagine what Howard might of thought if he ever did, hypothetically, view a modern-day film. Had he lived to be an old man, he certainly would have experienced the "phenomenon" of special effects. Consider this - if R.E.H. lived to be in his 80's (a plausible possibility), he would have been able to see his own creation, Conan, on the big screen. Too, had Howard lived to be old, he also would have been able to experience all the things Vincent mentioned - "the effect he had on the world" by way of his "books, movies, statues, comics, etc, etc..."

Based upon what I've read in his letters, Howard was a movie-goer. For all of that, I do recall him lambasting films he did not like. In my own opinion, if an eighty-year-old R.E.H. did have a chance to view "Conan the Barbarian" I do believe he would've criticized the hell out of it.

Because he ended his life at such an early age, Howard never got the opportunity to enjoy Tolkien ("The Hobbit" was published in 1937, I think). Still and all, because R.E.H. was so well-read, I suppose he may have heard of Tolkien - even before the publications of "The Hobbit", "Lord of the Rings", or "The Silmarillion". Conversely, I recall reading somewhere how J.R.R. himself was actually "quite fond of those Conan stories".