Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

In this short story from Horror Stories by REH, I am amazed at the prowess of the man's writing, as usual. So hard to believe he was only thirty when he died.

His depiction of a Roman crucifixion of a Pict, a subject of Bran Mak Morn's takes you there in no uncertain terms. Toss in the fact that Morn is there undercover as it were, and the man is tortured before him, and you feel the strains on his psyche.

There's excellent use of "a long flicker of steel in the starlight."

It is amazing, the amount of work he did in the few short years he had.

The bedroom scene was especially repugnant.

At least her skin was sleek and not scaly.

And, I don't know, I thought she was somewhat hot but then I've always had a thing for witches.

that was a pretty amazing thing about that scene. She was creepy and hot at the same time. that's not easy to do for a writer.

If I ever had the opportunity to pick one story to best represent REH as a writer - Say in a Norton Anthology or the like - I think it would be WotE.

It's definitely a good one.

Superior.

Worms of the Earth is easily top 5-10 REH stories for me. His writing prowess,his character,his athmosphere at their finest. Sad there isnt many Brak Mak Morn stories when this is so good.

When i first read Bran Del Rey collection i had only read the early Conan stories so it was one of the first times his writing ability surprised me.

It has the best opening of his stories in my eyes. The depiction of a Roman crucifixion of a Pict.

It made me want to read more about Brak Mak Morn. He seemed hard-core, like Conan.

The ending is awesome as well, showing a side to Bran that is unexpected.

This is in my top ten Howard stories, as well. The story started with Bran Mak Morn and followed him the whole way - all action, no distractions.

The, uh, 'love' scene, to me, was disgusting. I read that thinking, 'thou art a greater man than I, Bran Mak Morn.' I couldn't have done it. Fight the Roman army? Yeah, okay. Spend the night with that... woman? Nope. Sorry.

Favorite scene: Bran hiding the stone in a deep pond and barely escaping the unseen horror in the water. Creepy. I guess that's the power of imagination.