Status Updates From The Haunter of the Ring and...

This ritual is spooooooooooo-ky. I love it.

And we get a call-back to Howard's previous story, "The Valley of the Worm," with the mentioning of the Great Serpent, although he has given him a few other names.

"'The directions herein seem fantastic and may be the whims of a disordered mind, but I gave my word. They are, briefly, that I place his corpse on the great black ebony table in his library, with seven black candles burning about him. The doors and windows are to be firmly close and fastened. Then, in the darkness which precedes dawn, I am to read the formula, charm or spell which is contained in a...envelope.'"

So, we have reports that this man has appeared to be 50 years of age for decades now, implying that he is either frozen in age or has been immortal. I'm curious now to see if this sudden "death" was really a death.

I didn't realize that "sith" (lowercase) was an established word back in the Middle Ages. I'm more used to the capital "Sith" from Star Wars.

Lovecraftian references again! Now you know you're going to be dealing with some misshapen, tentacled thing in the end. Some nameless aberration that could not be described.

Shintoism? Looks like Howard is basing his knowledge of that religion off of a biased perspective, and had not looked into it himself. Of course, this is the 20s-30s we're talking about, so I doubt the ability to travel to Japan for first-hand knowledge would've been very difficult to accomplish.

I like how we are starting this story with the discussion of the sudden death of a man, and in this discussion we are getting bits and pieces of his eccentricity and nature.

Last story: "Dig Me No Grave."

Just like how the past keeps returning to the lives of Man, so too do the monsters of the past. Only this time, they have to deal with modern weapons!

"Aye, the surface of the earth changes; rivers swell or shrink, the mountains heave and topple, the lakes dry up, the continents alter; but under the earth the work of lost, mysterious hands slumbers untouched by the sweep of Time."
Actually, false. The underground can be just as affected as above. Caves collapse, water can be diverted, and the formations of stalactites and stalagmites can alter them.

I was going to say something like, "Why would you choose the same tunnel as your previous life?" but then I remembered that the path your rival and his lover went only came to a dead end. That wouldn't be very good if those Children of the Dark were still around.

And now we return back to the original protagonist. Interesting that the person from history we had jumped to was named Conan.

Not amnesia...a flashback, I think.

Oh, great. Now he's got amnesia.

So the setting takes place in England, and Howard has read Machen judging by the descriptions here.

In earlier stories, we were on the perspective of a hero: a strong heroic man, a detective, a druggie-turned-hero, all on the side of good. Now, we are on the perspective of a villain, a murderer.

Dagon's Cave? As in the old Assyrian god-turned-Lovecraftian-horror?

My mistake. The previous story was the third one left; this is the penultimate story, "The People of the Dark."

I'm curious: Where did this vigil of the recently deceased come from?

The penultimate story is called "The Fearsome Touch of Death."

This story would've been an awesome film or TV episode.

Cthulhu, Koth, Yog-Sothoth? More Lovecraftian references!

Didn't think we were going to get foes from the living. I was expecting foes from either the dead or beyond.

I had forgotten that Baal originally came from the Bible. I now associate that name with DnD. Although, now that I think about it, the DnD name is spelled "Bhaal."

I should've known that the Necronomicon would be referenced since we are dealing with ancient Assyrian ruins.

The next story is "The Fire of Asshurbanipal." I wonder if this is an old translation/pronunciation of the name, because I've seen it with only one "s."

So, was Odin a Great Old One who took on the guise of a man? That's what it seems like with his now vulture wings that carried him out into the sky and past the stars.

The description of the Nordic god, Odin, in his true, monstrous form, reminds me of the Jötunn from the movie, The Ritual, aka the monster.

Ah, see? I knew she was a ghost.