The Scrolls of Neverwas - 001 Unaussprechlichen Kulten

TWO-GUN PIXIE PRESENTS:

THE

SCROLLS OF

NEVERWAS

Welcome to the Nerd Wasteland's last standing Bibliotheca Curio, our library of the curious.

In this installment we take a look at what might be a great book to read for this upcoming Halloween.

Robert E. Howard, best known for creating Conan the Barbaran, was also a writer of weird fiction and a contributor to what is these days considered the Mythos Cycle.

002 – Unaussprechlichen

Kulten

Early horror stories relied heavily on the use of monsters; myth monsters like vampires, werewolves, and fairy-kind or the more mortal monsters like highwaymen, murderers, and slavers. Certain writers challenged those archetypes. Edgar Allen Poe is considered by many to be the grandfather of modern day horror stories and weird tales as well as Arthur Machen. Machen was a major influencer and opened the door to the deeper concept of cosmic terror, he understood the new direction the macabre genre was taking root in and fit in seamlessly into this style.

Next in this category of amazing authors (which, in and of itself, is worthy of an entire blog) is the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island, the father of weird horror - Howard Phillips Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft wove a vision so big he was happy to let his literary friends and colleagues write tales to grow in his dark vision of cosmic horror and ancient madness. One of these friends was a literary

father himself, the father of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard. Howard's tales were always two-fisted tales of high adventure. Whether it was Conan, Steve Costigan, King Kull, or Solomon Kane, Howard's tales dripped with excitement and action. This was a trait lost to most others who joined in Lovecraft's shared vision, including H.P. himself.

In comparison to Howard's other yarns, those considered part of the overall Mythos are quite toned-down, yet still retain enough of the old-school style of tough protagonists Howard is a master of writing about. These tales of Robert E. Howard's Mythos yarns have been collected in a tome entitled, "Nameless Cults" which is a reference to the Black Book, an item created and introduced into the Mythos by Howard himself. Howard was also the originator of the Elder God Gol-Goroth whose presence and influence is still felt in the Mythos Cycle. Howard also added yarns which bridge the references of Machen's weird tales of the Little People into Lovecraft's shared literary vision.

Of all of H.P. Lovecraft's literary colleagues and pen pals he arguably was closest to Robert E. Howard. Although the two seemed worlds apart on many issues, both had a deep respect for the other as self-educated scholars. Both men had also developed a deep pessimism about the world and their fellow human beings. An underlining connection both men shared was that of their family life and upbringing. Both felt ill-at-ease at social events and public situations outside of those with close friends or family, both were also only children who were doted on by their mothers. Lovecraft lost his father at a young age, while Howard's father was distant and never at home. Both suffered from unhealthy childhoods but where Howard grew into a life of physical training of boxing and weight-lifting, Lovecraft did not. This major difference in life-paths defined their written work. Howard, the author of tales of strong male protagonists who, even fighting through their flaws, will prevail no matter the punishment they endure. Lovecraft’s protagonists were highly intelligent, rather unathletic, almost always doomed to failure, and usually cursed with insanity.

This collected grimoire of tales from the Mythos contains seventeen of Howard's Lovecraftian short stories. Four of these were originally unfinished by Howard before the time of his death and have since been completed by some of the most competent Howard biographers and writers in horror. The list is comprised of such literary luminaries as C.J. Henderson, Joseph S. Pulver, August Derleth, and Robert M. Price.

Three of my favorite of Howard’s Mythos yarns are...

• "The Thing on the Roof": Considered by Howard at the time of its completion as "...the best story by far that I ever wrote" he later went on to say it might be conceit to have said that, LOL. One point of truth Howard makes about this tale is that it is, in the truest sense, a great example of a weird tale because it is just that, a tale. There is no great overlaying plot or points of character development. This is just a tale, nothing more. But what a great tale! In this yarn we see Howard introduce Von Junzt's Black Book, AKA Unaussprechlichen Kulten, for effects similar to Lovecraft's use of the Necronomicon in "The Dunwich Horror". We also meet another Howard addition to the Mythos, the poems of Justin Geoffrey which caught Lovecraft's attention. As an honorable mention to this story I should also direct you to read "The Black Stone" as references are made between these two stories by Howard.

• "The Hoofed Thing": This yarn was originally titled "Usurp the Night" by Howard but re-titled by Weirdbook when it was posthumously published in 1970. It is obvious that this tale is Howard's homage to Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" of which Robert thought was possibly Lovecraft's best story. As with all of Howard's creations we find both an antagonist and protagonist who are much more physical than characters created and used by Machen or Lovecraft. These action-ready characters brim with scholarly knowledge and are as capable of breaking an ancient code as easily as breaking a cultist's neck. Another great background character is mentioned in this yarn as well as Howard's other story, "The Children of the Night", serving as a connection between these two tales. That character is anthropologist Professor Hendrik Brooler. Again we see the use of Von Junzt's Black Book used to move the story while adding a deeper connection to Howard's contribution to the overall Mythos Universe.

• "Dig Me No Grave": I have to admit right up front, I love this title. I honestly think this is one of the best titles I've ever heard. For me it's right up there with titles like Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury or I, Legend by Richard Matheson. Something very real and final resounds from these four words in that particular order, Dig Me No Grave. Although Howard himself often commented on how verbose he was he knew the power in short, strong titles that grab you by throat with anticipation. Why does this person need no grave? Why? Again we see Robert E. Howard weave a tale connecting different aspects of what we today refer to as the Mythos. Howard makes reference to the cyclopean structures of Koth, Yog-Sothoth, and Yuggoth. Howard excells at matching opposing ideologies between intellectual characters as much as he does matching fists, swords, or guns.

Overall, Howard's yarns, like all writers from his time period, were limited by both language and science which were, at the time, at their peak of understanding. By today's standards many parts of stories from this time can come across as ludicrous such as referring to Asians as Orientals or, as in Lovecraft's own "The Rats in the Walls" the use of the "n-word" as the name of a cat. Getting over the fact that you are living in the present reading from the past (as these tales were written in the 1920s and 30s) these yarns are all great examples of where Mythos stories originated; weird tales. I honestly believe that this collection of Robert E. Howard's Mythos tales deserves to be on every Lovecraft fan's bookshelf. There's a reason why H.P. Lovecraft so enjoyed Howard's tales and this book makes that reason very clear; they are solid, exciting insights into the Mythos written beautifully by a master storyteller.