Yeah, I've been listening to the unabridged audiobook versions of the original Conan stories penned by Howard, and while I like them a lot, even the best of them have really, REEEEAAAAALLLY uncomfortable and gross racist stuff in them, as well as sexism an

Yeah. People have said that both REH and H.P. Lovecraft became less racist as time went on. I think they were clearly both very disturbed and unhappy individuals, I think they saw the world as a frightening place and put their sense of not belonging on others. None of that is an excuse, and it’s a drag to read, and it’s also sad to realize how much of the horror and fantasy genres are based on the writings of stone-cold racists. I think that still effects our perceptions of those genres to this day to some degree.

One thing as an aside, I recently re-read a bunch of REH stuff, and I was surprised by how funny that guy could be as a storyteller. He told a lot of humorous adventure stories and they genuinely ARE hilarious. Weird.