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People of the Dark: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Vol. 2
People of the Dark is the second volume of The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, presenting many of Howard's works from the pulp magazines like Weird Tales, meticulously restored to its original texts. This volume begins with "People of the Dark," featuring a prototypical Conan of the Reavers, and concludes with "The People of the Black Circle," one of the very best Conan the Cimmerian tales. This volume includes five Conan stories, as well as tales featuring other barbaric heroes, as only REH can present them.
Cover art by Ken Kelly.
Cover art by Ken Kelly.
415 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2007
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About the author
Robert E. Howard
3,009 books2,651 followersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 19, 2022
Though I know it be sacrilege to say it, I think I enjoy Conan as written by others better. (Robert Jordan is good.) I'm just not in love with Howard's prose. I did enjoy "Shadows in the Moonlight" (spooky) and "Queen of the Black Coast" (pirate queen Bêlit livens things up), but others were a bit of a drag.
I was surprised to find myself familiar with "Gods of the North," as I had read adaptations in both Marvel's and Dark Horse's Conan comics, under the title of "The Frost Giant's Daughter." But the original is not a Conan story. It makes me wonder if Howard later re-wrote it as one with the other title, as it seems strange that two different writers and publishers would do the same thing with it.
[Ah! According to Wikipedia: Rejected as a Conan story by Weird Tales magazine editor Farnsworth Wright, Howard changed the main character's name to "Amra of Akbitana" and retitled the piece as "The Gods of the North", as which it was published in the March 1934 issue of The Fantasy Fan. It was not published in its original form in Howard's lifetime.
It's still surprising that Cosmos did not include the original version of the story here.]
Given the title of this publisher's series, I had hoped for more unrelated weird tales. I don't really consider the barbarian stuff (Conan or otherwise) to be in this category. My favorites in this volume were "The Cairn on the Headland" and "The Haunter of the Ring," even though the title of the latter pretty much gives everything away.
I was surprised to find myself familiar with "Gods of the North," as I had read adaptations in both Marvel's and Dark Horse's Conan comics, under the title of "The Frost Giant's Daughter." But the original is not a Conan story. It makes me wonder if Howard later re-wrote it as one with the other title, as it seems strange that two different writers and publishers would do the same thing with it.
[Ah! According to Wikipedia: Rejected as a Conan story by Weird Tales magazine editor Farnsworth Wright, Howard changed the main character's name to "Amra of Akbitana" and retitled the piece as "The Gods of the North", as which it was published in the March 1934 issue of The Fantasy Fan. It was not published in its original form in Howard's lifetime.
It's still surprising that Cosmos did not include the original version of the story here.]
Given the title of this publisher's series, I had hoped for more unrelated weird tales. I don't really consider the barbarian stuff (Conan or otherwise) to be in this category. My favorites in this volume were "The Cairn on the Headland" and "The Haunter of the Ring," even though the title of the latter pretty much gives everything away.
May 11, 2011
Every story in this book used the word "thews." From context alone, I still don't know what a thew is.
The stories are a whole lot of fun though.
The stories are a whole lot of fun though.
July 13, 2013
This REH collection features many of his more polished stories, so they flow better than some of his fragments and pastiches. Many of these tales were Conan comic book adaptations (1980's) and this was the first time I'd read some of them in print, so rediscovering them was fun. Like meeting an old school friend 20 years later.
Best new discoveries: 'The Haunter of the Ring,' and 'The Cairn on the Headland.' Both feature non-Conan characters and more contemporary settings (1920's-30's), which gives them almost a Lovecraftian feel. Very groovy.
I didn't care much for the poetry pieces, however - dark, vengeful writings that didn't seem (in my opinion) to fit the rest of the book.
Four stars because I'm an REH nerd and I like reading about impossible fights and beautiful princesses and deus ex machina endings. Thank God for escapist literature!
Best new discoveries: 'The Haunter of the Ring,' and 'The Cairn on the Headland.' Both feature non-Conan characters and more contemporary settings (1920's-30's), which gives them almost a Lovecraftian feel. Very groovy.
I didn't care much for the poetry pieces, however - dark, vengeful writings that didn't seem (in my opinion) to fit the rest of the book.
Four stars because I'm an REH nerd and I like reading about impossible fights and beautiful princesses and deus ex machina endings. Thank God for escapist literature!
November 3, 2025
People of the Dark, by Robert E. Howard, subtitled The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume Two, published by Cosmos Books, an imprint of Wildside Press. The cover is an excellent Ken Kelly. This is a thick book at 415 pages. Most of the material has been available in other forms though the point is made that included works have been “meticulously restored” to original pulp magazine texts. I wished for an introduction to give us more detail but there isn’t one. It was edited by Paul Herman, a long-term Howard fan & scholar. Anyway, the collection hits the ground with stories immediately, and that’s OK because Howard’s prose certainly stands on its own. This is the original good stuff and far superior to most pastiche writers who later dabbled in Howard’s worlds.
September 6, 2022
Lots of ejaculating. You gotta love that word:)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews