Thursday, October 26, 2017

FFB: Wolfshead by Robert E. Howard

Wolfshead is one of Robert E. Howard’s earliest stories, published in Weird Tales in 1926 when the author who later wrote the Conan stories was 20 years old.

It is a werewolf yarn, and since the Wolf Man was my favorite of the old movie monsters, and with Halloween approaching, I thought this novella (or is it a novelette?) would make a good Forgotten Books post this week.

The time of the story is not stated, but best guess puts it in the 17th or early 18th century. A former soldier travels to Africa to visit an old friend who has grown rich by shipping goods to Europe. The friend is also involved in the slave trade, which contributed to his wealth. At the castle of the friend, the unnamed narrator meets a variety of guests, one of whom turns out to be a werewolf. This werewolf, like all werewolves of future stories and movies, knows what he becomes at night and desperately longs to be rid of the curse or to die.

The first half of this story is a horror mystery as the narrator and the surviving guests try to figure out who – and what – is attacking them at night. The second half of the story is the surprising reveal and explanation, followed by some fine action as the werewolf goes on a rampage for good.

The story is written in a formal style with a dark, chilly tone, and Howard ’s talent keeps it from bogging down. His action passages are excellent and his rethinking of the werewolf legends is an intriguing twist.

This shorter piece is worth reading and can be found on-line.

(For more posts about books, check out Patti Abbott’s blog.)

10 comments:

  1. I've read a lot of Robert E. Howard's work. I still have the Lancer paperback edition of WOLFSHEAD with the Frazetta cover!

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    1. George – Does that collection include Howard’s other werewolf story, IN THE FOREST OF VILLEFERE?

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    2. "IN THE FOREST OF VILLEFERE" can be found in the collection "THE DARK MAN & OTHERS."

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  2. The Lancer version:
    7 • Introduction (Wolfshead) • essay by Robert E. Howard
    11 • The Black Stone • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1931) • short story by Robert E. Howard
    32 • The Valley of the Worm • [James Allison] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    58 • Wolfshead • [De Montour] • (1926) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    86 • The Fire of Asshurbanipal • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1936) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    115 • The House of Arabu • (1952) • novelette by Robert E. Howard (variant of The Witch from Hell's Kitchen)
    144 • The Horror from the Mound • (1932) • short story by Robert E. Howard
    166 • The Cairn on the Headland • (1933) • short story by Robert E. Howard

    and the Bantam version I have:
    1 • Introduction (Wolfshead) • (1979) • essay by Robert Bloch
    5 • The Black Stone • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1931) • short story by Robert E. Howard
    25 • The Valley of the Worm • [James Allison] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    49 • Wolfshead • [De Montour] • (1926) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    75 • The Fire of Asshurbanipal • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1936) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
    102 • The House of Arabu • (1952) • novelette by Robert E. Howard (variant of The Witch from Hell's Kitchen)
    128 • The Horror from the Mound • (1932) • short story by Robert E. Howard

    http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?38387 for covers and more...

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  3. Can't tell you why, but probably because fantasy is not my thing as compared with SF, but apart from the odd story here and there, I have read next to no Howard and yet I feel I really should try harder! Maybe in the next life ...

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    1. It is not my usual reading, either, Sergio. But Howard’s writing is worth it.

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  4. Robert E.Howard was born on January 22, 1906 (died: June 11, 1936).

    It's sad to remember that Howard's writing career only lasted 12 years & yet, he produced such great stories ! "A Witch Shall Be Born" would have to rank among the best Of Howard.The Conan crucifixion scene is very memorable." The Tower Of the Elephant" is one of Howard's most important contributions to Heroic Fantasy& the only Howard story I known of to be included in a textbook, "The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction And Fantasy" It's right up there with "Beyond The Black River". Fritz Lieber once wrote " The best Conan stories are Howard's best. "The People of the Black Circle"can be
    compared without straining to the melodramas of Marlowe. It has
    stirring language,strong motives,awesome sorcerers,brilliant magical
    devices,sympathetic hero-villains, & a Conan subdued enough to make the outcome interesting. Same goes for "Beyond the Black River" & to a lesser degree, "The Phoenix on the
    Sword",&"Conan the Conquerer". Other of the better Conan stories are

    "Rogues in the House","Queen of the Black Coast " combining piratical &
    jungle adventure,'Shadows of Zamboula'' which has a memorable cobra
    dance, "Shadows in the Moonlight' about a wooded island of iron
    statues that come to life when the moon shines,the memorable "The
    Scarlet Citadel"with battles, rival sorcerers, & a descent into Hell:
    the powerful "Black Colossus" with its wizard raised from the
    dead,seeking to revive a vanished empire & also has one of the
    strongest openings of any of the Conan stories:the thief Shevetas,
    surmounting many perils, heroically penetrates a desert treasure crypt
    only to loose upon the Hyborian world a buried horror." To his list I
    must also add "The God In The Bowl", a "lesser " Conan story that gave
    me one of the worst nightmares of my life , about a snake with a human
    head! And those are just the Conan stories! I won't get into his
    Solomon Kane or Bran Mak Morn stories that are nearly as good. Howard
    was not just a "Sword & Sorcery" writer. He also wrote great horror
    stories. I would personally recommend his "Pigeons From Hell". Behind
    that innocent title lurks what Stephen King has called "The greatest
    horror story of the 20th Century".( which was adapted into an episode
    of the old Boris Karloff "Thriller"series). Warning- Don't read it
    before bedtime ! I did. I thought " What could be scary about
    pigeons?" Big mistake. It didn't give me any nightmares. I was too
    scared to close my eyes all night !! I wouldn't call " Challenge of the
    Unknown" a "sword & sorcery" story. It's a Round- Robin story with each
    writer writing a chapter ending in a cliff-hanger that the next writer
    must solve. If you do get into "Sword & Sorcery", I must recommend A.
    Merritt's "Ship of Ishtar", the grand-daddy of "Sword & Sorcery", a
    novel, I'm sure, that must have influenced Howard. I've always been a
    fan of "Sword & Sorcery" movies- "Thief Of Bagdad", the Harryhausen
    Sinbad films & the Hercules movies so, for me, discovering Howard was
    as good as any of these films. If my recommendations have helped
    someone discover Howard, I consider it time well spent.

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    1. Thanks very much for the recommendations, Taylor. I have a lot of good reading ahead of me.

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  5. I think I have read a few of his weird tales but definitely not this which seems quite interesting. Thanks Elgin.

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