It has been quite a month for fans of Karl Edward Wagner. For days following the dawn of October 13, there were memorial pieces posted all over the Internet, testifying to KEW’s continuing, vibrant legacy. We here at The Cimmerian did our part.
They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk
In dark forgotten corners of the world,
And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights,
Shape pent in Hell.Justin Geoffrey, “The Black Stone”
(On the evening of October 31st 1939, Glenn Shuyler Hoffman was found dead in his mansion, his body torn to shreds, inside a locked and barred room with no sign or possibility of forced entry. Police are baffled as to the cause, with no suspects, motive or evidence, save one article. The following letter was discovered next to his remains, and has been provided to The Cimmerian for reasons of historical interest. Reader discretion is advised, for the letter contains detail of a disturbing nature)
As a colder-than-normal October wanes into November, the Light Half of the year gives way to the Dark Half of the year (as they would say in old Ireland), with a hunter’s moon on the rise.
Men sing of poets who leave their sheets
For the sighing dew to cool their brain,
But I have tramped through the silent streets,
Through tides of the midnight rain.
What was it drew me from my room
Into the rain and the night,
To the empty echoed pavements
And the street lamp’s guttering light?
Rather the night breeze in my face
And the night rain in my hair,
Than the cold of a phantom ridden place
And the Thing that waited there.
Robert E. Howard, “Shadows of Dreams”
REH knew about horror and he wrote of it often in his poetry. His images were strong – a Thing that waits in a darkened room from “Shadows of Dreams” or in his poem, “All Hallows Eve,” a leprous Shape that howls “blasphemies to a red hag-moon.”
Now anthropoid and leprous shadows lope
Down black colossal corridors of Night
And through the cypress roots blind fingers grope
In stagnant pools where burns a witches’ light.Gaunt, scaly horrors of an Elder World
Squat on a lone bare hill in grisly ring,
Howling blasphemies to a red hag-moon;
And where a serpent round an oak has curled,And midnight shudders to a hell-born tune,
A nameless, godless shape sits slavering.
Gibbering madness slinks among the trees;
Deep in black woods a monstrous idol nods,And rising from the nameless Outer Seas
Come spectres of age-forgotten gods.
Who in the blind, black infancy of earth
Gripped howling men in their misshapen paws,
And ground, with ghastly glee and obscene mirth,
Nude, writhing shapes between their brutish jaws.
Although “nude, writhing shapes” are not allowed, werewolves, witches, vampires, ghosts, goblins and demons are de rigueur for American Halloween celebrations. The creepier and scarier, the better. Homes are decorated with skeletons, spiders, eerie lights, webs, dark passages. Candles in carved pumpkins reflect grinning smiles and pointed teeth. Dracula, Frankenstein and orcs guard the doors. In the background wolves howl and the screams of the undead echo through the yard waiting for brave trick or treaters. Small children approach warily. Their bunny and princess costumes belie the fear in their wide eyes. They receive their treat and exit holding even tighter to mom or dad’s hand.
But not all the world shares our American Halloween traditions. In Celtic lands, Halloween was always considered to be the time when the Walls Between Worlds were at their weakest. It is a night of magic. The dead might come back, for good or ill, and the living might catch a glimpse of the past or future. In the old days, in Ireland, a place was always left for the departed at the table on All Hallow’s Eve, just in case an ancestor or friend cared to come back for that one night. Robert E. Howard wrote of his Irish grandmother and the dark tales she told him. It seems likely she also mentioned the traditions of All Hallow’s Eve. Other cultures around the world share traditions with Ireland. In Austria, it is traditional to leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on that night to welcome the departed souls back to earth. Some cultures believe that midnight on All Hallows Eve is the magicial time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead gets thinner.
In Howard’s world these veils were very thin. In fact, journeys through these elusive portals to and from another world are a common theme in his poetry. In his world, it is possible for both the human and the inhuman to make the journey for whatever reasons.
It has been pointed out to me that when I recently commented upon/railed against the “casting breakdown” for the upcoming Conan movie from Lionsgate, I spent a lot of time looking at the various innovative and exciting characters therein, but spent little time teasing out the fairly detailed synopsis which can be read between the lines. So, with all disclaimers, I present below what I gleaned from the myriad hints in the “casting breakdown” as far as the plot of the film (such as it is) is concerned. (Continue reading this post)
I’m not that big a fan of heavy metal, Jack Black or video games, but for those who are, this might be of interest. Though they namecheck Frazetta,, but not Howard, in the wiki write-up, Howard’s influence is seen in some of the promo material. Another review here.
Damn, like Michael Myers or some disjointed Japanese ghost-girl, Halloween crept up on me unawares this year and now all I can do is scream in its grasp. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more posts on my favorite holiday here at The Cimmerian, but I thought I’d start things off with a review of one of my favorite horror films.
You won’t see Fright Night, a semi-obscure, fun little vampire flick from 1986, on many “best of” horror movie lists. Nevertheless, it’s one of my personal favorites. Fright Night packs into it all the elements I ask of a horror film: A decent plot, some reasonable acting, a little mayhem, some monsters, a handful of nice visual effects, and a little bit of skin. On all these requirements, Fright Night delivers.
Over on the Official Robert E. Howard Forum, this was just posted by a member with the handle of “TortolaBVI”:
28 years ago, British television company Carlton Television, which was (and is) part of the massive ITV network, paid an extremely large sum to be one of the first terrestrial channels to be able to broadcast the motion picture Conan The Barbarian. An additional clause in the deal stated that Carlton television would have complete right to adapt for the television medium original works by Robert E Howard under the proviso that said work was in the public domain. Bearing in mind that this deal was made in 1981, The rightsholders to Conan really were not concerned with a date that was a quarter of a century away. Carlton Television did not have the rights to create original material. Everyone got that? They could create original material provided it did not make up more than 10% of any adaptation of an original Robert E Howard public domain story.
Which is where we are at, at the moment. The production has finance firmly in place to the tune of £7m, has a new director onboard (Mr Graham Harper has left due to scheduling commitments but was outstanding in helping find his replacement) the script has undergone revision to tighten the narrative, and a number of locations have been scouted.
CROM!
WARNING: The review below has been written in full “snark” mode. It is about four thousand words long. You might want to grab a drink (a strong one) or a sandwich (or both)…
In the past few weeks, there have been persistent rumors of Jared Padelecki, the co-star of the series, Supernatural, being cast as a “young Conan.” This provoked dismay amongst many Conan fans. Personally, I had a “wait and see” attitude about it.
More troubling news was posted on the Official Robert E. Howard Forum recently, thanks to Pete Roncoli. A ”casting breakdown,” to be used for casting actors to appear in the projected new Conan movie (set to begin shooting in Bulgaria in February 2010), has been leaked to the Internet. This guideline does more than reveal what a casting director is to look for. Putting together the clues within it provides a fairly detailed synopsis of the script. Many fans have already done so, and they are on the war-path like blood-mad Picts. Below you’ll find my commentary, accompanied by excerpts from the guideline as posted on Moviehole.net: (Continue reading this post)
With the slow build to Solomon Kane’s release gaining steam for a winter release, as well as the recent publication of Heroes in the Wind (I swear, I’ll never get over that hideous title), mainstream media is starting to take notice. The most recent of these, at least in Britain, is The Times, whose David Hayles writes an article on Howard. As with many such attempts of mainstream journalists to chronicle Howard’s life, the results are problematic.
First off, the title is “The strange life and death of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian.” Not a good start. Nikola Tesla had a strange life & death. Che Guevara had a strange life and death. Michael Jackson had a strange life and death. Robert E. Howard’s life was full of moments both wondrous and terrible, but I would hardly consider it so dramatically removed from the average Texans’, to the point of considering it “strange.” This might be a bit extreme on my part, but generally in order for a person’s life and death to be considered “strange” I’d say it would have to be pretty darn unusual. Perhaps the title was editorial mandate, or some attempt to pull in readers, promising unusual stories: perhaps relating how Howard boarded up his windows and doors at night to defend against the onslaughts of imaginary enemies, or detailing his late-night hallucinations of Conan holding Howard hostage as he writes the Cimmerian’s memoirs, or the bizarre accusations of crypto-homosexuality in himself or his characters.
Fortunately none of those ridiculous myths are present. Unfortunately, it isn’t free of misrepresentation. (Continue reading this post)
