The ebay insanity got me to thinking about the Cryptic publications. There are reasons for the inflated prices: most of them contain first and only appearances of several Howard titles. True, the stories that appeared in anthology collections like Crypt of Cthulhu were collected in The “New” Howard Readers, but that doesn’t really help much, given the scarcity of TNHR. Just for kicks I compiled a list of the stories that only appear in a Cryptic Publication or an issue of TNHR. The results are below. Until all of these items are readily available, we can only expect the cost of the Cryptics to rise.

“Bastards All!” Lewd Tales
“The Black Moon” Bran Mak Morn: A Play & Others
“The Block” Pay Day
“Brotherly Advice” The Sonora Kid
“The Coming of El-Borak” The Coming of El Borak
“The Curse of Greed” TNHR #7 and Lurid Confessions #1
“Desert Rendezvous” The Sonora Kid
“The Devil in His Brain” TNHR #3 and Lurid Confessions #1
“The Diablos Trail” Cromlech #3 and Bran Mak Morn: A Play
“El Borak” (1) The Coming of El Borak
“El Borak” (2) North of Khyber
“The Further Adventures of Lal Singh” The Adventures of Lal Singh
“Golnar the Ape” TNHR #2 and Crypt of Cthulhu #31
“Guests of the Hoodoo Room” TNHR #4 and Shudder Stories #1
“The Hand of Obeah” TNHR #3 and Crypt of Cthulhu #16
“Hand of the Black Goddess” Bran Mak Morn: A Play & Others
“The House of Om” TNHR #1 and Shudder Stories #2
“The Iron Terror” The Coming of El Borak
“Khoda Khan’s Tale” The Coming of El Borak
“Lal Singh, Oriental Gentleman” The Adventures of Lal Singh
“The Land of Mystery” North of Khyber
“The Loser” Pay Day
“A Matter of Age” TNHR #6 and Lurid Confessions #1
“Nerve” Pay Day
“North of Khyber” North of Khyber
“The Nut’s Shell” Pay Day
“Pay Day” Pay Day
“A Power Among the Islands” North of Khyber
“Red Curls and Bobbed Hair” The Sonora Kid
“The Shadow in the Well” TNHR #1 and Cromlech #2
“She-Cats of Samarcand” TNHR #4 and Risqué Stories #1
“The Shunned Castle” North of Khyber
“The Silver Heel” Two-Fisted Detective Stories
“Songs of Bastards” Lewd Tales
“The Sonora Kid — Cowhand” The Sonora Kid
“The Sonora Kid’s Winning Hand” The Sonora Kid
“Sons of Hate” Two-Fisted Detective Stories
“The Sophisticate” Pay Day
“Spectres in the Dark” TNHR #2 and Cromlech #1
“The Spell of Damballah” TNHR #4 and Revelations from Yuggoth #1
“The Supreme Moment” TNHR #1 and Crypt of Cthulhu #25
“The Tale of the Rajah’s Ring” The Adventures of Lal Singh
“A Touch of Color” Pay Day
“The Voice of Death” Two-Fisted Detective Stories
“The Voice of Doom” Crypt of Cthulhu #39
“The Voice of the Mob” TNHR #4 and Lurid Confessions #1
“The West Tower” The Sonora Kid
“Wolfsdung” TNHR #5 and Cromlech #3

Untitled Stories
(A blazing sun in a blazing sky, reflected from . . .) The Sonora Kid
(Gordon, the American whom the Arabs call El Borak, . . .) The Coming of El Borak
(The Hades Saloon and gambling hall, Buffalotown, . . .) The Sonora Kid
(The hot Arizona sun had not risen high enough to heat . . .) The Sonora Kid
(Madge Meraldson set her traveling-bag on the station . . .) The Sonora Kid
(Steve Allison settled himself down comfortably in . . .) The Sonora Kid
(The way it came about that Steve Allison, Timoleon . . .) The Sonora Kid
Untitled Synopsis
(John Gorman found himself in Samarkand, . . .) Risqué Stories #1
(Steve Harrison received a wire from Joan Wiltshaw.) Two-Fisted Detective Stories

With the recent announcement of Paradox’s intention to get all of Howard back into print, maybe the Cryptics will become nothing more than a bibliographic entry. But, as with most things related to Howard publishing, all we can do is wait.