The Cthulhu Stories of Robert E. Howard

Lee brings together a lackluster collection of 13 stories from Howard (1906–1936), best-known for creating Conan the Barbarian, aiming to highlight Howard’s contributions to H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Unfortunately, Lee’s selections fail to make his case. In some, the connection to Cthulhu is tangential at best, as in “The Shadow Kingdom,” in which Kull, King of Valusia, battles serpent creatures who’ve infiltrated his court disguised as men. Beyond a passing reference to a battle “with the grisly beings of the Elder Universe,” this is more a typical sword and sorcery yarn than a work of cosmic horror. And though the master villain in “Skull-Face” is named Kathulos, Lee himself concedes that’s only a coincidence. There are other tales with a stronger connection to Lovecraft—three reference the Necronomicon (“Children of the Night,” “The Thing on the Roof,” and “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”)—but only “The Black Stone” is a real classic of the cosmic horror genre. While Howard is a masterful storyteller in his own right, the presentation here does his stories a disservice. This is strictly for Howard completists. (Sept.)