Although he was an important contributor to H. P. Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu Mythos” and a leading writer of boxing and supernatural fiction, as well as humorous western stories and other adventure fiction, Robert E. Howard’s greatest contribution to popular fiction was certainly his tales of Solomon Kane, Kull of Atlantis, and, in particular, Conan of Cimmeria.
Howard became a regular contributor to Weird Tales in 1928, the same year that his first Solomon Kane story — “Red Shadows” — appeared. Kull would follow in 1929. Three years later, the first tale of Conan the Cimmerian — “The Phoenix on the Sword” — would be published.
In his stories of Solomon Kane, Kull, and Conan, Robert E. Howard created a genre. As Fritz Leiber wrote in the July 1961 issue of Amra:
I feel more certain than ever that this field should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element, and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story — and (quite incidentally) from the cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story too!
More than ninety years after the first publication of “The Phoenix on the Sword,” Robert E. Howard’s sword-and-sorcery stories continue to resonate through popular culture. They have inspired motion pictures, comic books, television and animated series, action figures, role-playing and video games, and even heavy metal music and a live-action show at Universal Studios Hollywood. Most importantly, his fiction has led other writers to spin their own sword-and-sorcery tales. Lin Carter, Glen Cook, John Jakes, Michael Moorcock, Charles Saunders, Karl Edward Wagner, and many others have all contributed to the genre that Howard popularized.
But even during his lifetime — Howard lived less than four years after the publication of his first Conan tale — Howard’s fiction was leading other writers to try their hand at the genre he had inspired. Like the stories of Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane, these tales were published in “The Unique Magazine.” As early as 1934, Catherine Lucille Moore began contributing tales of Jirel of Joiry, with the first, “The Black God’s Kiss,” the cover story for the October 1934 issue of Weird Tales. It was followed by five more Jirel stories, including a crossover with another popular Moore character — Northwest Smith.
Other writers who also contributed sword and sorcery tales to Weird Tales, included Clifford Ball, Robert Bloch, Henry Kuttner, H. Warner Munn, and Clark Ashton Smith. Stories of sword and sorcery by Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr., Fritz Leiber, Manly Wade Wellman, and other scribes could also be found in Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, Unknown, and other science fiction and fantasy pulps.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2023 on Thursday, August 3, at 8:05 pm for “Sword and Sorcery in ‘The Unique Magazine’” and other pulps. Part of our celebration of the centennial of Weird Tales, it will feature sword & sorcery and Howard expert Morgan Holmes.
The former official editor of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, Morgan was nominated in 2016 for a Hugo Award as best fan writer. He has been published in Blood ‘n’ Thunder, The Cimmerian, The Dark Man, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Robert E. Howard Companion, and other publications. His work has also appeared at Black Gate, Castalia House, and other websites. In 2019, Dr. Holmes — who works as a podiatrist — teamed up with fantasy and horror writer Jason Scott Aiken for a presentation on Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser at PulpFest. In 2022, he explored “Robert E. Howard and Fiction House” during PulpFest 50.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the Registration button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree. They’re going fast!
Our featured image was excerpted from Virgil Finlay’s cover art for Weird Tales for July 1937, illustrating Clifford Ball’s sword and sorcery tale, “The Thief of Forthe,” one of two stories the author wrote about a thief and adventurer named Rald. In 2018, DMR Books collected Ball’s work in a collection by the same name.
Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin from Margaret Brundage’s cover art for the October 1934 issue of Weird Tales, illustrating C. L. Moore’s first Jirel of Joiry story, “The Black God’s Kiss.” Brundage also contributed the cover art for the June 1933 Weird Tales, illustrating Robert E. Howard’s “Black Colossus,” the first Conan story to grab the cover spot of “The Unique Magazine.”
For more on Robert E. Howard and Conan, please visit our YouTube Channel to view “90 Years of the Great Pulp Heroes #6” — Conan — created by PulpFest‘s Craig McDonald. You’ll also find our video Weird Tales Celebrates 100 Years. While you’re there, please be sure to subscribe to the PulpFest Channel.
