Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

"Sherwood Anderson was the father of all my works — and those of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc. We were influenced by him. He showed us the way.” - William Faulkner 

This is a collection of interconnected short stories published in 1919 about people in the fictional small town of Winesburg, Ohio. The stories are loosely based on the author’s memories. Some of the stories aren’t stories so much as sketches. They all connect in some way with the protagonist George Willard as he grows into adulthood. 

After a few stories I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this very much. Many of the characters are lonely and isolated. They’re either misunderstood or they fail in their struggles to be understood. They get frustrated with themselves when their attempts at connecting with other people fail. But the writing kept me coming back. Mixed in with the sad stories are clear descriptions of characters, locations, and small town life. I started looking forward to discovering the connections between the characters the further I read. I found myself invested even when their attempts to connect were misguided. And there are some very misguided people in these stories. Still, some of the stories made me think of the mistakes and the stupid things I have done in my life.

Yet with all the sadness and misunderstandings, the book ends with a message of hope for the future for at least some characters. I started to think that I should have read this book when I was younger. Then again, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it when I was younger. I think I read this book at the right time in my life. It’s something I’d like to reread in the future. 

“There are endless reasons to read and reread Winesburg. But what has struck me about my most recent time through this book is the in-depth, fearless, summarized description of emotion.” - Angela Pneuman 

Wings in the Night: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 4

““Phoenix on the Sword” is the historically important first Conan story. While it started out as a rewrite of an unsold Kull story, “Phoenix” establishes the very unique character of Conan, and sets in place the history and many of the attributes of the Hyborian Age, from which all later stories would flow.” - Paul Herman from his introduction. 

Wings in the Night is the fourth volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. This volume (Kindle version) has six short stories and four poems.

Wings in the Night (Solomon Kane)

(Weird Tales, July 1932)

In “Wings in the Night” Solomon Kane encounters an African village besieged by harpy-like creatures. He does what he can to help the village and the story ends with him exacting savage revenge on the entire race of creatures. I liked how the legends surrounding the creatures tie into mythology. This is the final Solomon Kane story published during Howard’s lifetime.

I’ve enjoyed all the Solomon Kane stories from the previous volumes. The character and his stories are unique, an interesting mix of adventure and horror. I’m looking forward to seeking out and reading the stories that were published after Howard’s death. 

Worms of the Earth (Bran Mak Morn)

(Weird Tales, November 1932)

“Worms of the Earth” begins with Bran Mak Morn witnessing the execution of one of his men. Next we follow Mak Morn as he plans revenge on the Roman commander responsible. His encounter with a witch seems to be the inspiration for a similar scene in the movie Conan the Barbarian from 1982. His plan turns out to be even more terrible than he expected. 

Phoenix on the Sword (Conan)

(Weird Tales, December 1932)

“Phoenix on the Sword” begins with the “Know, oh prince” quote setting up the world of Conan. In this story a group of conspirators plan to assassinate Conan, King of Aquilonia. They hire an outlaw, Ascalante to help them but he has plans of his own. Ascalante has a slave, Thoth Amon, a former Stygian sorcerer who also has plans of his own. Things look grim for Conan but he gets some supernatural help from a long dead sage.

Although the first two parts are a lot of set up, the set-up is interesting. When Conan is advised to hang the poet Rinaldo who is believed to be working with the conspirators, Conan responds with, “No Prospero, he’s beyond my reach. A poet is greater than any king.” Conan then seems a little sad as he talks about his younger days and the northern lands. Something I like about Howard’s stories are the hints of melancholy that often run throughout. 

I liked this story a lot, but I want to read the original Kull story as well. I find it fascinating that we got Conan because Howard didn’t give up after the first version was rejected. 

The Scarlet Citadel (Conan)

(Weird Tales, January 1933)

In the beginning of “The Scarlet Citadel,” King Conan and his knights are betrayed while heading to help a supposed ally. His knights are cut down and he is imprisoned in a dungeon of the wizard Tsotha-lanti. While in the dungeon Conan’s former allies attempt to take his throne. In the dungeon he faces an enemy from his past as well as a variety of nightmarish creatures. In the scene with the old enemy we learn that Conan was known as Amra the Lion in his pirating days. I like how this story and the previous one foreshadow Conan’s adventures from his younger days. Luckily Conan finds some unexpected help, escapes the dungeon, puts on his armor, and joins a huge battle. The final confrontation with Tsotha-lanti had me shouting with excitement. What an ending!

The Cairn on the Headland

(Strange Tales, January 1933)

“The Cairn on the Headland” is a modern age story that begins with two men debating about the origins of a cairn in Ireland. One man argues that the cairn marks a battle that ended Viking raids and Viking religion. This was another “open the tomb and bad things happen” kind of story with the theme of Christianity vs. Norse Mythology. There is also a link to the Cthulhu Mythos. This story was okay but I was surprised at what we found out about the norse gods at the end. 

This story has a bit of a history. When the Turlogh O’Brian historical adventure story, “The Spears of Clontarf'' didn't sell, Howard added fantasy elements and the story became “The Grey God Passes” also known as “The Twilight of the Grey Gods.” That story didn’t sell either. Howard was finally able to sell it after changing the setting to modern times and adding a horror element. The first two versions were eventually published after Howard passed. I’ll have to seek those out. I have a feeling that I’ll like the earlier versions more than this one. 

The Tower of the Elephant (Conan)

(Weird Tales, March 1933)

We meet a younger Conan in “The Tower of the Elephant.” In this story Conan sneaks into a tower to steal a jewel, “The Elephant’s Heart,” belonging to the evil sorcerer Yara. Conan runs into another thief, and they work together to try to avoid traps. Parts of this story are also an inspiration for a scene in the 1982's Conan the Barbarian. While I feel that the scenes in the movie are very well done, they pale in comparison to this story. At the end Conan discovers the cosmic secret to the jewel and the source of Yara’s magic. Outstanding.

We also learn more about the god Crom which helps the reader understand how the barbarian thinks. Howard writes, “His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian's mind, was all any god should be expected to do."

As in the previous volumes I liked the poetry. Unfortunately this volume includes Howard’s final poetry submissions to Weird Tales. 

“REH quit sending poetry to Weird Tales, as he was paid by the word, and he quickly found out that a simple 16-line poem doesn’t pay nearly as well as a 10,000-word story, especially when the editor will only include one work per author.” - Paul Herman, from his Introduction.

In my reviews of the previous volumes, I wrote that I really enjoyed reading Howard’s stories in the order that they appeared in Weird Tales. They’re not always in the order that he wrote them but they’re close. It’s allowed me to see his progression as a writer and has allowed me to see how he reworked something when it didn’t sell. That’s the case again with this volume but this time with the added bonus of almost every story being a standout. They’re all fast paced, exciting, and have strong endings. But it’s more than that. There’s also strong characterization and themes of individualism and the decaying of civilizations throughout. Howard was on fire when he wrote these stories. 

Looking forward to reading volume five!

Wings in the Night (Solomon Kane) (5/5)

Arkham (poem) (3/5)

An Open Window (poem) (4/5)

Worms of the Earth (Bran Mak Morn) (4/5)

The Phoenix on the Sword (First Conan) (4/5)

The Scarlet Citadel (Conan) (5/5)

The Cairn on the Headland (Cthulhu Mythos) (from Strange Tales) (3/5)

The Tower of the Elephant (Conan) (5/5)

Autumn (poem) (5/5)

Moonlight on a Skull (poem) (4/5)

Overall (5/5)

People of the Dark: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 3

“Read these stories and enjoy. Dip into the exciting horrors and adventures of Robert E. Howard. Do not come into them with an academic mind. Come into them with an eager heart. That way they will give you much. Because they know little of logic, and much of desire - and desire drives us. Howard knew that. Let him share this knowledge with you.” - Joe R. Lansdale, from his introduction. 

People of the Dark is the third volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. This volume (Kindle edition) has nine short stories and two poems.

In these stories you’ll encounter Bran Mak Morn, King Kull, Solomon Kane, 11th century Irishman Turlogh Dubh O’Brian, forbidden texts, the Cthulhu Mythos, and the reaver Conan, a character Howard wrote a story about just before creating the one that would become more famous. 

In “Kings of the Night,” Kull of Atlantis, the king of Valusia gets pulled from the past to help Bran Mak Morn, king of the Picts fight a battle against Romans. The first two parts set everything up, the third and concluding part is one intense battle. I enjoyed the crossover aspect of this story having read the Kull stories in volume one. The fighting scenes are fast paced and exciting but what I really like about this story is the brooding sense of melancholy that hangs over everything. 

 

“Children of the Night'' begins with a group of men, which include Howard’s character Professor John Kirowan, in a discussion. Topics move from anthropology, weird fiction, to secret cults and forbidden texts like the Necronomicon. During the discussion the narrator O'Donnel thinks to himself that one of the men, Ketrick, seems strange because of his features and goes on about racial purity. Later the narrator gets knocked unconscious and finds himself reliving part of a past life in battle against the Children of the Night, a snake-like people. There are some great action scenes but the racial purity aspect which pops up again at the end took me out of the story. This is the one story in this collection that I didn’t enjoy.

“The Footfalls Within” begins with Solomon Kane tracking a group of slavers in Africa. After Kane gets captured trying to rescue a woman, the group discovers an ancient mausoleum in the jungle. Hoping to find treasure the leader of the slavers decides to open it. Chaos ensues. The action and the background we get regarding the ancient staff Kane received from N'Longa in “Hills of the Dead” (from volume two) made this a fun read. 

“The Gods of Bal-Sagoth” is a sequel to ‘The Dark Man” but was published first. Irish outlaw Turlogh Dubh and his rival, the Saxon Athelstan, wind up shipwrecked together on an island. They encounter a lost civilization and try to help a woman reclaim her crown. The rivalry between Turlogh and Athlestane, plus lots of action made this an exciting read. 

“The Black Stone'' begins with the narrator reading about a strange stone in the book Nameless Cults (also known as The Black Book) by von Juntz. Nameless Cults is a fictional forbidden book created by Howard and first introduced in his story “The Children of the Night.” Later after conferring with August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft gave the book a name in German, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, and both writers used the book in their stories. In this story the narrator travels to the mountain village in Hungary where the stone is located. He has what he believes is a dream about ritual sacrifices and a toad-like monster. Violent and creepy. 

“The Dark Man” is the first story that Howard wrote about Turlogh Dubh of the Clan na O’Brian. Although now an outlaw he sets out to rescue Moira, a woman from his clan that has been kidnapped by a Viking raider. On the way to the island where the raiders have their camp he discovers a strange dark statue and brings it with him. The statue appears to protect him as he survives a storm. He arrives at the island and sneaks into the raider’s longhouse. Among the Vikings are women and children and a Saxon by the name of Athelstane who has been raiding with the Vikings. An absolutely brutal battle follows. At the end of the story we learn that the dark statue is a statue of a king from centuries in the past. One of my favorite stories in this collection. 

“The Thing on the Roof” begins with the history of the book Nameless Cults. Hoping to find gold, the book is used to find a lost tomb, The Temple of the Toad. Something gets released. The story also includes references to the Necronomicon and the Black Stone in Hungary. It was okay but so far I prefer Howard's other stories over his Cthulhu stories.

In “Horror From the Mound” a former cowboy ignores the warnings of his Mexican neighbor and digs into an Indian burial mound, hoping to find gold. I could see that this was not going to turn out well and I wasn’t surprised when something got released. I was surprised by what was released though. Another example of Howard putting his own spin on a traditional monster. Great story. 

In “People of the Dark” the narrator enters Dagon’s Cave with a gun intending to kill a man who is a rival for the woman he loves. After a fall he relives a past life as a reaver named Conan. Not that Conan. Howard will use that name again for a character in upcoming stories. The phrase "by the thunder of Crom" is used by the narrator though. In this story Conan of the reavers has chased a beautiful woman and her protector into the cave, his goal being to kill the protector and capture the woman. He soon realizes that he has entered “the dread Cavern of the Children of the Night.” The three soon discover they are not alone and wind up having to work together. I feel Howard makes much better use of the “reliving a past life” idea here than he did in “Children of the Night.” A dark story with a bittersweet ending. Another one of my favorites in this collection.

As in the previous volumes I liked the poetry. Dark and atmospheric.

One of the things I’m really enjoying about this series is reading Howard’s stories in the order that they appeared in Weird Tales, being able to see how his stories connected and how his storytelling progressed. It was also really interesting to learn that Howard used the names Conan and Crom in a story that predates the more famous Conan stories. 

Looking forward to reading volume four.  

Kings of the Night (Bran Mak Morn/Kull) (4/5)

The Song of the Mad Minstrel (poem)

The Children of the Night (John Kirowan/Cthulhu Mythos) (2/5)

The Footfalls Within (Solomon Kane) (4/5)

The Gods of Bal-Sagoth (Turlogh O’Brian) (4/5)

The Black Stone (Cthulhu Mythos) (3/5)

The Dark Man (first Turlogh O’Brian) (5/5)

The Thing on the Roof (Cthulhu Mythos) (3/5)

The Last Day (poem)

Horror From the Mound (4/5)

People of the Dark (from Strange Tales) (Cthulhu Mythos) (5/5)

Overall (4/5)

Social Media Struggles and Solutions

 “Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.” - John Updike

I love reading and I love writing. I also like Twitter and Instagram. That can be a problem. Spending too much time on social media means less time reading and writing. Spending some time on social media can be relaxing, but it can also become a time trap.

I think part of the problem was that I was following too many accounts. Add to that, the algorithms that social media companies insist on using. I found myself just scrolling past pictures and tweets that I had no real interest in.

Usually purging accounts that I had lost interest in would solve the problem. But with Instagram I was still following so many accounts that a lot of them got lost in the algorithms. With Twitter there are news cycles where I find my feed taken over by current events. I've found myself mindlessly scrolling though numerous tweets of bad news and more bad news. The kids call it doomscrolling. 

A few months ago I learned about Lists on Twitter. It was a real game changer. Lists allows you to customize your feed by organizing and prioritizing the tweets in your timeline. I made ten lists but I find myself using three in particular: one for friends, one for people who post about books, and one for authors I like. On my author list I have Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, and Chuck Wendig among others. It’s like having separate Twitter feeds for different topics. It’s nice having the option to silence all the noise and focus on one topic when I want to. It’s made using Twitter a more enjoyable experience. 

More recently I did a couple of  things that have made Instagram fun again. First I did a major purge. Hitting follow really adds up over time. I was following almost 400 accounts. Scrolling through my feed was endless. It was overwhelming. There were so many random accounts that I had lost interest in my feed. Then I discovered accounts that had stopped following me. So I went through my feed. If an account didn’t spark joy it was deleted. I purged about 150 accounts. I noticed a change right away. Accounts I hardly ever saw before started showing up in my feed again. Opening up Instagram became a pleasurable experience again. 

Next I started a second account. My main account has always been a mix of things. I had toyed with the idea of starting a themed account but I could never decide on anything I wanted to focus on. I love reading and I love collecting books, especially old paperbacks. I also found boxes of my old books in my parent’s attic recently. So I decided on a book theme for my second account. For this account I’m mostly only following other book accounts. It’s nice having the option to focus on one topic. I’ve found other collectors out there with some really nice collections. It’s been a lot of fun.

Of course, even with these changes it’s still possible to spend too much time on social media and not enough time reading or writing. I knew I wasn't going to quit completely. But besides making the social media experience more fun, the changes have also allowed me to focus more. Now I can get to an endpoint. I no longer find myself scrolling endlessly like a zombie. The changes have allowed me to balance things out and have made it easier for me to put my phone down. 

While these changes have helped to give me more time for writing, I also like watching movies and television shows. But that’s a story for another time. 

Shadow Kingdoms by Robert E. Howard: Paperback vs. Kindle

In February I reviewed the Kindle version of Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume One. Last month I acquired the paperback published by Cosmos Books. It has cover art by Ken Kelly.

My initial excitement turned to confusion and disappointment though. According to the information on the back cover, it should include all the stories from volume one of the Kindle version, starting with "Spear and Fang" and ending with "Red Thunder."

The table of contents tell a different story. It shows that the stories from volume two are also included. Great! Only one problem. The first three stories from volume one are missing.

According to the The Howard Works website, “The Cosmos Books series is based off the Wildside Press series. It combines two or more volumes at a time (as well as taking out some content with copyright questions) to make a new five book series in mass market paperback form.”

Well that clears things up a little but I'm still wondering how the mistake with the back cover got past the editors.

The missing stories include Howard’s first short story, “Spear and Fang” and his two werewolf stories, "In the Forest of Villefore" and "Wolfshead." I’m also really curious about what kind of copyright issues would prevent those stories from being included, especially since they're still available in the Kindle version.

This edition is weird in more ways than one.

My Father’s Favorite Book

“I had been frightened of the lieutenant, frightened of being reprimanded, frightened of failure even in the smallest endeavor. I discovered now that being ashamed of yourself is worse than any fear. Duty, orders, loyalty, obedience - all things boiled down to one simple idea: whatever the consequences, a man must act so that he can live with himself.” - John Masters, Bugles and a Tiger

My father loved reading. There were always lots of books in the house as I grew up. I was looking at the cover art of paperbacks before learning to read. When I was in junior high school I read all the science fiction books in the library. I wanted more. 

My father bought me some of my first paperbacks. After getting my haircut we would always stop into Aspen Book Shop, a used bookstore that was next door. I loved browsing the science fiction section. Dad would always let me pick out a few things to add to the books that he had picked out.

In his later years my father stopped going to used bookstores and started going to the public library. When he passed away a few years ago there was a big stack of books that needed returning. He also had a collection of books spread out between two rooms. Fiction, non-fiction, and lots of books on history. 

When I was cleaning recently I found a really worn out paperback, Bugles and a Tiger by John Masters. I think this must have been his favorite book. It’s an autobiography of a British soldier. My father served in the U.S. Air Force. He read this book so often that the back cover came off and pages were falling out. He also highlighted a number of passages and added comments. Things he disagreed with as well as things he agreed with. He didn’t do this with any of his other books. I think he must have really connected with this author. 

Whenever I would come for a visit I would stay in an extra room. When I was reading or doing something he would often come into my room, or I would go into his study, and we would talk about all kinds of things. Work, current events, his Air Force days, how he met Mom in Germany, or how he was helping at the veterans museum. I miss that. 

Looking through this book, reading the things he highlighted, and reading his comments is like having one of those conversations again. Like he’s still teaching me something. I can hear his voice as I read the lines.

The book is falling apart. It has an Aspen Bookshop stamp on the inside. I’ll be keeping it. 

Moon of Skulls: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 2

“He was clearly searching for something, and each completed story brought him closer to the fictional answer he sought. These stories show the beginning of Howard’s steps toward literary immortality.” - Mark Finn, from his introduction.

Moon of Skulls is the second volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. This volume has two novellas, three short stories, and four poems. 

The first story "Skull-Face" takes up the first half of the book. It was originally a three part serial. It’s basically Howard’s version of a Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu story. It’s wordy and the story rambles for long stretches until the last few chapters. After all the characters have been introduced Howards’s voice starts to come through and the story really picks up. Once the antics with a gorilla costume have been dispensed with and mummies and lost civilizations have been introduced, it gets a lot more interesting. 

"The Fearsome Touch of Death" is a short horror story. Howard creates a spooky atmosphere and ends with some dark humor. Well done. 

"The Moon of Skulls" is the first of two Solomon Kane stories, both set in Africa. This novella was originally serialized over two issues. Howard creates a strong foil for Kane in Queen Nakari. She is intelligent and brutal. Lots of action but we also get into Kane’s head. Here is one of his thoughts as he makes his way through a lost city, “The evident antiquity of his surroundings depressed him, making him sense vaguely the fleeting and futile existence of mankind.” I feel that this kind of writing elevates Howard's work above other action adventure writers.

"The Hills of the Dead" is a shorter Soloman Kane story. I enjoyed this one even more than the previous one. Howard has an interesting take on vampires here. I liked his original take on werewolves in the previous volume and I like his take on vampires in this one. This story re-introduces N’Longa the witch doctor who was introduced in "Red Shadows" the first Kane story. N’longa gives Kane a magic staff and later winds up helping him from a great distance. At the end of the story Kane asks him how this was all possible. The answer he gives makes N’longa one of my favorite Howard characters. It’s poetic and deals with themes Howard comes to again and again. The story is set up well, is dripping with atmosphere, and the ending was a real page turner. 

"The Voice of El-Lil" is a short story that first appeared in Oriental Stories. It starts out as an average lost city story, pauses a few times for some lecturing, and then erupts into action, excitement, and tragedy. Nothing too deep but it wound up really grabbing me. 

Once again on the negative side, Howard brings up race and racial purity in some stories. Sometimes it’s just a few lines and sometimes it’s more. It definitely pulled me out of the story whenever it came up. Something to be aware of when reading Howard. On the other hand, Howard creates strong African characters in two of the stories. Queen Nakari and N’Longa are great characters, one a villain and one an ally. 

Something else I noticed, while some stories are stronger than others, they all have exciting endings. 

I enjoyed the poems again. "Black Chant Imperial" is really, really dark, and sounds like it could be a black metal song. 

I’m looking forward to reading volume three. 

Skull-Face (2/5)

Dead Man’s Hate (poem)

The Fearsome Touch of Death (4/5)

A Song Out of Midian (poem)

Shadows on the Road (poem)

The Moon of Skulls (Solomon Kane) (4.5/5)

The Hills of the Dead (Solomon Kane) (5/5)

Black Chant Imperial (poem)

The Voice of El-Lil (3.5/5)

Overall (4/5)