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Gray Morrow's lost "Tower of the Elephant" Conan comic. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/09/29/g...
Gray Morrow’s Conan – The Lost Comic
by Gary Romeo A friend of the blog, David DuLong, reminded me that there was an article in Alter Ego #83 that mentioned that artist Gray Morrow did a Conan comic book some time in the 1950s that wa…
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Phil Sawyer reviews the three volume Weird Tales set from PS Publishing edited by Stephen Jones. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/09/21/r...
Review: Weird Tales (3 Volume Set from PS Publishing) edited by Stephen Jones
by Phil Sawyer Weird Tales: The Early Years This 468 page hardcover anthology was published a few months ago by PS Publishing. They are a publisher in England who specialize in fantasy and science …
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Year old book. Brand new review. Informative book on the genre. Less successful as a writing primer though. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/r...
Review: Arcane Arts and Cold Steel by David C. Smith
by Gary Romeo I bought this book mainly with the intention of reviewing it here. I met David C. Smith at the 2019 Howard Days in Cross Plains and decided I liked the guy after the very briefest of …
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Bill Cavalier returns with an article defending Conan the Murderer or is it Conan the Killer? spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/09/10/c...
CONAN THE MURDERER: An Apologist View of Conan the Killer
by Bill Cavalier OK, yeah, I know…in the strictest meaning of the word, the Conan character in the 21 stories written by Robert E. Howard is indeed a murderer. In the Oxford Dictionary, murder is: …
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Phil Sawyer looks at the letters of August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith. Good overlook and review of the Hippocampus Book. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/09/08/e...
Eccentric, Impractical Devils: The Letters of August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith
by Phil Sawyer This 601 page Hippocampus Press paperback was published in 2020 and is edited by David E. Shultz and S.T. Joshi. I found it fascinating and very enjoyable. As Sprague used to say, I …
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"The Blood Countess" by Steven Shrewsbury made me remember an old Hammer film. Read the review. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/25/r...
Review: The Blood Countess by Steven L. Shrewsbury
by Gary Romeo I’ve noticed that some Robert E. Howard pastiche authors have made use of real life personages and real life legends to, maybe, bring something new to Solomon Kane stories. Howa…
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Scott Tee posted something a while back that reminded me I never did a review of the Solomon Kane story published in the back of Conan: Serpent War 1 -5. I had to remedy that. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/22/r...
Review – Solomon Kane: The Get of Garm by C. L. Werner
by Gary Romeo “The Get of Garm” appeared in Conan: Serpent War #1 – 4 (2020) in serialized installments. It is a reasonably entertaining story. The title sounds odd but has a mean…
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Review of the 2025 Atlantean Award Winning Book. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/18/r...
Review: Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age by Rodolfo Martinez
by Gary Romeo I gave a thumb’s up review to Mr. Martinez’s pastiche novel, The Song of Belit. And I can see why the Robert E. Foundation members gave this book the Atlantean Award for 2…
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Review of unauthorized Cormac Mac Art and Tarzan stories. Kinda crazy stuff. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/17/r...
Review: The Odyssey of the Gael by James L. Richardson
by Gary Romeo This is the third James L. Richardson book I’ve reviewed here. The first two books featured what appeared to be AI art. This book’s cover is credited to Jean Carlos Esteve…
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Review of THE LONG SHIPS by Fran G. Bengtsson. Great historical novel. Fans of Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp should enjoy. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/13/r...
Review: The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson
by Gary Romeo The book is better than the movie. Probably not much of a surprise in saying that. But the movie was entertaining. The book is quite long. 503 pages in the edition shown below. It con…
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Some info about Jack Scott, the Cross Plains newspaperman, who reported on REH's death. Quote from his oral history that I'm sure most have never seen. And finally a small shocker that could have changed Howard Days as we know it. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/02/j...
Jack Scott of Cross Plains
by Gary Romeo I first heard of Jack Scott from the dedication to him in Dark Valley Destiny. The Robert E. Howard biography gives thanks and elucidates the reader: “To Jack Scott, distinguish…
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Some info about Gerta Aison (not much) the editor of Modern American Poetry. Includes REH letters regarding the publication. Interesting info about REH's poems in their first book publication. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/r...
Robert E. Howard in Modern American Poetry
by Gary Romeo Most die-hard Robert E. Howard fans are aware that two poems by Howard were published in the 1933 anthology, Modern American Poetry. REH wrote a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith about the …
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Matthew John writes a Howardian Cormac Mac Art story. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/07/28/c...
Cormac Mac Art: Isle of Swords by Matthew John
by Gary Romeo “Isle of Swords” is a highly competent pastiche of Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art stories. Bear in mind that none of the Cormac Mac Art stories sold in REH’…
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REH received a postcard from the American Fiction Guild about submitting stories to Warner Brothers. Read all about it. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/07/21/r...
Robert E. Howard and the American Fiction Guild
by Gary Romeo Robert E. Howard first mentions his membership in the American Fiction Guild in a May 1932 letter to Tevis Clyde Smith. REH mentions that John Kelley of Fiction House has died (John B…
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Cryptid Foes for Conan. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/07/16/n...
North American Cryptid Museum (A Rogues Gallery for Conan the Barbarian?)
by Gary Romeo I visited the North American Cryptid Museum in Plano, Texas. I was reminded of all the gruesome monsters that Conan has encountered over the years. I think Robert E. Howard (and most …
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Phil Sawyer does an overview of de Camp's "The Miscast Barbarian: Robert E. Howard." Thorough overview with some disagreements and support for de Camp's essay. Worth the read. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/07/06/t...
Thoughts on Robert E. Howard
by Phil Sawyer I am going to mention several books about Robert E. Howard but concentrate on L. Sprague de Camp’s “The Miscast Barbarian: Robert E. Howard” which is Chapter 6 page…
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Review of the newest King Kull e-book. Hardly a classic but entertaining enough to spend the time reading it. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/06/30/r...
Review: The Heart of Piri’nach by George Mann
by Gary Romeo King Kull encounters Thulsa Doom in this new Heroic Signatures e-book. Kull is presiding over various disputes and hating every minute of it until a raven-haired warrior woman breaks …
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Howard Day 2026, brief look at the 40 year celebration of The Whole Wide World film. Includes a reprint of an article by screenwriter Michael Scott Myers about the film. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/06/20/h...
Howard Days 2026 – The Whole Wide World
by Gary Romeo Michael Myers, the screenwriter of The Whole Wide World, and Aurelia Wilder co-hosted a presentation at Howard Days for the 40th anniversary of the film. The presentation used web con…
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Detailed journalistic coverage of the 2026 Howard Days Emerging Writers Workshop. Lots of photos, quotes, and writing advice. A must read for people that were unable to attend. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/h...
Howard Days 2026 – Emerging Writer’s Workshop
by John McPherson Robert E. Howard, pioneer of the sword & sorcery genre, died by suicide in Cross Plains, Texas on June 11, 1936. On the 90th anniversary of his untimely death, a dozen aspirin…
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This is a late rebuttal to a piece written about a year ago. There is a Tolkien quote and lots of words. I think you will like anyway. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/06/05/t...
The Triumph of Conan’s Steward: A Rebuttal to Mark Finn
by Gary Romeo Mark Finn’s essay “The Saga of Conan’s Steward” appeared on the official conan.com website on April 11, 2025. His article divides L. Sprague de Camp’s ro…
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Despite my opening paragraph this is a review of the latest Conan e-book. I've noted some proof reading mistakes and young Conan bragging out of character. Not the best review, not the best e-book. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/06/02/r...
Review – Conan: The Green God of Leng by Gavin G. Smith
by Gary Romeo It is June and Dallas is hot. I’m typing this a little after midnight and its 84 degrees outside. It was in the high 90s all day long. I didn’t bother going out today. Ins…
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Here's a chance to read Robert E. Howard's "Spear and Fang" exactly as it appeared in the July 1925 issue of Weird Tales. Plus the editorial where Farnsworth Wright requested a good caveman tale. A bit of history all in it's original form. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/05/25/h...
Howard in Weird Tales – Spear and Fang by Robert E. Howard
by Gary Romeo In the December 1924 issue of Weird Tales, Farnsworth Wright proposed in The Eyrie (the editor’s column) that someone should write a good story set in prehistoric times where a …
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Vincent Darlage reviews Faces of Doom by Matthew John. A very short story and a short review, but Mr. Darlage manages to point out some things I missed. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/05/22/r...
Review: Faces of Doom by Matthew John
by Vincent Darlage, Ph.D. Matt John’s “Faces of Doom” in Savage Sword of Conan #14 uses the character of Nestor, a Gunderman mercenary mentioned in Robert E. Howard’s untitled synopsis that later b…
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Scan of a 1965 review of Robert E. Howard's The Dark Man and Others and Sprague de Camp's Swords & Sorcery. Interesting review from Castle of Frankenstein Magazine #6. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/05/20/t...
Two Book Reviews from Castle of Frankenstein Magazine #6
by Gary Romeo Castle of Frankenstein was a hipper version of Forry Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland. This particular issue was published in 1965. I was 8 years old. I remember seeing it…
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Stephen Gaspar strives to tell a good story. Here is a review of his latest book. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/05/10/r...
Review: 4 Blades of Ruin by Stephen Gaspar
by Gary Romeo This is the second collection of stories using Robert E. Howard’s characters by Stephen Gaspar. I enjoyed his first collection, 3 Blades Against Darkness, and I enjoyed this one…
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The latest Heroic Legends e-book. Young Kull is a thinker and has a plan. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/28/r...
Review: The Undoomed Man by Adam Rose
by Gary Romeo This is a tale of young Kull, while he is still a slave in Valusia. He is trying to earn his freedom so he can make a name for himself in King Borna’s army. It is a decent premi…
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H. P. Lovecraft's first sale to Weird Tales was a story co-written with his soon to be wife, Sonia Greene. A look at "The Invisible Monster" as it appeared in the November 1923 issue. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/26/l...
Lovecraft in Weird Tales – The Invisible Monster by Sonia H. Greene AKA The Horror at Martin’s Beach
by Gary Romeo Howard Phillips Lovecraft is practically synonymous with Weird Tales. This was HPL’s first professional magazine sale and set him on the course for being a regular contributor t…
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Phil Sawyer reviews Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Several mentions of Robert E. Howard. Check it out! spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/23/r...
Review – Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith
by Phil Sawyer This Hippocampus Press 799 page volume was published in 2017. I was fortunate enough to purchase the hardcover edition. Nowadays there are two paperbacks at $30.00 a piece. “Da…
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Brian Kunde covers British publisher SF Gateway books and ebooks reprinting of classic L. Sprague de Camp. SF Gateway reprinted 43 works by LSdC (mostly) in 2011. Most never reached the US. Read all about them here. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/20/r...
Review: L. Sprague de Camp’s SF Gateway Omnibus: Lest Darkness Fall, Rogue Queen, The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales
by Brian Kunde This review both treats the title indicated and is a tribute to its late publisher—late in the sense of deceased. The publisher is SF Gateway, a UK publisher of (mostly) ebooks, a di…
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Off topic book review. Hey, I liked the book. spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/15/r...
Review: Among Friends by Hal Ebbott
by Gary Romeo This is the third book recommended by comedian Anthony Jeselnik that I’ve reviewed. None are related to Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, or Lin Carter in any way. I risk al…
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