I had intended this to be the start of a review dump of short stories. It’s ended up being a review of a single story: “People of the Dark”. I haven’t been reading very much this year.
Anyway.
Published in 1932, this is the story of John O’Brien’s attempt to kill his victorious rival for the affections of Eleanor Bland. His target is Richard Brent, and John has followed him into Dagon’s Cave, hidden away in the English countryside. Before he can let loose his wrath, he is knocked unconscious. Waking up, John finds himself another person entirely. He’s wearing a loin cloth and carrying a great iron sword, and calls himself Conan the Reaver. Conan, a Celt, is pursuing a Saxon named Vertorix and a woman named Tamera. They are, presumably, different incarnations of Richard and Eleanor. Anyway, there are monsters in the cave, and the story ends up being one big, long chase scene in the dark – reminiscent of the Moria scene in The Lord of the Rings.
This story is generally classified as being part of the Cthulu Mythos. Robert E. Howard was good friends with HP Lovecraft, and wrote a number of stories using Lovecraft’s mythology. But it’s also seen, by some, as a forerunner to the more famous Conan the Cimmerian, given the shared name and overall aesthetic.
The story itself is okay, but I was impressed by Howard’s writing – which I found far more accessible and less obnoxious than Lovecraft. I’d like to read more of his stuff. It has the charm of pre-WWII pulp, while retaining a bit of timelessness.