Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

I recently bought "Back to School" and was looking over my collection... REH fans, the extreme ones like me, want every word he has written. This is to such a degree that the Del Rey volumes and the REH Foundation publish fragments, letters, school essays, lists, and ad infinitum of things REH wrote.

Is this normal? I am a fan of a lot of writers, but only REH drives me to this extreme. Do fans of Jack London or Edgar Allan Poe or Edgar Rice Burroughs or Erle Stanley Gardner fans want everything their favorite author wrote, or is it just REH fans?

I think it's a typical human characteristic and, like all characteristics, more developed in some than in others. If it is a passionate hobby which gives us pleasure, occupation and a way of expressing sunbathing about ourselves, then that sounds affirming to me. So to answer your question, yes, it's normal 😊

That said, if collecting becomes an obsession which negatively impacts in a significant way on other parts of life, then it might be useful to reflect on what's happening for us, and why we are putting so much energy into one area of life that other areas are suffering.

I've often wondered about that, actually, Vincent. I do not have that nature of fandom personally, but I know several/many who do for REH. I also have no experience with the inner fan circles of most other authors, but from my POV I don't see such committed obsessiveness (apologies for the uncouth word). I've considered a future sequel to RBF's REH CHANGED MY LIFE, but I honestly have no vibes on any other author who could generate 30+ others to expound upon how s/he changed their lives.

Yeah. I could definitely write that kind of article for my life regarding REH.

Fortunately, my REH collecting is a net positive for my life. I get a lot of joy out of it, and it never really causes a neglect anywhere. I just wonder why there is so much available for me to collect. Unfortunately, like Jason, I don't have any experience with the inner fan circles of other authors either - I am just curious if this level of material is available for other authors.

As an example, I know HPL's letters are available, but do HPL fans have such easy access to drafts, synopses, fragments, and juvenilia as REH fans? What about fans of Poe, Mary Shelley, or Frank Herbert?

I've wondered about it too! I think it is somewhat normal for some people wired like me to want to collect stuff. I have been an avid collector of just about everything REH off and on for many years. As I get older I have dumped a lot of the old paperbacks, etc because I have all of the relevant stories, bios, etc in more sought after editions. I have a cousin who says they have medication for that :). I have often done similar collecting of music by certain Jazz artists, but it does make me scratch my head when hearing HOW REH CHANGED MY LIFE. I have been at some REH Days where I hear things like, "we come every year to meet In his name." It actually sounds a little blasphemous to me and makes me a little uncomfortable. While I am highly entertained by his writing and consider myself a big fan, I certainly do not worship him. I love the music of John Coltrane but would not be inclined to join the 50 year old religion devoted to him and his music based in San Francisco but love the artists who have explored his music.

I think it's pretty normal! As far as other fandoms go, there are Jane Austen fans, for example, who will snap up any ephemera they can get, and are heavily involved in fan activities, get-togethers, even cosplay. In retrospect, (some) Howard fandom has things in common with modern media fandoms like Doctor Who, for example: people collect audio of lost episodes, buy multiple reference books, talk about it like it changed their lives. There are probably multiple reasons why Howard hits a certain sweet spot with a lot of people (close enough to our time period, but far enough from it; lots of pulpy fantasy goodness, but with some substance behind it, etc.) And the Howard Days experience has evolved to allow a kind of personal connection to his life and work that just isn't possible for a lot of other writers. The ability to sit up all night drinking beer in a favorite author's yard is pretty unique. I couldn't do that with Dickens, say, and that's certainly a factor.

Thank you, Karen! Those are great examples!

I guess Christopher Tolkien has been making JRR Tolkien's unpublished work available for years (although he edits them for publication but I don't know to what degree), and your post reminded me that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has a fan club that meets to debate his Holmes stories as though they are historical documents.

Ok. I am feeling less insane now. I'm just a modern fan. :) I think I am lucky to live in a time when all of this material is available - and at an stage in my own life where I can afford to get it (the REH Foundation books are expensive - if I were still a kid or a young man, I'm not sure I would have been able to get them).