Robert E. Howard Readers discussion
Horror & Cthulhu Mythos
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Pigeons from Hell Query
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I don't see any answers so I will attempt. Check this out....http://www.laughingsage.com/macabrefi...
Howard did not create the zuvembie. It is a reanimated corpse like a zombie. The story "Pigeons from Hell" was inspired by black women that told him stories when he was a child. I don't have time to look it up right now but I believe it was a cleaning woman who told him "ghost" stories about the South.
Mike
Mike: thanks for the link; I hadn't been able to find a zuvembie reference in my own internet search, other than those linked to Pigeons from Hell. Curiosity satisfied :-D
Just finished the tale last night. Enjoyed it. And thought it a nice touch on how the zuvembie came to be. First time I'd heard of them, however.
this story was also made a TV Script for Alfred Hitchcock presents; i saw it on TV as a kid; great show, very creepy and the tale is a chiller; i have always held in in my top ten creepiest stories of all time; well worth the read, as well as the see if you can find it; also, if i remember correctly a young Jan Michael Vincent played in the show.
Jerriann, is this the one you're talking about?http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0723089/
Wasn't Jan Michael Vincent a little young to have worked with Hitchcock?
I DID SOME RESEARCH AND MY YOUNG MIND WAS IMPRESSED...not correctly.in order to save you the hunt i have 2 sites to share but also what was pertinent to the subject:
this aired in 1961, it was on Alfred Hitchcock Presents Thriller shows:
the first is:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43938/...
Though Thriller lacks a unique and consistent voice, this very malleability also has certain advantages, in that its absence of a weekly formula and predictable style helps episodes like "Pigeons from Hell," probably the scariest of all Thrillers because it's so unlike anything else on network television, before or since. In this show two brothers, their car disabled, seek shelter in a spooky old Louisiana mansion. From this generic beginning the episode (directed by One Step Beyond's John Newland) moves in one unexpected direction after another, generating almost unbearable suspense and anticipation for the unspeakable menace prowling about upstairs.
And the second is:
Pigeons From Hell
Story by Robert E. Howard first appeared in Weird Tales May 1938, Howard is one of the best writers in that unique magazine; best known for creating the CONAN saga. The teleplay is John Kneubuhl's adaptation.
Starring Brandon DeWilde, who remains forever young having reached fame as the boy in SHANE; he also did well as the lead in the notorious Hitchcock Presents episode "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Sadly killed in a car crash at age 30... the same age as Robert E. Howard who committed suicide when only 30.
"Pigeons from Hell" is arguably the best known THRILLER episode in the series. The original story is hard to beat, and the episode is dreamy rather than terrifying. Yet it has grown on me over the years, with it's sense of night suffocating the daylight even outside the house.
Subtle little moments such as the kerosene lantern that keeps going dim whenever it's
carried upstairs are memorable indeed. ****"
Brandon De Wilde: he did resemble a young Jan Michael Vincent which was around 10 years later, he was on Marcus Welby MD in an episode, among other things most notably was his role on Airwolf, much later in his career.
Never read it, but I have it. Guess what I'm reading myself off to sleep with tonight.
Very cool so far. I liked the "smashing report" of the sherrif's pistol in the night. I could totally hear it in my mind. He's a little too talkative though. He should be doing his reasoning in his head.
Keith, your spoiler is showing. It's singular & ends with a /spoiler inside the <> signs.-----------
Jerriann, that is the episode I linked to on IMDB. At $150 for the DVD set, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass. Maybe I'll see if I can find it used or put it on a list for the kids to get me for Xmas.
As for Jan Michael Vincent, the first role I remember seeing him in was as the young apprentice to Charles Bronson in "The Mechanic". I recently saw a remake with Jason Statham (sp?) &, while fun, wasn't nearly as good. They managed to completely blow the whole point, IMO. Great action, though.
TRUE, someone might have the series a lot cheaper on eBay. it is out of my pocketbook too; but it was a great show.
REH describes a zuvembie in his short (and creepy!) horror story Pigeons from Hell as being a kind of zombie, but with differences: a zuvembie is always female and is not dead, but has been given certain powers by a potion created by a voodoo priest. The zuvembie loses much of her intellect, is unaware of time and is essentially immortal unless slain by a lead or steel weapon, is driven to kill people, who she can entrance, and can control her victims' dead bodies until the warmth has left the corpse.
The only other references to zuvembies I can find relate to Marvel comics, who were disallowed by the Comics Code from using the term zombie for reanimated corpses. Given that they were running Conan stories at the time, it is almost certain that the comic writers were aware of the REH story and that they borrowed the zuvembie term from him.
So, is there any earlier origin that anybody knows about? (hide spoiler)]