Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

One of the two stories for October 2011 is The Valley of the Worm from The Valley of the Worm and Others: Skull Face Omnibus Volume 2.


It's the story of a modern day man, James Allison, who experiences the lives of several of his ancestors in different stories. It can also be read online here.

I like these James Allison stories - I've read a couple now and the past-life regression device is a pretty good one.

The Valley of the Worm is linked into the Cthulhu Mythos and is a decent horror story. It purports to be the kernel of truth behind all subsequent dragon-slaying myths and legends.

There's a bit of the "Aryan master-race" in here, but as we've discussed that elsewhere I'll not dwell on it. Suffice to say that Howard's aim (I believe) is story-telling, not supremacist ideology.

The relationship between the main character, Niord, and the Pict, Grom is good - I thought they worked well together, even though Grom is written as an almost cliché caveman. I think the prevailing view of pre-historic man in Howard's time was of the "ug-ug" variety.

I'm guessing that there may have been some influence on the James Allison stories from Jack London's Before Adam, which is about a boy who experiences the life of an Australopithecine ape in his dreams. As Howard was a fan of London I feel sure he must have read this story. However, the addition of a supernatural element in Howard's story gives it a very different feel to that of London.

There is a freedom to the past life type of story. No matter what happens to the hero of the story in the past life, the reader knows the hero has lived & died - sort of - so there is no need for the hero to live for a happy or heroic ending. The author is free to imagine just about anything & the reader will still count the hero a winner since his spirit is still around in the present.

I'm a little late to this conversation, having only just recently read this story, but I really liked your comment, Jim. There is a freedom to the past life story. It allows for that atmosphere of mortal doom yet retain that heroic survival of the spirit.

Howard was very inspired and influenced by The Star Rover by Jack London for many of his reincarnation stories. I've not read much Jack London. Star Rover and Before Adam sound like books I should track down.

I've read several of London's books, but never The Star Rover. I keep meaning to get it. Most, if not all, of his writing is available on Gutenberg.org for free. Last year, I listened to To Build a Fire and Other Stories, The Call of the Wild (& other stories), & The Sea Wolf. All are fantastic. I can see why REH would be influenced by them. Unfortunately, these are the only audio books of his that my library has. I generally hate Libervox recordings, but might give them a go to listen to some of his others, if they're available.