"in", "within" hand-written above; 46.29.11: original had "hastened", "quickened" typed above; 46.31.9: eveil; 46.32.1: no comma after "Then" 46.33.4-8: original had "limned the scene clearly", crossed out and "flung a veil of illusion" hand-written above; 46.39.6: SAW; 46.40.17-41.1: original read "I saw that on three sides she was surrounded--they...", "on" through "surrounded" is crossed out in pencil; 46.41.8: After "me.", the following sentence originally began "Only on the side next the ruins was the way clear and suddenly", everything through "and" is crossed out; 46.41.10-12: "instinctively" is hand-written above "she", extending into right margin, "I believe" is hand-written below it in margin, no indication of intended insertion point; 47.3.16: no comma after "youth" 47.7.1-10: "I did not fear I only wished to close with them" hand-written above "I recognized these--I knew them of old and all", no indication of intended insertion point; 47.9.5-11.7: "Hate leaped in me as in the old days" is hand-written after "soul.", appears to continue on next line with "when when men of my blood came from the North" (the "N" in
"North" may or may not be capitalized), slopes up slightly, followed by "Ay though the whole spawn of Hell rise up from those caverns which honey comb the moors", but the insertion and some of the readings are conjectural; 47.14.9: features.; 47.14.10-15.11: "the shimmer of flint daggers in their crooked hands"
is typed above "square faces with their unhuman features. Then with a", no indication of intended insertion point; 47.16.3: them,; 47.17.8: They; 47.19.6-20.4: "a flint dagger sank hilt deep in my thigh" is typed above "darkened the moon-silvered stones. Then the ghastly", no indication of intended insertion point; 47.21.4: semicolon rather than comma after "mine" 47.23.1: original had "Mindless", crossed out and "Heedless" handwritten above; 47.23.12: "anew" hand-written above semicolon; 47.25.2: "blindly"
is handwritten above "seeking", no indication of intended insertion point; 47.25.4-26.12: "there the protection some vague instinct in obedience to some dim instinct just as women of her blood had done in by gone ages" is hand-written after "seeking" in the bottom margin of the page, "the" and "some vague instinct" are crossed out in pencil, some of the readings are conjectural; 47.26.12: at top of new page,
"there the protection, following some instinct." appears to continue sentence from "seeking" at bottom of previous page, before handwritten material was inserted; 47.29.9: dreams; 47.34.8: They; 47.35.10: original had "eonic", "ancient" hand-written above, obscured, reading conjectural; 47.41.2: semicolon rather than dash after "explain" 48.2.3-4.12: "Aye, such a shriek as could echo down the dusty corridors of lost ages and bring" hand-written above the line beginning "but I think that...", "back from the whispering abyss of Eternity the ghost of the only one who could save" hand-written above the line beginning "Time to the Beings...", "a girl of Celtic blood" hand-written above line beginning with new paragraph, "The foremost..." 48.6.12: original had "appeared", crossed out, "stood" typed above; 48.7.4: original had "appearing", "materializing" hand-written above; 48.9.9-10.7: "A druid, answering once more the desperate need of people" hand-written above "His brow was high and noble, his eyes mystic and", "of his race" hand-written above beginning of next line, "far-seeing", no indication of intended insertion point; 48.13.6: no comma after "suddenly" 48.15.1-16.5: "sword and shield against the" hand-written above "who raised his hand above", "powers of darkness, protecting helpless tribes as in the world's youth" hand-written above the line beginning "us as if in benediction...", no indication of intended insertion point, some readings conjectural
Dead Man's Hate
Text taken from Weird Tales, January 1930. No changes have been made for this edition.
The Tavern
Text taken from Singers in the Shadows (Donald M. Grant, 1970). No changes have been made for this edition.
Rattle of Bones
Text taken from Weird Tales, June 1929. 54.8.10: "the" not in original.
The Fear That Follows
Text taken from Singers in the Shadows (Donald M. Grant, 1970). No changes have been made for this edition.
The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux
Text taken from a scan of Howard's original typescript, a copy of which was provided by the Robert E.
Howard Foundation. 58.1.8: "the" not in typescript; 58.1.9: no comma after "living" 58.6: no section break; 59.3.9: good natured; 59.21.9: no comma after "indeed" 59.26.2-3: art, which considering; 59.28.14: no period after "cost" 59.32.9: horrizon; 59.36.10: full blooded; 60.3.4: "him" not in typescript; 60.8.2: no comma after "Jessel" 60.8.9: challengers,; 60.9.12: no comma after "York"
60.12.8: large,; 60.22.5: good natured; 60.24.5: unlying; 60.33.3: aluring; 60.38.9: caint; 60.38.14: aint; 60.40.6: mine; 61.5.8: aint; 61.11.7: tableaux; 61.13.14: by gone; 61.20.3: age old; 61.22.7: Eternity,; 61.22.10: no comma after "flown" 61.24.5: obesience; 61.26.4: rediculous; 61.35.4: clean limbed; 62.4.8: no comma after "Ace" 62.4.11: no comma after "corner" 62.5.1: no comma after "crowd"
62.7.7: Gomez,--62.12.14: no comma after "gorilla" 62.16.10: no comma after "Ace" 62.21.2: no comma after "wolf" 62.24.6: no comma after "back" 62.28.3: Gomez" 62.37.11-12: to the his; 62.38.8: vitallity; 63.4.1: straighted; 63.5.14: of; 63.7.2: Gomez" 63.19.7: Gomez" 63.21.13: no comma after
"and" 63.25.13: no comma after "before" 63.28.11: right hand; 63.30.5: left handers; 63.33.2: cant; 63.34.5: no comma after "try" 63.39.9: no comma after "Then" 64.7.2: no comma after "in" 64.24.2: my; 64.28.2: blood shot; 64.29.5: dont; 64.30.6: caint; 64.31.12: vitallity; 64.34.1: no paragraph break; 64.38.7: from,; 64.39.10: "Ace" repeated; 64.40.7: no comma after "cautiously" 67.1.17: comma rather than period after "canvas" 67.2.1: he; 67.2.5: no comma after "winning" 67.7.3: foe; 67.7.9-10: could only could not; 67.7.11: evert; 67.8.13: back pedalling; 67.12.13: no comma after "chin" 67.17.6: no comma after "corner" 67.25.15: aint; 67.28.1: no comma after "ring" 67.36.3: no comma after "left"
67.37.10: back pedalled; 68.2.13: "ribs" not in typescript; 68.18.7: unconciousness; 68.28.12: no comma after "eyes" 68.32.9: punishment,; 68.37.1: wind blown; 68.40.3: blood shot; 69.3.16-4.8: "the picture" through "violently" is in all capital letters; 69.4.8: period rather than exclamation point after
"violently" 69.7.9: wide eyed; 69.12.2: immobile faced; 69.12.5-13.2: "and to" through "that ring!" is in all capital letters; 69.14.5: no comma after "short" 69.14.9: barrel chested; 69.14.12: mighty limbed; 69.20.11: was; 69.23.2: come back; 69.31.5: Gomez" 69.31.8: back; 69.33.3: a; 69.33.5: tableaux; 69.35.10: no comma after "short" 69.36.14: no comma after "and" 69.38.4: comma rather than period after "shuddered" 70.2.5: vitallity; 70.6.10: conciousness; 70.10.12: life like; 70.17.10: steely nerved; 70.17.12: cold eyed; 70.22.2: period rather than comma after "did" 70.22.4: comma rather than period after "answered'
Casonetto's Last Song
Text taken from Etchings and Odysseys #1, 1973. 71.14.5: bosom,; 73.14.4: comma rather than period after "Costigan'
The Touch of Death
Text taken from Weird Tales, February 1930. The only change made for this edition is the title. Weird Tales published the story under the title "The Fearsome Touch of Death." In two separate lists of his stories typed by Howard, one made before the story appeared in print and the other after, the title was given as "The Touch of Death."
Out of the Deep
Text taken from a scan of a carbon copy of Howard's original typescript, provided by the Robert E.