Author Country United States Publisher Lancer Books | Cover artist Frank Frazetta Language English | |
Genre fantasy, horror short stories | ||
Wolfshead is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by author Robert E. Howard. It was published by Lancer Books in 1968.
The stories have very widely divergent backgrounds. Some of them take place in very distant past times, others in the present or relatively recent history, and in some of them modern people relive the experiences of their former incarnations. Geographically, the stories' locations range between The Middle East, Africa, Ireland, Hungary and Texas. However, virtually all of them share the theme of an ancient horror of one kind or another coming back to haunt the protagonist(s) - often as the result of unwise meddling.
Most of the stories had originally appeared in the magazine Weird Tales.
Contents
Wolfshead contains the following items:
- "The Black Stone" - A sinister monument in a remote mountain region of Hungary leads to revelations of a past human-sacrificing sect and the monster they had worshiped.
- "The Valley of The Worm" - In a very ancient mythical time, a Nordic tribesman and his Pict companion kill a terrible monster and lay the foundation to all later dragon-slaying myths.
- "Wolfshead" - An 18th Century Portuguese nobleman invites European friends to his private colony on the shore of Africa, but there is a werewolf among the guests and the oppressed local blacks rebel.
- "The Fire of Asshurbanipal" - An American adventurer and his Afghan partner discover an ancient gem in the deserts of Arabia, but the gem is cursed and very dangerous and they also face the dire threat of mundane human enemies.
- "The House of Arabu" - Among the ancient Sumerians, an Argive Greek is very much the barbarian, and he confronts Sumerian decadence and dark sorcery.
- "The Horror from the Mound" - A failed Texas farmer tries to investigate a mysterious mound, despite the warnings of his Mexican neighbor, and is very lucky to survive the fangs of an undead Spanish vampire.
- "The Cairn on the Headland" - When a mysterious cairn in Dublin is opened, the Norse god Odin emerges, very malevolent and dangerous - fortunately the protagonist got in time a holy relic from a Medieval Irish Saint, with which Odin can be banished.