Another day, another defilement

I read Robert E. Howard's short story "Pigeons from Hell" today, inspired by a piece of art that my good friend the Lord Admiral bought for a paltry ten dollars at a convention he had the pleasure (and I did not) of attending. Although the story sounds as though "Two Gun Bob" was challenged to write the scariest story he could with a silly title, it works.

Place plays a crucial role in the story, as it is uniquely steeped in the culture and legends of the South. In much of the story, Howard seems to be responding to HP Lovecraft's tales of horror by arguing that his native South is much scarier than New England. For instance, the character through whom we see the story exclaims halfway through,

"Voodoo!" he muttered. "I'd forgotten about that -- I never could think of black magic in connection with the South. To me witchcraft was always associated with old crooked streets in waterfront towns, overhung by gabled roofs that were old when they were hanging witches in Salem; dark musty alleys where black cats and other things might steal at night. Witchcraft always meant the old towns of New England, to me -- but all this is more terrible than any New England legend -- these somber pines, old deserted houses, lost plantations, mysterious black people, old tales of madness and horror -- God, what frightful, ancient terrors there are on this continent fools call 'young'!"

Earlier, Howard narrates the same character's changed perception about the South, seeming to echo how he imagines Lovecraft would react to Texas: "He had thought of the South as a sunny, lazy land washed by soft breezes laden with spice and warm blossoms, where life ran tranquilly to the rhythm of black folk singing in sunbathed cottonfields. But now he had discovered another, unsuspected side -- a dark, brooding, fear-haunted side, and the discovery repelled him."

Much of the story owes to Howard's own self-image as a Southern storyteller, which he defends and validates through his story. In his letters, he often refers to his stories as "yarns," and he uses Southern tropes to explain how his stories come to him: he says, for instance, that the idea for Conan popped into his head fully realized without much thought on his part.

The story itself seems to be a purposeful who's-who of Southern storytelling elements. Black magic, voodoo, snakes, the Devil, a man on a horse wielding a Colt six-gun, returning from hell, the living dead, a haunted house, and the Civil War all play a role. Howard, best known for writing stories in mythical Hyboria, is perhaps best seen here as exploring the legends and stories of his native South.



Now for something completely different:
Freaking cool!