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Author: Jeffrey Talanian

A Master of his Art: Rattle of Bones and Other Terrifying Tales by Robert E. Howard

A Master of his Art: Rattle of Bones and Other Terrifying Tales by Robert E. Howard

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Rattle of Bones and Other Terrifying Tales (Clover Press, October 20, 2020). Cover by Gabriel Rodriguez

“Damned be the dark ends of the earth where old horrors live again.”
— Robert E. Howard

Some of the finest gifts are from your buddy, a kindred spirit and dog brother in REH fandom, such as that damnable reprobate, Levi Combs. At Gamehole Con this year, Levi gifted me with this beautiful copy of Rattle of Bones and Other Terrifying Tales, by Robert E. Howard. And what a treasure it is!

This collection contains some of REH’s finest horror yarns, such as “In the Forest of Villefère,” “Wolfshead,” “Sea Curse,” “Rattle of Bones,” “The Touch of Death,” “Dig Me No Grave,” “People of the Dark,” and “The House of Arabu.” It was published by Clover Press and features beautiful art by Gabriel Rodriguez. It also features an afterword by horror master Steve Niles, perhaps best known for 30 Days of Night.

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An Essential Purchase: The Weird Tales Boys by Stephen Jones

An Essential Purchase: The Weird Tales Boys by Stephen Jones

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The Weird Tales Boys (PS Publishing, September 2023). Cover by Les Edwards

How could I not purchase The Weird Tales Boys, by Stephen Jones? It focuses on the three authors whose work has most inspired me for decades: Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith.

In fact, I created a small business whose core product, the Hyperborea RPG, is inspired by the works of these three iconic giants of weird fiction, horror, fantasy, and sci-fi.

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Caroline Munro in Space?

Caroline Munro in Space?

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Speaking of Caroline Munro (as I was in my last post Lovely Ladies And Pleistocene Behemoths: A Visit To The Hollow Earth With Edgar Rice Burroughs)… here’s an amusing bit of trivia regarding Space 1999.

In Season 2, Episode 20, “The Seance Spectre,” some members of the crew go mad due to being away from nature for so long, hurtling through space on Moonbase Alpha. Well, the episode was all about the hallucinations suffered by these people and their drastic actions taken. All of it was resolved, following a lot of action and conflict.

The funny bit was at the very end, the epilogue, if you would, in which Dr. Russell prescribes a method to prevent further hallucinations: The patients have to watch long hours of nature films until it psychologically becomes “boring” to them. At the command center, Tony and Allen were using this same theory in a different manner: They stood there staring at a photo of none other than Caroline Munro!

Lovely Ladies and Pleistocene Behemoths: A Visit to the Hollow Earth with Edgar Rice Burroughs

Lovely Ladies and Pleistocene Behemoths: A Visit to the Hollow Earth with Edgar Rice Burroughs

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Caroline Munro, and a pair of Pleistocene behemoths, in At the Earth’s Core

I’ve had a lifelong fascination with “hollow earth” stories, a style of fantasy fiction that presents ancient, lost societies of people (and/or humanoids) living deep under the earth, where Jurassic and Pleistocene behemoths — as well as uncategorized horrors — struggle to survive in the subterranean jungles of a sunless world.

My favorite of this genre is the Pellucidar series, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which began in 1914 when At the Earth’s Core was serialized in All-Story Weekly, before the novel was published in book format.

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A Weird & Wonderful Treasure Trove: New Gaming Releases

A Weird & Wonderful Treasure Trove: New Gaming Releases

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Legacy of the Green Flame (Pacesetter Games)

Fellow RPG enthusiasts, if I may, I would like to direct your attention to a few fine new projects that recently funded on Kickstarter.

Legacy of the Green Flame (Pacesetter Games)

Legacy of the Green Flame (solo play for 5e and “classic”): It was the oldest trick in the book. A man on a dark road asked for directions and you let your guard down. You awake in a nearby inn with a bruised skull and ego. All your possessions are gone, but your courage endures. Helped by the kindly and concerned innkeeper, you are equipped and the chase is on. The bandits fled into the forest, but you will have your vengeance. (Series of linked adventures; this was the first description).

The project successfully funded on Kickstarter in less than an hour, and wrapped up September 21. According to the April 8 Progress Report, they are close to ordering books for retail delivery. Keep an eye out for this one.

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The Swashbuckling Horror of Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter

The Swashbuckling Horror of Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter

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Caroline Munro in Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (Hammer Film Productions, April 1974)

Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter is a classic Hammer Horror film that features supernatural horror combined with swashbuckling action. This is one of my favorites of the Hammer Horror series of films.

It stars Horst Janson as the vampire-hunting swordsman, Captain Kronos; John Cater as the hunchbacked scientist, Professor Grost; and the lovely Caroline Munro as Carla, the clever assistant.

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The Hobby Shop Dungeon, by Benoist Poire and Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.

The Hobby Shop Dungeon, by Benoist Poire and Ernest Gary Gygax Jr.

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The Hobby Shop Dungeon Marmoreal Tomb Campaign Starter

The Hobby Shop Dungeon, by Benoist Poire and Ernest Gary Jr. Gygax is a marvel to behold.

One can utilize these books and maps for years — a complete setting loaded with maps, histories, set pieces, dungeons (arguably a mega-dungeon), wilderness, factions, heraldry, unique monsters, unique magic items, and adventure hooks abounding. It is quite a feat and an enormous labor of love.

Poring through it all, I’d say my favorite parts are the heraldry (very Greyhawk in spirit), the wilderness and dungeon maps, and the Prismatic Maze (sounds very Vancian).

I’ve assembled some photos from the box set below for you to enjoy. You can order copies from Troll Lord Games or from Isle of Games.

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Brutal, Evocative, & Sad: Michael Moorcock’s Elric the Dreaming City by Julien Blondel, Jean-Luc Cano, and Julien Telo

Brutal, Evocative, & Sad: Michael Moorcock’s Elric the Dreaming City by Julien Blondel, Jean-Luc Cano, and Julien Telo

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Michael Moorcock’s Elric Vol. 4: The Dreaming City
(Titan Comics, April 5, 2022). Art by Julien Telo

Elric of Melniboné, the White Wolf, is exiled from his home and cursed to walk the land under the influence of Arioch, the Lord of Chaos. With his soul-eating sword, Stormbringer, Elric must find his way to the Dreaming City – the mysterious ancient birthplace of his ancestors. Hoping to unlock the secrets of his destiny, Elric is unaware he is being hunted by his long-lost love, Cymoril, who has only one sinister agenda: vengeance.

I must admit, when I first saw Titan Comics advertising this hardcover graphic novel, Elric: The Dreaming City, I was skeptical.

How could this be worth my shelf space when I already have the same Michael Moorcock story adapted in 1982 by the great Roy Thomas, with art by the legendary P. Craig Russell? That is what I asked myself. The bar was set rather high.

But after picking this up and more recently perusing it, I’ve concluded that this adaptation by Blondel and Cano, with art by Telo, is indeed a worthy addition to any Elric fan’s collection. It is brutal, evocative, sad, and violent – all the hallmarks of a tragically epic Elric story.

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Science is Sorcery

Science is Sorcery

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Bloodstone (Warner, March 1975). Cover by Frank Frazetta

“Kane’s power is that of science, not sorcery — although with elder-world science, the distinction becomes blurred. But then, to the untutored minds the distinction is difficult to grasp, for this lies in understanding the forces at work, and in the laws they obey. For example, to produce a deadly sword to wield in battle, a master smith will use secrets of his craft to smelt choice iron into steel, forge steel into tempered blade, then balance, hone and haft the blade to the best of his art. Similarly, a wizard may utilize the secrets of his craft to forge a sword of starfire and incantations. Both swords seem magic to some club-swinging apeman, such as legend places on lands unknown to our civilization, but clearly one is born of science, the other spawned by sorcery…”

—Karl Edward Wagner, Bloodstone

In the hobby of tabletop role-playing games, the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien looms prominently, and the reason for this makes perfect sense: By the mid- to late 1960s, Tolkien fever (i.e., fervent esteem for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) was reaching epic proportions, fueled by the mass market release of affordable paperbacks published by Ballantine Books. “Frodo Lives!” became a counterculture slogan on buttons, bumper stickers, and T-shirts. In the form of graffiti, it was spray-painted in subways and under bridges. Wargaming enthusiasts of the American Midwest were not immune to the hypnotic effect of The Ring, and in one wargame, called Chainmail (Gygax and Perren, 1971), a 15-page “Fantasy Supplement” in the back of the rules proved to be a primary progenitor of the world’s most popular tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.

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Inspired by the Weird Fiction of Clark Ashton Smith: Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay

Inspired by the Weird Fiction of Clark Ashton Smith: Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay

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Castle Amber (TSR, 1981). Cover by Erol Otus

Castle Amber (aka Château d’ Amberville) by Tom Moldvay (RIP) is a classic D&D adventure that I first enjoyed as a player at age 10 and later as DM. Published in 1981 by TSR, Castle Amber has a wonderful cover by Erol Otus, and excellent interiors by Otus, Jim Holloway (RIP), Harry Quinn, Jim Rosolf (RIP), and Stephen Sullivan (he did the maps, I’m assuming).

I didn’t appreciate it as a youth, but this module was largely inspired by the weird fiction of Clark Ashton Smith — specifically his Averoigne Cycle of stories, which were set in a fictional counterpart of a province of France. Smith called this part of Southern France “the most witch-ridden in the entire country.” Smith has been a huge inspiration to me in my own RPG work, and I never tire of rereading his poetry and fiction.

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