We're off! The time is nigh and we've pointed our ponies southwest towards Cross Plains!
Hope to see a passel of you'uns under the Texas sky. Until then, safe travels!
All the Howard Days info you need is right here, but there's nothing like experiencing it first hand. Plenty of room, so y'all come!
Howard Days 2025 is now in the home stretch! In one week we'll be gathering at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, to enjoy The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom!
And when we speak of "Howard Fandom", we mean Fans of the myriad of genres Bob Howard wrote in: Sword & Sorcery, adventure, horror, historical, western, boxing, science fantasy, detective, spicy, weird menace & ghosts, humor and poetry. We mean Fans of Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, El Borak, Bran Mak Morn, Steve Costigan, Dark Agnes, Esau Cairn, James Allison, Cormacs FitzGeoffrey & Mac Art, Kirby O'Donnell, Breckinridge Elkins and dozens more!
We gather at Howard Days every year to enjoy the in-person company of our fellow travelers, as we come together to navigate the words and worlds of Robert E. Howard.
OK, that being said, let's get down to some brass tacks, as the saying goes. Howard Days 2025 "officially" happens Friday, June 13th and Saturday, June 14th; but for early birds, the Museum is open on Thursday the 12th from 2-4. (First look at the new stuff in the Gift Shop is always a treat!) However, folks will be gathering in the Pavilion during the day on Thursday, so as long as you are there, give a hand with setting up tables and chairs in the Pavilion, hey? Thanks!
Folks actually start arriving in Cross Plains on Tuesday and Wednesday in anticipation of the always-goes-too-fast weekend, so if you come early, enjoy yourselves in Cross Plains while helping out the local economy!
On Friday, the festivities begin at the REH Museum. If you would, please sign the guest book under the little canopy set up in the front yard, get a name badge, pick up a schedule and meet and greet with fellow fans - in the House, in the Pavilion (and enjoy the new ceiling fans!) and all around the grounds.
Then, just enjoy your Howard Days! Visit the Museum, attend panels, take a Bus Tour of the surrounding area, get a special postal cancellation stamp souvenir, visit the Cross Plains Review, eat a Hot Dog Lunch, view original Howard typescripts & pulps at the Cross Plains Library, view Howard books and items in the Dealer's Area surrounding the Pavilion - and then enjoy the Celebration Banquet & Silent Auction. And a night-time panel back at the House!
On Saturday there is a Walking Tour of downtown Cross Plains and a guided Grounds Tour around the Museum along with more panels, dealers, the Library is open and the Pavilion remains filled with Howard Fans. New this year: there will be food trucks coming in Saturday afternoon. We always end Howard Days with a direct-from-his-porch open mic reading of Howard's poetry at the Barbara Barrett Memorial Porchlight Poetry.
And this year on Saturday, you can help out the Cross Plains Volunteer Fire Department! Stop by the parking lot at Lowe's Market and enjoy some good lunch-time vittles!
We'll have one more post before saddling our stallions and riding for Texas, then you can follow us along on Facebook. In the meantime, it would be all right if you dropped everything and came to Howard Days! Texas is a really big state and there's room for everyone! Hope to see you soon!
The countdown has begun! Howard Days 2025 is only two weeks away! Robert E. Howard fans and enthusiasts will begin arriving in Cross Plains, Texas, in anticipation of enjoying themselves at The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom! And Project Pride & the City of Cross Plains, the Robert E. Howard Foundation and members of REHupa (the Robert E. Howard United Press Association) will be on hand to insure a great time will be had by all!
Many thanks go out to Teri Brown and the gang at the Cross Plains Review for the fantastic logo artwork shown above! It is already being shown around Cross Plains and The Review will open its doors Friday morning for tours and souvenir shopping. While you're there, you can go across the street for the special REH postal cancellation and then visit the Cross Plains Library to view original Howard items there. A compact REH Tour of downtown Cross Plains!
And let's not forget the theme of this year's event: 100 Years of Robert E. Howard. No, not his age; we will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of his first professional story. "Spear and Fang" was published in the July 1925 issue of Weird Tales - and launched the career of an original American writer who created not only the Sword & Sorcery genre of fiction, but the Weird Western as well.
One of the best things about Howard Days is how it humanizes Bob Howard. We have all his stories in print to talk about, analyze, debate and discuss; and we have lists of favorite stories, characters and themes; and we have photos of him and drawings that he did and letters that he wrote. But what Howard Days does is help us look at Bob Howard the Man: we talk about him as a person - what he was like and who he was. We do get a feel for Bob from his writings, but he becomes a real person when we sit and talk about him, speculate about him, wonder what he would have been like or what he might have done had he lived to old age.
This is Howard Fellowship and it is the very best thing about Howard Days. Fans from all over the world come to a tiny town in Texas to visit his home and talk with like-minded people about the Life, Work and Legacy of the incomparable Robert E. Howard.
We hope to be seeing (and talking to) you in a couple of weeks. Y'all come!
OK, so fans arriving three weeks early to Howard Days may be a bit much, we have to tell you now that it's true: the Fans are here!
Well, our feeble attempt attempt at humor notwithstanding, the Pavilion will be a cooler place for Howard Days 2025! Working in conjunction with Project Pride, the Robert E. Howard Foundation has seen to the installation of three giant ceiling fans in the roof of the Pavilion next to the Robert E. Howard Museum.
We're getting down to the nitty gritty! Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas starts one month from today! Time to start that check list and tighten up your plans for visiting the Robert E. Howard Museum June 13th & 14th. Hundreds of "Howard Heads" from all over the world will be found there, enjoying the Fellowship provided by interest in Ol' Two-Gun Bob Howard.
And there will be Howard fans starting to congregate in Cross Plains as early as Tuesday June 10, so coming early gets the festivities off to a great start. And the Museum is open on Thursday the 12th from 2 to 4. Come hang out!
First off, a reminder about reservations. The only true cost of this entire weekend is getting a ticket to the Friday night Celebration Banquet at the Cross Plains Community Center. All the rest of HD activities: tours, panels, dealers area, library viewings, postal cancellation, readings, hanging out in the Pavilion - are provided for fans at no cost!
And as the Banquet is the social event of the weekend, please send your $25 per person to Arlene Stephenson at Projpride@yahoo.com and you'll be in with the in crowd at Howard Days! As of today, there are only around 30 seats left and they're going fast, so don't get left out!
The Howard Days Silent Auction is held along with the Banquet at the American Legion Hall next to the Community Center. 100% of the proceeds from this auction goes to Project Pride and their year-round maintenance of the REH Museum. We'll be needing your help on this with donations of primarily REH items: books, paperbacks, magazines, pulps, fanzines, comics, chapbooks, 2D & 3D original art, records & CD's, items from Howard's time, Texas memorabilia - you get the idea!
You can either send these items to Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443 or you may bring items Thursday or Friday to the Museum.
Updates will be happening every few days now, so stay tuned. And even if you decide to come last minute - don't worry! It's Texas - there's plenty of room for y'all!
We're getting down to crunch time for Howard Days! Only seven weeks until we'll be basking in the heat, err... glow (and hiding in the shade) of the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas! June 13 & 14, to be exact, but you can come early!
The schedule is in place (look under the EVENTS tab) and Project Pride is ready to welcome REH fans from all over the world. It's time to double-check your list and look over your plans for heading to Cross Plains to enjoy The Best Two (and a Half) Days in Howard Fandom!
Reservations are still available for the Friday Night Celebration Banquet (and Silent Auction) but they are going fast! You don't want to be left out! For only $25.00 you can enjoy a Texas feast, hear Guest of Honor Mark Wheatley and enjoy the company of hundreds of fellow fans. And remember, this is the only real cost of the entire weekend - everything else at the Museum and Pavilion & Grounds, is presented with no charge. (Of course, you will need cash for the Gift Shop, Dealer's area and food trucks, but that goes without saying!) PayPal to ProjPride@yahoo.com.
Speaking of the Silent Auction: now's the time to look through your Howard and related collections and find items to donate to the Silent Auction. Held in conjunction with the Celebration Banquet, the Silent Auction raises funds for the year-around upkeep of the Robert E. Howard Museum. 100% of the proceeds from this Auction go directly to Museum maintenance, so your items will benefit Project Pride's fine work 100%!
You can send your auction donations directly to Project Pride, or bring them to the Museum on Thursday or Friday before the Banquet. Please mail your donations to: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443 Attn.: Silent Auction.
Howard Days also has a Dealer's Area Friday and Saturday in the yard surrounding the Pavilion. You may purchase a table for $25.00 for the whole weekend (and bring your own, if needed) and set up with your REH and related merchandise. We ask that the majority of your items are directly related to REH. PayPal to ProjPride@yahoo.com.
We'll have more updates and reminders coming soon, so stay tuned. We'll be expecting to see your smiling faces in Texas real soon now! Y'all come!
With only two months to go, plans for Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas, are coming along quite nicely But along with our plans, we hope you are making yours to join us at the Robert E. Howard Museum on June 12-13-14 for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom.
2025 finds us at the 100th anniversary of Bob Howard becoming a professional writer. His "Spear and Fang" tale appeared in the July issue of Weird Tales, launching a career that still resonates after a century!
Project Pride of Cross Plains, the Robert E. Foundation and members of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association are looking forward to hosting hundreds of visitors from all over the world to share Fellowship and celebrate the Legacy of a true American original, Robert E. Howard.
All of the "regular stuff" at Howard Days remains in place for your enjoyment. The Howard Museum will be open all day on Friday and Saturday (plus a few hours on Thursday!) Bus, Walking and Grounds tours will be held, a number of entertaining panels are presented on a variety of Howard-related topics, the Friday night Celebration Banquet and Silent Auction are a highlight, original REH typescripts, Weird Tales magazines and an ever-growing Howard collection are on display at the Cross Plains Library. The Museum has a well-stocked inventory of Howard books and t-shirts and souvenirs and the REH Foundation Press will provide the latest in Howard publishing. The Cross Plains Review will host fans to a historical glimpse of 1930's newspaper office where REH briefly worked, and the Cross Plains branch of the U.S. Post Office provides a nifty HD souvenir with a unique Howard Days cancellation stamp.
Speaking of which, the HD 2025 Guest of Honor, Mark Wheatley, has created some magnificent artwork for this year's cancellation. Check it out:
Mark is also presenting an exclusive Solomon Kane print available only at the Howard Museum, with all proceeds going to Project Pride:
