Friday, March 31, 2023

ONE MONTH UNTIL HOWARD DAYS!


Yep, we're looking at four weeks until Howard Days happens at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas on April 28th & 29th. 

As that time will be here before we know it, we're going to post little reminders about happenings at Howard Days that aren't necessarily listed in detail on the schedule for the next few weeks.

First up: time's a wastin' for you to send your donated REH items to be placed up for bid at the Silent Auction, held in conjunction with the Friday Celebration Banquet. This is the big fund raiser for Project Pride, the community civic group which maintains the Museum. Please check over your REH collection for any items you could donate to Project Pride and send them to PP, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443. Books, paperbacks, magazines, fanzines & small press, comics, artwork - c'mon, we've all got duplicates that we can spare. Help out the REH Museum in this exciting event. We know that this year there'll be a nifty set of pint glasses complete with REH quotes etched into them at the auction. There might even be some pieces of the picket fence that REH may have gazed on!

The good thing about the Silent Auction is that it's available to everyone, not just Banquet ticket holders. You may enter and bid to your heart's content without partaking of the dinner. But for only $25 you can have a great meal surrounded by the incredible Howard Fellowship that makes every Howard Days feel like a family reunion. Plus, your $25 goes to helping out the REH Museum!

Tickets to the Banquet are going fast, so don't miss out! You may send your $25 to the address above or you can Pay Pal to Projpride@yahoo.com.

Don't delay! Howard Days is a memorable experience. Y'all come!


Sunday, March 26, 2023

A Howard Days Book Bonanza!

 One of the exciting things about Howard Days (April 28-29) is that in addition to all the regular features of the weekend, we get to peruse a number of new publishing events that keep the Life and Legacy of Robert E. Howard on our minds!

The long-awaited ROBERT E. HOWARD PHOTO ALBUM, edited by Dennis McHaney, will debut at Howard Days in April. The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press has put together a photographic history of Bob Howard, compiling all the 38 known photos of him, along with "snaps" of his family, friends and close environs. It is a beautiful edition, available in hardback and soft cover, that will add to your REH knowledge and appreciation. Plus, you'll get to see Ol' Two-Gun in his underwear!

From Dennis McHaney and Old Tiger Press is FORBIDDEN MAGIC & Other Poems & Miscellanea in Weird Tales. This gem will be first available at Howard Days 2023 and contains not only all the poems that REH had published in Weird Tales, but also the poems he used as chapter headings in some of his stories. Plus, we get to see all the the letters that Howard had published in The Eyrie, WT's letters page. Also included herein are the black and white illustrations that accompanied some of the poems. This will be officially released at Howard Days; it is available at lulu.com now.

2023 finds us with the theme of 100 Years of Weird Tales and will be about REH's involvement with his most prodigious publisher. What better way to learn about this than to pick up Dennis McHaney's ROBERT E. HOWARD AND WEIRD TALES, a beautiful 178 page book available from lulu,com. Filled with art and anecdotes, it is an illustrated history of everything Ol' Two-Gun Bob had in Weird Tales magazine: stories, poems, letters to the editor - this book has it all.

And Mr. McHaney's  recently published "companion" volume, ROBERT E. HOWARD IN THE PULPS, is also available now. This volume has been nominated for the REH Foundation's Atlantean Award this year for Outstanding Achievement, Book. (Seeing as how it is the only book nominated in that category, congratulations to Dennis!) You can get this award-winner now at lulu.com. SIDE NOTE: Dennis has been involved with REH publishing for 50 years. From the early days of mimeographed fanzines, Dennis has continued on to be the world's most prolific publisher of Robert E. Howard's works! Check out his page at lulu.com.

Jason Waltz, kingpin at Rogue Blades Foundation, is presenting HITHER CAME CONAN, a collection of essays examining the 21 original Howard Conan stories. This title collects Bob Byrne's award-winning series "Hither Came Conan", hosted by John O'Neill at www.blackgate.com. Over 35 REH scholars have contributed to this fine examination of the Howard Conan writing, (17 of the stories that originally appeared in Weird Tales) plus the unpublished Conan tales and drafts. This book will be available in person at Howard Days, and a number of the authors collected therein will be at Howard Days to sign your copy! It is also available now at amazon.com.


THE ROBERT E. HOWARD ART CHRONOLOGY is coming from Chenault and Gray publishing, a 4 volume set compiled and written by Michael Tierney. It covers the visual aspects of Howard's published works in almost 1,500 pages or art and text. Mr. Tierney will be on hand at this year's Howard Days to show this magnum opus of REH art and he will display the books and take orders for these weighty tomes.


All in all, Howard Days 2023 has the promise of being a bibliophile's dream. Along with the REH Foundation delivering on the 2nd and 3rd volumes of The Collected Poems of Robert E. Howard, we're in for an exciting weekend of Howard books, education and fellowship! And Texas is a really big state, so there's always room for YOU at Howard Days!

Y'all come!


Friday, March 17, 2023

St. Patrick's Day Means Howard Days is 6 Weeks Away!

St. Patrick's Day was Bob Howard's favorite holiday! So, Happy O'Day to you - we hope you're enjoying your corned beef, cabbage and green beer as you plan for the April 28-29 version of Howard Days! Only six short weeks away!

Selecting the various tabs on this page will help you with those plans, as we've tried to include as much information as you would want. The schedule is 95% complete, Project Pride is getting Cross Plains ready and Howard Days is on our minds for a cooler springtime presentation!

That being said, there are a number of things to remind you about for the upcoming Best Two Days in Howard Fandom.

  • If you haven't made your reservation for the Friday night Celebration Banquet, there is still time. But seats usually go fast as Howard Days draws near. Only $25.00 per person gives you a seat at the big social event of Howard Days, plus you can bid on Silent Auction items, enjoy some great chicken fried steak and hear Guest of Honor John Betancourt speak to this year's theme of "100 Years of Weird Tales". You can Pay Pal your fee to Projpride@yahoo.com.
  • As for the Silent Auction, it is always in need of REH and related items to be put up for bid. 100% of the proceeds from this goes directly to Project Pride and the upkeep of the REH Museum! If you can send your items in advance, please do so: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, Texas 76443; or, bring your items to the Museum on Friday by 4 pm. Thanks!
  • The Postal Cancellation Stamp is available only on Friday, so make sure you get to the Cross Plains Post Office to get this nifty little unique souvenir. There will be a new display of 12 different postcards available in the Museum Gift Shop, compliments of Mark Finn and Janice Schange.
  • The Cross Plains Review will be open on Friday again this year. Come and see what making a newspaper in Howard's time was like at the place where early Howard writings were published.
  • We're trying something a little different this year with an informal panel called Howard's Women. This will take place Friday at 4 pm at the Cottonwood Coffee Shop on Main Street. It will be a fan-based and fan-inspired round-table discussion of "Howard's Women", relating to his life and his fiction, in a coffee shop atmosphere. Give it a try and enjoy their great beverages too!
  • There will be a number of new books debuting at HD this year: the REH Foundation will present The Robert E. Howard Photo Album, Forbidden Magic - REH Poems from Weird Tales will be available in the Gift Shop, Jason Waltz will premiere Hither Came Conan, a collection of essays about Howard's Conan stories, and Bobby Derie gives us (literally) The REH Trivia Book.
So, all these events will be intertwined in a fun-packed two days at the Robert E. Howard Museum. We're hoping you can join us as we celebrate the life and Legacy of a True American and Texan, Robert E. Howard.

And don't forget he was Irish! Slainte!