HOWARD DAYS ANNIVERSARIES!

Howard Days 2026 on June 11-12-13 will turn out to be a great one for decades of anniversaries! Let's continue with our handy-dandy bullet points, shall we? The 2026 Anniversaries include:

• 120 years since Howard's birth
• 90 years since his passing
• 80 years since the publication of Skull Face and Others from Arkham House
• 60 Years since the publication of Conan the Adventurer from Lancer Books
• 50 years since the publication of The Last Celt by Glenn Lord from Don Grant Books
• 50 years since the first appearance of Damon Sasser's REH: Two-Gun Raconteur
• 40 years since the very first Robert E. Howard Days
• 40 years since the publication of One Who Walked Alone by Novalyne Price Ellis
• 30 years since the film The Whole Wide World
• 20 since the creation of the Robert E. Howard Foundation

All these and more will be celebrated at the Robert E. Howard Museum next month. We hope to see you there!

Here's a gorgeous poster created by Staale Gismervik, who will be in attendance this year. Be sure to thank him for all the great work he's doing for the REH Foundation website and also his own The World of REH site.

HOWARD DAYS IS ONE MONTH AWAY!

Yep! Howard Days on June 11-12-13 at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas is happening just four weeks from now and everything is in place to show you The Best "Three" Days in Howard Fandom! Project Pride of Cross Plains, the Robert E. Howard Foundation and the Robert E. Howard United Press Association (REHupa) will be there to help you enjoy yourselves to the max!

This will be quite the year for anniversaries and we plan on celebrating them right! For Bob Howard's 120th birthday year - there will be cake at the Friday Hot Dog lunch! For the 60th Anniversary of the seminal book from Lancer, CONAN the ADVENTURER, there will be one on display on Howard's tombstone! For the 40th Anniversary of Howard Days, we have the event's originator Rusty Burke as Guest of Honor, along with original attendee Special Guest "Indy" Bill Cavalier. They'll both talk your ear off about Howard Days History. The award-winning film The Whole Wide World turns 30 this year, so we'll present a viewing along with commentary and a panel featuring the movie's screenwriter, Michael Scott Myers and cast member Ben Mouton! And the Robert E. Howard Foundation will be there, celebrating 20 years of good works perpetuating the Life and Legacy of Ol' Two-Gun Bob.

All the "regular" happenings are still, uh...happening! Tours of the REH Museum happen both Friday and Saturday (and the Museum & Gift Shop is open Thursday from 12-4 too!) Friday gives us the Bus Tour of the land surrounding Cross Plains to show some of Bob's haunts, Saturday a.m. is the Walking Tour of the downtown area and Saturday p.m. we'll do a Grounds Tour around the Museum. The Cross Plains Public Library is open to show off their collection of original Howard typescripts and pulp magazines with Howard stories in them. On Friday you can get a nifty souvenir postal cancellation stamp at the CPPO. The Cross Plains Review across the street will have a bunch of cool Howard Days merchandise too. Speaking of merchandise, the yard surrounding the Pavilion will have vendors displaying all sorts of REH and related items for sale. You can work on your Howard Collection there!

And don't forget the panels: check the EVENTS schedule for times and places - we've got six of them lined up with a wide variety of Howard topics, presented by Howard scholars and fans. And late Saturday afternoon come to the Barbara Barrett Memorial Porchlight Poetry and read Howard poetry aloud mere feet away from where he wrote it!

Hungry? Thirsty? Water and pop is found in the Pavilion's big cooler. We've got a Hot Dog Lunch on Friday at Noon and the Celebration Banquet (and Silent Auction) takes place starting at 5 over at the Cross Plains Community Center. The Cross Plains Library is doing a Tex-Mex fundraiser dinner on Saturday late afternoon. Saturday lunch can be had at Lowe's Grocery Store where the Cross Plains VFD will have brisket sandwiches as a fundraiser, too.

In attendance at HD there will be a passel of REH special guests, authors, artists, professionals, biographers, fans & enthusiasts - all to help fellow fans in their appreciation of Bob Howard. We've got bloggers, You Tubers, podcasters, comic book creators, publishers, fanziners and filmmakers all showing up to impart information, wisdom and opinions, much to the delight of everyone. Some extemporaneous events & happenings and impromptu conversations always are on tap and you just have to be there to experience the entire scope of Howard Days!

Howard Fellowship is probably the most important event of the entire weekend. While it is centered around hanging at the Pavilion, it happens all over Cross Plains during HD. Howard Days provides the best opportunity for all of us to be among like minded friends (old & new), gathered to celebrate, enjoy and honor the amazing career, life and legacy of our friend Bob Howard. 

So come on down to Howard Days. Just show up! It's a family reunion of Howard Fans - you don't need a special invite! There's plenty of room for everybody!

Howard Days Information for Attendees Part 1

With a little over 5 weeks until Howard Days, it's time to start doling out bits of info to make your experience even better. So, let's go to the infamous yet effective Bullet Points!

• The updated schedule has been posted under the EVENTS tab here. While there still will be some tweaks to it, this one is more complete with panelists and a touch more info.

• The REH Museum will be OPEN on Thursday June 11th from Noon until 4 pm. The Pavilion will be open all day, so please come and hang out - and maybe help with setting up tables & chairs. Much appreciated!

• Also, if you are in town Thursday, downtown lunches are available at the Backwoods Grill and at the Senior Center. The 32 Degrees Ice Cream Shop also serves some light lunch fare. The Writers Workshop will be going at the Cottonwood Downtown Cafe, so refresh yourself there as well and see what's going on with the Workshop.

• There will be a RPG event at the Cross Plains Library on both Friday and Saturday. Jeb Boyt will once again host a 5E Sword & Sorcery Hyborian Adventure. Times TBA.

• There *MAY* be a few Celebration Banquet tickets left as of 5-4-26 (if May the 4th be with you). Check at projpride@yahoo.com. The way this works this year is this: if you have sent your payment for a seat at the Banquet, there will be a name badge lanyard waiting for you at the Registration Table in the front yard of the Museum. When you arrive, pick up your badge and then you will use that for entry into the Banquet at the Community Center, starting at 5pm Friday. Remember that you don't need to register for ANYTHING at Howard Days to enjoy the festivities, The $35 registration is primarily for a seat at the Banquet, plus to help out with other expenses. 

• The Friday night Silent Auction of Howard and closely related articles (books, fanzines, magazines, comics, art and other esoteric collectibles - like a REH blanket) will be up for bidding before and during the banquet at the American Legion Hall next door. But these items don't magically appear! Howard Days needs Silent Auction donations! You can send items before HD to Howard Days Silent Auction, c/o Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, Texas 76443. Or, bring them to the Gift Shop on Thursday or Friday when you come in for Howard Days. 100% of the money raised goes to Project Pride and to the Howard House Restoration Fund. So, thin that collection out and help the REH Museum!

Hope yu can join us June 11-12-13 in Cross Plains, Texas, for The Best Two THREE Days in Howard Fandom!

Howard Days Starts in 7 Weeks!`

 

Yep, we've got seven weeks left until the "official" start to Howard Days! We say "official" because, in truth, we've got a bunch of activity happening on Thursday June 11 that "unofficially" makes Howard Days 2026 a 3-day event.

As always, the Robert E. Howard Museum is open on the Thursday before from 2 to 4. (Maybe even earlier). It's hard to say if this is an "official" opening, as there is not any registration or are there any docents on duty in the house. However, the Gift Shop is open, so get a jump on new Howard stuff! And the grounds and Pavilion are open all day to everyone - and help is always needed setting up tables and chairs. (Thanks in advance - cokes are on us!)

A lot of us hang at the Pavilion starting on Thursday - it is a great time for REH Fellowship, meeting up with old and new friends and just being content with having made it to Cross Plains! We have a number of foreign visitors this year, along with a big ol' number of first-time attendees - and this is a wonderful way to get to know them and welcome them to the Howard House. Plus we can help out the local stores and restaurants!

While trying not to use "official" or "un-official" to death (too late) Thursday is also the inaugural kick-off of The Emerging Writers Workshop. This will be held at the Cottonwood Downtown Cafe at 240 Main Street in Cross Plains on Thursday, June 11th from 10am to 3pm. There are preliminary requirements for this workshop, due by May 10, so get crackin'! All of the exact details can be found here: https://heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?id=1180.

So, whether "official" or "un-official" (sorry) is the word, Thursday has become the third day of Howard Days. And it'll be here in a blink of an eye!

Speaking of dates, do you have your Celebration Banquet ticket yet? Now's the time to REALLY GET MOVING: there's less than a dozen left as of today. Paypal or Venmo your $35 RIGHT NOW to projpride@yahoo.com.

The Cross Plains Review has got the Howard Days merchandising machine up and running. They've created these two gorgeous promotional signs for us and are now offering a nice variety of Howard Days souvenir items at conanincrossplains.com. The Review will also be open for a tour on Friday June 13th from 9 to 12 and for a shorter time Saturday morning. Thanks to Teri Brown and her great crew!

More to come soon. We're updating the schedule and more surprise guests and info are popping up every day!

It's never too late to come to Howard Days! Hope to see you there!

TWO MONTHS to Go!!!

 With only two months until Howard Days, time's a-wastin' to start finalizing plans to join us the the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, on June 12th & 13th (and now to include Thursday the 11th).

First and foremost here: Remember that the Friday night Celebration Banquet, held at the Cross Plains Community Center, is limited to 150 reservations. AS OF APRIL 11, THERE ARE ONLY 30 SEATS LEFT!!! This year is the fastest we've ever sold tickets, so just be warned that you need to get on the stick and place your reservation TODAY!!!

Use Paypal or Venmo to reserve your seat at projpride@yahoo,com. For only $35.00, you will be seated with interesting Howard Fans from all over the world, enjoy a great chicken-fried steak dinner, hear a talk from Rusty Burke, the founder of Howard Days, bid on exciting REH items in the Silent Auction and enjoy The Whole Wide World movie afterwards. This is the highlight of Howard Days!

So, DO NOT procrastinate, as those reservations will be gone before you know it!

For all you early birds coming in on Thursday the 11th, you can sign up for the Emerging Writers Workshop now at  https://heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?id=1180. Take advantage of Mark Finn, Jason Waltz and Adrian Simmons to provide you with an outlet for your creativity from 10-3 at the Cottonwood Downtown Cafe. Plus, it's an extra day at Howard Days! Sign up now and join the fun.

We've got more info to impart about panels & guests in our next posts. For now, here's this year's Postal Cancellation artwork, which looks suspiciously like the poster. This Rusty Burke feller may have had something to do with The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom!

10 Weeks Until Howard Days!

 Howard Days is usually a two day affair chock full of all things REH, but this year we're including Thursday, June 11th as the "unofficial" start to all the festivities. For all you aspiring authors, it's time to sign up for The 2026 Emerging Writers Workshop, to be held on Thursday at Howard Days!

All of the exact details can be found here: https://heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?id=1180

The workshop will be held at the Cottonwood Downtown Cafe at 240 Main Street in Cross Plains on Thursday, June 11th from 10am to 3pm.

Your instructors will be Mark Finn, Adrian Simmons and Jason Waltz, notables all in both the World of REH and fiction writing. 

The cost is only $50.00 for the workshop, discussion and written critique. And the bulk of this fee is going as a donation to the ongoing Howard House Preservation Project. Info for this can be found at www.rehfoundation.com.

So get those Underwood No. 5's clacking away and sign up today. Onward to Howard Days!

The Cottonwood Cafe is an ideal location for a writer's workshop!

Only Three Months Until Howard Days!

 

With only three months (!) until Howard Days, it's time to look ahead and see what's on the menu for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom.

Speaking of menus and two days, a couple of new events will take place this year and both will require some advance sign-up. Well, technically: one brand new and the other a variant on years past.

The Cross Plains Public Library hopes to feed Howard Days attendees on Saturday as they are holding a Tex-Mex fundraiser at the Pavilion. All the details are provided in the flyer above and you can reserve your dinner now while helping out the Library with your donation.

Truth of the matter is there would most likely not be a Howard Days celebration without the Cross Plains Library. In 1985, when Rusty Burke and Vern Clark visited Cross Plains and germinated the idea of a Howard get-together, it was then Librarian Billie Ruth Loving and Board member Joan McCowen who took Rusty's idea to heart and helped start Howard Days in 1986.

So, let's sing the Library's praises and have some delicious chow at the same time!

And we're trying something brand new this year for early attendees. Mark Finn, Jason Walz and Adrian Simmons are conducting an "Emerging Writer's Sword & Sorcery Workshop" in Cross Plains on Thursday, June 11. Specifics are still To Be Announced, but you can find out more information at heroicfantasyquarterly.com. As soon as we have more details we'll get them to you. But how cool is a Sword & Sorcery workshop being held at the birthplace of Sword & Sorcery?

So, add these to your Howard Days agenda as you make your plans to be there! A great time is to be had by Robert E. Howard fans from all over the world!

See you at the REH Museum in June!