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!

A Great Howard Days is in Store for You!

With less than four months until Howard Days, the wheels are in gear and turning quickly to present "REH Throughout the Years" at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas on June 12 & 13! For this year's event, we have quite a few anniversaries to celebrate and we hope you're making plans to get on down to Texas and partake of the festivities!

First and foremost is celebrating Bob Howard's 120th Birthday! While there won't be any party hats or favors, there will be cake and ice cream! Come to the Friday Hot Dog Lunch and say Happy Birthday, Bob! Sorry, but 120 candles will violate the ongoing burn ban in Cross Plains!

40 years ago, Rusty Burke led an intrepid band of 10 members of REHupa on a trip to get serious about the Legacy of Robert E. Howard. By this small group visiting Howard's home town, the people of Cross Plains realized that they had something that should be shared with the world, so they turned that first visit into a now world wide event to honor their hometown claim to fame, Robert E. Howard. The 40th Anniversary of Howard Days Guest of Honor is its founder, Rusty Burke! And his sidekick (then and now) "Indy" Bill Cavalier, is our "Special Guest".

The award-winning film about Bob Howard and Novalyne Ellis is 30 years old now. Howard Days will present a special screening of The Whole Wide World, with screenwriter Michael Scott Myers and cast member Ben Mouton on hand, along with a special panel that (fingers crossed) may include additional cast members! Stay tuned for more information on this.

Founded in 2006, the Robert E. Howard Foundation established an energetic literary, civic and publishing mission to help preserve Howard's work and legacy. Coupling with Project Pride of Cross Plains to help sponsor Howard Days, the REH Foundation is at the vanguard of all things Robert E. Howard! For 20 years, the Foundation's mission goals have moved forward in the name of Robert E. Howard. Check it out at www.rehfoundation.org.

And while you're over there, you'll notice that the REH Museum is in need of your help. Over 100 years of existence has caused major wear and tear on the entire structure, and the REH Foundation is taking donations for badly needed restoration. Read all about it at the website and please make a tax-deductible donation!

Other anniversaries come to mind as we celebrate Howard Days 2026. It's the 60th anniversary of CONAN THE ADVENTURER from Lancer Paperbacks. This seminal book revived Howard's career in 1966 with its iconic Frank Frazetta cover, and the Conan and other Howard story volumes that followed began the Howard Boom that lasted into the late 1970's!

The aforementioned REHupa (the Robert E. Howard United Press Association) is now into its 54th year of existence. REHupa is an apa (amateur press association) dedicated to REH and produces a quarterly fanzine Mailing of contributions from members. It was REHupans who made that first journey to Cross Plains to bring on the creation of Howard Days. REHupa is still a big part of the entire weekend, as current and former members are now the official Ambassadors of Howard Days.

Of course, the Cross Plains Public Library, in operation since 1979, has played an equal part in the origins and longevity of Howard Days. When Rusty Burke found Billie Ruth Loving and Joan McCowen there in 1985 and expressed his interest in Robert E. Howard, these fine ladies stepped up to help him create Howard Days.

The CP Library now houses an extensive REH collection: 29 original REH manuscripts, several dozen Weird Tales and other pulp magazines with REH stories along with first edition and rare books that are on display at Howard Days. Plus you can buy copies of the manuscripts if you like!

So, quite the combination of people and circumstances generated the creation of Robert E. Howard Days: Rusty, REHupa, the Cross Plains Library, Billie Ruth and Joan - and the interest of fans from all over the world that has grown and carried on until today.

Let's brandish our Bowies and blaze our pistolas as we honor the Life, Work and Legacy of the incomparable Bob Howard by celebrating 40 Years of Howard Days!

Only Four Months Until Howard Days!

 Here we go! The Official Flyer for Howard Days 2026 is now ready, along with the Schedule of Events.

You may pre-register now for the Celebration Banquet. Your money will also go towards helping Project Pride with Friday Donuts & Coffee, the Hot Dog Lunch (and Bob's Birthday Cake) and pop & water in the big cooler. (Remember that pre-registration is not a condition for attendance but to get a seat at the Banquet.)

So, register via PayPal or Venmo at projpride@yahoo.com, or print out the form and send your check to Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443.

And then sit back and get ready for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas!

Y'all come!

Start Making Your Plans for Howard Days 2026!

With Howard Days only 4 1/2 months away now, here's a bit of information to help you with your pre-planning for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom. Mark your calendar for June 12th & 13th to meet up at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas!

The Friday night Celebration Banquet, once again held at the Cross Plains Community Center, is now taking pre-Registration reservations. The fee this year is $35, payable through PayPal and also Venmo now. This fee not only ensures you a seat at the Banquet, but goes towards defraying the costs of Friday morning donuts & coffee, the Friday Hot Dog Lunch, drinks in the cooler and Bob's birthday cake.

Your payment with PayPal or Venmo is easily done at ProjPride@yahoo.com. Arlene Stephenson's name will pop up, as she is the president of Project Pride, the Cross Plains civic group that runs Howard Days for us all. Or, if you're so inclined, send a check to Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443.

This registration will get you a name badge that you can pick up at the front table at the Museum and will enable you to get your seat the the Community Center. Additional details on this are forthcoming.

Venmo and PayPal will also be available now in the Museum Gift Shop and to pay for items in the Silent Auction. Sorry, still no debit or credit cards, but as always, Cash is King!

Remember that you do not need to register to attend Howard Days and partake of all the activities. All the tours, panels, presentations, admission to the Museum, the Pavilion & grounds, participating in the Silent Auction (plus more) are free. Pre-registration is primarily to get a seat at the Friday Banquet, which is limited to 150, so register early!

The Saturday night Dinner at the Pavilion has been revived as a fund raiser for the Cross Plains Public Library. A grand Tex-Mex dinner, catered by the Mexico City Cafe, will be brought in. Pre-registration for this dinner is only $25. Information on pre-registering for this meal will be available soon at the Cross Plains Public Library Facebook page and at www.crossplainslibrary.com.

We'll be getting our schedule posted soon with much additional information, so stay tuned! Looking forward to seeing y'all come June!

Happy Birthday Bob Howard!

Happy Birthday to the one and only Robert E. Howard! January 22nd marks the 120th anniversary of his birth, so let's celebrate!

Tradition has dictated that Howard fans worldwide enjoy this holiday by reading a favorite story or poem written by Bob - and who are we to buck tradition?

Around here, we will savor his masterpiece poem CIMMERIA while sipping an unendorsed bourbon (initials MM).

Honor the life and legacy of Ol' Two-Gun Bob Howard as you will, toast to his shade while wishing him a Happy Birthday!

The birthday cake will have to wait until Howard Days in June, so there's another reason why you need to be there!

Happy Birthday, Bob!