Two Weeks to Howard Days!

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!

Howard Days Fans Have Arrived!

 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.

Besides being a wonderful gathering of Robert E. Howard aficionados from all over the world and The Best Two Days in Howard FANdom (get it?!) Howard Days is also notable for being "as hot as the slag heaps of Hell" (to use Bob's own words).

Three 10' fans should alleviate at least some of that situation and allow for pleasant Howard Fellowship under the Pavilion roof. Many thanks to the hard work of Mr. Paul Herman and the REH Foundation for helping cooler heads to prevail!

UP TO DATE NEWS FLASH: The Friday night REH Celebration Banquet has filled the 150 seats available. They are currently taking names for the Wait List, so if you've missed out on a reservation, email Arlene at projpride@gmail.com and she'll put you on the list. (There are always no-shows and give-ups, so don't despair). And you can still come to the Community Center and hear Guest of Honor speaker Mark Wheatley and place bids in the Silent Auction - just no chicken-fried steak for you.

Next up date in a few days!

Howard Days is One Month Away!

 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!

                                        Just a few of the items you may find at the Howard Days Silent Auction!

Only Seven Weeks Until Howard Days!

Thanks to our friend and long time Howard Days attendee Jason Hardy for the nifty poster artwork!

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!

Howard Days is Two Months Away!

 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:

For those of you saddling your pintos for the dusty trail-ride to Texas. don't forget to register soon for the Friday night Celebration Banquet, held at the Cross Plains Community Center. Seating is limited and we're told the Banquet is nearly half sold right now! So, you'll be wanting to get your $25.00 per person reservation to the fine folks at Project Pride right quick! Mail your checks to: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443 Attn: Banquet Reservation or PayPal your fee to ProjPride@yahoo.com. See you at the Banquet Hall!

We've just about got the panels all set and will be posting the entire schedule in the EVENTS section of this page. Our theme this year of 100 Years of Robert E. Howard will provide some pretty interesting topics for discussion.

And, as always, the highlight of Robert E. Howard Days is the fellowship and camaraderie of Howard fans from all over, meeting up at his house to honor his life and legacy and revel in all the marvelous words he left us. If you have been to this place once or a dozen times, there's nothing like "yakkin' about Ol' Two-Gun" with like-minded people, just outside the room where he conjured his wonderful tales that have brought us all together.

Hope to see you in a couple of months. Y'all come!

The 2025 Howard Days Official Poster

Here's the first look at the official poster for Howard Days 2025.

"Indy" Bill Cavalier said he had some fun with this one, the 8th in the series of posters that he has donated to promote REH Days. Copies of this poster will be available at Howard Days, both in the Museum Gift Shop and at the REH Foundation Press table. 100% of the money received from this $5 item goes directly to Project Pride of Cross Plains and the Museum. And the original of this poster will be available in the Silent Auction at the Friday night Banquet.

Discerning aficionados of All Things Howard may notice a familiarity about the reference used for the graphic of the two cave men from Spear and Fang (Howard's first published story in Weird Tales). Here's the reference, showing a snarling Bob Howard menacing his fellow cos-playing friend Tevis Clyde Smith.

Howard Days is happening June 13th & 14th (with festivities happening earlier on the 12th) at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains. All the info you need is found here at this site, so make your plans now to be there for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom!

Y'all come!

 

Howard Days News!

 As the Spring season has GOT to be out there somewhere, it's time to turn our thoughts to the warmth of Howard Days! In less than four months we'll all be basking in the sun in Cross Plains, Texas, enjoying fun and fellowship as we celebrate the Legacy of Robert E. Howard! If you haven't already, make plans now to join us at the Robert E. Howard Museum on June 13th & 14th for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom!

In the meantime, we're in the process of setting up the panel schedule and prepping all the activities. The theme this year is 100 Years of Robert E. Howard!, as 1925 was the first professional publication of a Bob Howard story. "Spear and Fang" made its appearance in the July 1925 issue of Weird Tales magazine and launched his career.

For those of you wanting to get a jump on the fun, registrations are now open for the Friday Night Celebration Banquet. Project Pride is happy to announce that this year the cost will remain the same $25.00 as previous. Please note that this money gets you a seat at the Banquet as well as helps to cover the cost of the Friday donuts & coffee, Hot Dog Lunch, snacks & drinks in the Pavilion, decorations, programs, promotional costs and extra utilities. All the programming activities & tours are presented at no additional cost!

So, reserve your seat today via PayPal at Projpride@yahoo.com or send a check or M.O. to Project Pride, Howard Days Pre-registration, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443. This is always a sell-out, so please register before June 1st.

And, we're changing up the Saturday meal. This year, Project Pride will be bringing in FOOD TRUCKS to the back yard for our late afternoon dinner. You will be able to choose between at least four cuisines (as of now, it's BBQ, Tacos, Pizza & Ice Cream); you pay for your own and enjoy dining in the Pavilion or yard. This way we can help even more local small Cross Plains businesses and enjoy a choice of some great food!

But wait! There's more! The Windy City Pulp & Paperback Convention is happening April 4-6 in Lombard, Illinois, where they are kicking off the 100 Years of Bob Howard festivities! Windy City is one of the best Pulp Cons in the country and will celebrate Ol' Two-Gun with dealers, auctions and a REH panel. 

So, great things on the horizon to celebrate and honor the Legacy of Ol' Two-Gun Bob Howard, a true Texan and American original! Hope to see you there! Y'all come!