Customer Reviews

Graveyard Rats and Others

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an incomplete collection of Howard's detective and weird menace stories. The contents are

Black Talons / Fangs of Gold / The Tomb's Secret / Names in the Black Book / Graveyard Rats / Black Wind Blowing

About half of these have appeared in other, mass-market books; the others have been hard to come by, so the collection is welcome for that reason.

However, the price is pretty steep for 6 stories, and lesser Howard ones at that. Can the rights to these stories have been that expensive? Baen managed to publish 7 mass-market paperback Howard collections, each of which has about twice as many stories as this, for about $6-7 per book. Wandering Star also publishes expensive Howard collections, but those are of the widely known characters, in deluxe editions with illustrations. No illustrations here, aside from the generic, apparently public-domain cover illo.

There's also an introduction by Howard scholar Don Herron, but it doesn't add much, if any, value.

If you're a Howard fan, you'll want this book. Even lesser Howard is better than some other people. But I can't see the general public wanting to spend this much money for so little.

Certainly incomplete, but a great thumping read for fans and folks unfamiliar with Robert E. Howard. Black talons and others are terrific tales of the era. A tad pricey, but a durable volume of tales.

Howard sold these stories to the detective pulps, but there isnt much detectin' going on. With some minor changes the heros could be any of Howard's big beefy characters.All of the stories have some supernatural elements, african ju-ju men,or evil orential Fu Manchu types."The Tombs Secret" is pretty good,as not too many stories revolve around dental work. "Graveyard Rats is fairly creepy, but the biggest mystery is what the title "Fangs of Gold" has to do with that story. The other four stories are pretty standard pulp fare. Howard's detective stories are hard to come by, so if you are a fan its worth it, even if its kind of pricey.If you are just getting interested in R.E.H., start elsewhere.

Generally some detective types dealing with weird stuff.

Graveyard Rats and Others : BLACK TALONS - Robert E. Howard
Graveyard Rats and Others : FANGS OF GOLD - Robert E. Howard
Graveyard Rats and Others : THE TOMB'S SECRET - Robert E. Howard
Graveyard Rats and Others : NAMES IN THE BLACK BOOK - Robert E. Howard
Graveyard Rats and Others : GRAVEYARD RATS - Robert E. Howard
Graveyard Rats and Others : BLACK WIND BLOWING - Robert E. Howard


Brill's execution murder postponed by leopard man.

3 out of 5


Swamp Cat more voodoo than tiger Steve Harrison finds, knife work here.

3 out of 5


Murdered men, murdered Mongol murderers, and more. What else could it be but a secret Oriental formula plot? Or so Brock Rollins discovers, among other strange things.

3 out of 5


Harrison has a few problems on river street. There are bad Khans around. Ok, how many stories are the Khans the good guys? No, female drummers don't count, sorry. The odd scary publication and object to go along with it.

3.5 out of 5


Rodents start at the head, not the knees, as far as human bodies go, as scared men have Harrison on the trail of a murderer.

3.5 out of 5


Devil cult's family reduction attempt.

3.5 out of 5