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Kemper Boyd posted:I remember someone mentioning that Howard was kind of shocked about Lovecraft's level of racism. Lovecraft grew up in mostly-white New England while Howard grew up surrounded by minorities on account of living in Texas. Yes, in a documentary about Howard, it was stated the horror stories that scared him the most when he was a child were African folk tales told to him by an elderly ex-slave woman.
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Oct 7, 2017 02:48
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mllaneza posted:I really hope some ethnographer managed to record versions of those stories. I thought the same thing when I saw the documentary, which btw is an extra on the Jason Momoa "Conan The Barbarian" reboot Blu ray from 2011 (I know, I know...). I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow incorporated some of what he remembered into some of his stories. I have a paperback called "Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard", but could only speculate what may have shown the influence of the African tales from the ex-slave woman. He heard them as a child, and one could only dream of what kind of amazing stories she told that scared the crap out of him and obviously left a mark. Not a bad idea to do a little research...for the record I actually enjoyed the Kull stories more than Conan because they were much more surreal and creepy. Compared to Lovecraft, Howard at least gave credit where credit is due. I enjoy Lovecraft immensely even tho he was a racist and I'm not white, but I understand that he was bat poo poo crazy. Its not like today: he hated many other Caucasians who would be considered "white" today since they weren't Anglo-Saxon, and admired the Irish Lord Dunsany because of he was a blue blood. He obviously also hated inbred white people if you read his stories; and yet comes to terms with his hatred and even realized how wrong it is if you read "Behind The Wall of Sleep". He also hated Jews, but married one. It just seems more complicated: he was just afraid of everything and that fear translated into amazing fiction but eventually took its toll. I never took it personally. He even ended up becoming a New Deal Democrat by the time Franklin Roosevelt came around. And yet I don't understand why far right people admire him for being as psychotic as he was when it wasn't just good old fashioned American racism, but some sort of mental illness. He's not exactly someone I would want to emulate, but looking into his fear, and the fear of an unstable racist who conjures up literally insane fantasies as a result is something I find fascinating. Speaking of admirers, if there are occultists who link Lovecraft and the Necronomicon to their beliefs along the lines of Kenneth Grant's OTO, and Lovecraft shared worlds and ideas with Howard, would that mean that some of them actually believe that Conan actually existed?
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Oct 18, 2017 07:15
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