If he had lived

[logan_run]

Howard was only 35 when he committed suicide had he lived would he of continued with Conan or did more westerns>>??

 

[Pyan]

Umm - Howard was 30, not 35 (1906-1936)

I think that he'd have continued with Conan while the demand was there, but in the last couple of years before his death, he mainly wrote Westerns. Given the range of the genres he tried, fantasy, boxing, treasure-hunters, straight westerns, weird westerns, etc, who knows? He even wrote what we'd call romance stories (for Spicy Adventures) which were regarded as marginally pornographic at the time...

 

[Vince W]

He may have written more Conan and westerns, however, I could see him switching to war stories with the onset of the Second World War.

 

[BAYLOR]

Umm - Howard was 30, not 35 (1906-1936)

I think that he'd have continued with Conan while the demand was there, but in the last couple of years before his death, he mainly wrote Westerns. Given the range of the genres he tried, fantasy, boxing, treasure-hunters, straight westerns, weird westerns, etc, who knows? He even wrote what we'd call romance stories (for Spicy Adventures) which were regarded as marginally pornographic at the time...

I think that had Howard lived ,it's very likely that he would abandoned fantasy , science fiction and horror all together in favor Westerns , detective stories and historical adventure stories. He was a very good story teller and , in time, would have gotten even better and risen even greater heights. But I think it also likely , that he would have come back to writing fantasy in the 1950's and 1960's and beyond and horror and enven science fiction stories (assuming he could get by John W Campbell)

 

[KiraAnn]

Side note: I found an Aussie website that has a lot of Howard’s short stories for free reading. Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, weird detectives, weird westerns, straight detectives, straight westerns and comedy westerns. I really enjoyed the past couple of weeks reading them, especially the Breckinridge Elkins stories.

 

[BAYLOR]

Side note: I found an Aussie website that has a lot of Howard’s short stories for free reading. Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, weird detectives, weird westerns, straight detectives, straight westerns and comedy westerns. I really enjoyed the past couple of weeks reading them, especially the Breckinridge Elkins stories.

Conan The Hour of the Dragon his only Conan novel its his only full Conan novel . Its a terrific book considered one the best fantasy novel ever written.

Kings of the Night one of his Bran Mak Morn stories in this one Bran aided by the sorcerer Gonar , brings King Kull from the past to time to help him in his war against Roman . In this story you three of Howards hero in the same story. Bran Make Morn, Cormac Art and King Kull. This is a trrifc stor.

 

[Extollager]

Lovecraft's death would have shaken him up, surely.

I could see Howard writing more weird stories with local color -- Southwest locations -- and maybe trying to write a serious historical novel with a Southwestern locale.

 

[BAYLOR]

Lovecraft's death would have shaken him up, surely.

I could see Howard writing more weird stories with local color -- Southwest locations -- and maybe trying to write a serious historical novel with a Southwestern locale.

Howard was very good at historical adventure stories.

 

[Extollager]

Wasn't he getting more interested in his own Southwest? One can imagine that he would have proved to be a developing author -- but I don't know if the known biographical facts support my speculations.

I do wonder if all three of the famous Weird Tales threesome were ready to move on. Lovecraft seems to have been moving towards a more Stapledonian kind of science fiction, and perhaps he would have pursued that if he'd had encouragement from Astounding, although I don't know that its new editor Campbell would have been all that interested. Also, I think Lovecraft was maybe losing interest in his standard Mythos template; "The Haunter of the Dark" is entertaining, but I don't think it shows the energy of some of the earlier "Mythos"-type stories, and in "The Thing on the Doorstep" the "Mythos" is actually pretty marginal, isn't it? Smith seems to have stopped writing his characteristic sword-and-sorcery around the time the other two authors died; I wonder if, had they lived, he would have felt more like continuing with writing, but perhaps in some territory new to him. But he's the one of the three about whom I know the least.

It's just kind of interesting to speculate and wonder if, had HPL and REH lived for ten years or more longer, they might have moved on from the kinds of stories we immediately think of when we think of them. There really are things that suggest that they were moving on.

 

[Randy M.]

I see Howard as the most commercial of the three, and if I were to speculate given my limited reading of his work, I'd agree with him probably writing more in the Western genre.

Still, of the three writers Howard seemed the most modern in tone and texture, in line with Dashiell Hammett in mystery and Robert Heinlein in s.f./fantasy. I can see him writing more mystery since hard/boiled/noir was on the uptick in that time period. The wave of crime/mystery works initiated in the U.S. by Black Mask and the success of Hammett and James M. Cain, and the extra kick given by Raymond Chandler's first works in the late '30s, early '40s might have drawn him in that direction, as well.

Randy M.

 

[BAYLOR]

I wish he had lived into the 1970's and long enough to befriend Karl Edward Wagner .

 

[KGeo777]

Didn't he say he felt as if Conan was standing over his shoulder while he wrote and one day he just walked away?

He probably was more concerned about "the sons of bitches" hiding in the bushes that he took out his guns to be ready for.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I suppose (like many professional writers) he would have to put aside what he wanted to write and go with what would pay. He certainly seems to have been adept at writing in different genres.

 

[BAYLOR]

Didn't he say he felt as if Conan was standing over his shoulder while he wrote and one day he just walked away?

He probably was more concerned about "the sons of bitches" hiding in the bushes that he took out his guns to be ready for.

The character would tell him his story and he would write it.

 

[BAYLOR]

I suppose (like many professional writers) he would have to put aside what he wanted to write and go with what would pay. He certainly seems to have been adept at writing in different genres.

I think it possible that he would have become a major voice American literature in general . He had that kind of potential. I think he would astonished at how popular Conan has become and, I think he'd be happy about that and the fact that he's remembered as much as he is.

He would gotten a kick out the 1982 Conan Film and would probably have loved Arnold in the role.

 

[KGeo777]

I think it possible that he would have become a major voice American literature in general .

Would he get mainstream publishing attention? Raymond Chandler, Hemingway etc. were dominating US literary focus of the time--and their characters were so different from his. He wrote about fighters and physical combat and adversity. There's little introspection in his characters I am familiar with which it seems was something publishers sought. Sam Spade and Marlowe did not fight their way out of a problem. Unless he found a niche like WW 2 fiction--I could see him attaining some notoriety there--assuming he politically aligned with it. I know what Lovecraft would say to him about his chances to gain literary attention.
Here's a thought-if he had gained wider literary attention and higher paid work--would he have committed suicide?
He sounded paranoid or at least very eccentric/theatrical from the remembrances of the writer who visited him--imagine him showing up at a publisher with guns on his person.

 

[Vince W]

I think Howard would have switched to writing scripts for films. He was writing to get paid and given the upcoming rise of western films I think he would have leaned towards that. He might have returned to Conan at some point if the inspiration took him.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think Howard would have switched to writing scripts for films. He was writing to get paid and given the upcoming rise of western films I think he would have leaned towards that. He might have returned to Conan at some point if the inspiration took him.

It's possible he would gone back to writing fantasy in 1950's and 1960's when it popularity came back. I wonder what he would though t ot Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Poul Anderson The Broken Sword ? Here's an interesting imagine . He lives to a very rip old age and along the way gets, to be involved in the writing of the script for 1982 film with John Millius and Oliver Stone and Karl Edward Wagner . With his input maybe Conan the Destroyer and Red Sonja might have both tuned out better . And maybe just maybe, we get really good Solomon Kane film and Baron Mak Morn film too. . It's just a thought.

 

[BAYLOR]

Would he get mainstream publishing attention? Raymond Chandler, Hemingway etc. were dominating US literary focus of the time--and their characters were so different from his. He wrote about fighters and physical combat and adversity. There's little introspection in his characters I am familiar with which it seems was something publishers sought. Sam Spade and Marlowe did not fight their way out of a problem. Unless he found a niche like WW 2 fiction--I could see him attaining some notoriety there--assuming he politically aligned with it. I know what Lovecraft would say to him about his chances to gain literary attention.
Here's a thought-if he had gained wider literary attention and higher paid work--would he have committed suicide?
He sounded paranoid or at least very eccentric/theatrical from the remembrances of the writer who visited him--imagine him showing up at a publisher with guns on his person.

He could have survived . If he'd had somebody in life to give him love, hope and stability . If the school teacher had been dating had stayed in his life , that might have been enough to save him .

 

[BAYLOR]

He was 30 years old when he died in 1936. Had he not ended his life , He might made it up to the 1990's which means he would made all the way to theme of the big epic fantasy sagas like Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones . I have to admit I would love to seen his take on those huge epic fantasy series. I wonder if Howard at that stage of his life would been capable producing that kind of a saga.