For Halloween, we submit for your approval, Pigeons From Hell; a scary Southern Gothic short story by Texas-born Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian. Two lost travelers come across a long abandoned plantation house, where they decide to spend the night. But something is hiding in the old manor house, something horrible! Something undead, that 'lives' off murder! Howard combines a classic haunted house story with elements of nightmarish dream states, and voodoo legends of the undead, with the aftermath of the Reconstuction for a tale of horror and cruel revenge.
First published in 1938 in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, two years after Howard's death; it was later adapted for an episode of the early 1960's TV show Thiller, hosted by Boris Karloff. By the late 60's, there was a popular interest in fantasy literature due to the success of The Lord of the Rings, and Howard's work began to be reprinted. This story appeared in the paperback collection The Dark Man and Others, and then began appearing in many other collections of horror stories. In 1983 Stephen King call it one of the great horror stories of the 20th Century.
Our abridged presentation features Aubergine Plum, Paynes Grey, and Van Dyke Brown. We dare you to listen with the lights out!
- KBOO