"The God in the Bowl" by Robert E. Howard (1952)

Originally appeared in Space Science Fiction, September 1952.

Illo from Space Science Fiction

Plot: The owner of the kallian Publico's Temple is murdered within its walls. Conan, a thief, is blamed for the death though he denies it completely. Slowly over the evening Demetrio unwinds the mystery surrounding the weird metal object that Publico has stolen and opened in his museum. Arus, the guardsman, swears he saw a rope that Conan used to enter the building but it disappears. Only after the monster shows up in the end do all the accusers flee. Conan stays, cutting the beautiful head off a body that is all snake.

Monsters:

The God in the Bowl - is a serpent with a beautiful woman's head. Known as the children of set, these immortal serpent folk have been trapped inside metal balls and buried under the pyramids of Stygia.

History: This tale is interesting because you can see Howadtrying a different kind of plot for a Conan story, namely that of a detective story. Conan doesn't act as detyective so much as the policeman Demetrio. There are those critics who feel all genre fiction: detective, Western and S&S are eseeintailly the same, only the settings vary. This story adds weight to that idea, though it is not a typical S&S tale.

Barry Smith's version of the God in the Bowl from Conan the Barbarian #7

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