"The Hills of the Dead" by Robert E. Howard (1930) Originally appeared in Weird Tales, August 1930. Plot: Solomon Kane receives a gift from his friend Nlonga the juju man before setting off into the jungle. N'Longa gives him a staff of hard wood with a cat's head carved in the top. N'Longa tells him if he needs help to lie down and sleep with the staff on his chest. Kane wanders from the jungle to the savannah where he rescues a black girl from a charging lion. He insists on taking her to her village but they have to stay over night in a cave in the hills though she begs him not to stay there. While making a fire two strange looking black men come to the fire and stare at Kane with glowing red eyes. When Zunna, the girl, returns with firewood, they attack. Kane kills one by shoving the juju staff through its chest, turning it to ash. The other he has to wrestle until he can break its neck. Powerless but not destroyed, Kane finishes it with the staff. Zunna explains that her village has been terrorized by the vampires that live in an ancient stone city in the hills. The vampires hide in the day time to avoid the vultures which will feasdt on them. Kane sleeps with the staff on his chest and calls N'Longa in his sleep. His instructions are to bring the girl's lover Kran to the cave. When this is done N'Longa takes over his body and puts Zunna in a trance to sleep. Kane and N'Longa go to the city in the hills and prepare to fight the vampires. While getting ready one attacks N'Longa and Kane shoots it with his musket. The sound brings all the vampire horde and Kane must battle them to give N'Longa time to cast his magic. When things look desperate a massive flock of vultures come, summoned by the juju man, and chase the vampires back to their city. N'Longa sets the grass on fire and the sudden flames destroy the undead. Returning to the cave, N'Longa bids Kane farewell and Kran returns to his body, unaware of what has happened. Monsters Vampires - Howard's vampires are not afraid of the sun but vultures which feast on them. Only Kane's voodoo staff or fire can destroy them. Their eyes burn red with evil light. They were once a proud race living in a stone city in the jungle. History: Probably written in 1928, Weird Tales finally published it in 1930. It is interesting to see how Howard handles vampires, such a staple of Weird Tales. He manages to make them creepy and unusual. He wrote a much more ordinary vampire story in "The Horror from the Mound" (Weird Tales, May 1932) set in Texas.
Adapted in Kull and the Barbarians #2 (July 1975) and Kull and the Barbarians #3 (September 1975) Written by Roy Thomas/Drawn by Alan Weiss, Neal Adams and Pablo Marcos
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