SOURCE: "The Shadow Kingdom" (Weird Tales, August 1929) by Robert E. Howard

DESCRIPTION: "Kull bent forward; from the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement, a glint of steel. Like a loosened bow he whipped erect, thrusting upward. The warrior sagged upon the sword, his own clattering to the floor. Even at that instant Kull reflected grimly that it was appropriate that the traitor should meet his death upon the sliding, upward thrust used so much by his race. Then, as Brule slid from the sword to sprawl motionless on the floor, the face began to merge and fade, and as Kull caught his breath, his hair a-prickle, the human features vanished and there the jaws of a great snake gaped hideously, the terrible beady eyes venomous even in death." ("The Shadow Kingdom" by Robert E. Howard)

NOTES: The Serpent Men are an evil race that have lived on he Earth since Devonian times, having lived before the dinosaurs. They worship evil gods of the Lovecraftian variety. Their science/sorcery allows them to assume the appearance of being human. With this power they infiltrate human society at the highest level. King Kull discovered their plots against him through the help of Ka-nu, the Pictish shaman. The Picts have fought against the Serpent Men longer than most. (According to Howard) Even when they became a stunted race hiding in the hills of England, they still knew of the Worms of the Earth, the degenerate line of the Serpent Men.

HISTORY: Howard hated snakes. His villains are usually snakes or snake-lovers of some kind. H. P. Lovecraft drafted the Serpent Men into the Mythos by mentioning the Serpent Men in "The Whisperer in Darkness". Howard returned the favor by mentioning Mythosian monsters in this story.

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