"Shadows in Zamboula" by Robert E. Howard (1935) Originally appeared in Weird Tales, November 1935. Plot: Conan is in the bazaar in Zamboula when an old acquaintance warns him to stay away from the house of Aram Baksh, an innkeeper who charges less than other establishments in the city. Conan ignores his friend and stays there anyway. Baksh leads him to a nice room and shows him the strong doors that bar it. Conan sleeps but wakes when he senses someone is coming into the room. In the dim light he sees a misshapen form. Conan attacks with his sword, killing the man, who proves to be a black cannibal, one of the many slaves in Zamboula. Conan also sees that there is a trick bolt on the door, allowing the door to be opened from the outside. Conan goes to find Aram Baksh but sees a woman being chased by three cannibals. The Cimmerian kills them and saves the naked woman, a dancing girl named Zabibi. She explains that Aram Baksh sells travellers who stay in his inn to the local cannibals for meat. She is out searching for her lover, Alafdhal, a Turanian officer, who has been driven mad by a potion she gave him. She had been told it was a love potion but it drove him insane instead. She got the poton from Totrasmek, the lead priest of Hanuman the monkey-god. Conan finds her lover and knocks him flat with a punch. They take him back to a place Zabibi knows. A servant watches over Alafdhal. Zabibi promises Conan the use of her body if he will go with her to the Temple of Zabibi to kill Totrasmek and find the antidote for her lover. They enter the temple and see the hideous statue of Hanuman. Searching for a way into the inner sanctum, a large black hand snatches Zabibi and locks the door before Conan can save her. He is forced to go through the other side of the horseshoe-shaped tunnels. He wanders until he finds a room in which a very large black man in waiting for him. He is Baal-pteor, the strangler of Yota-pong, a religious cult that kills its victims by strangulation. He is highly trained in this work. He throws a magic ball at Conan that makes him hallucinate. When Conan comes to he finds his sword has been stuck to a table which is a magnet. He must face Baal-pteor without weapons. The two men begin a terrible struggle to choke each other. At first Baal-pteor feels he will kill the Cimmerian but slowly his nerve breaks when he realizes he has met his match. Conan snaps his neck then retrieves his sword from the magnet table. Whenwhile Totrasmek is having fun with Zabibi. He surrounds her with four phantom cobras that force her to dance non-stop or else be bitten. He dies when Conan shoves a sword through him from behind, saving the dancer. Zabibi finds the antidote on the dead man. She also searches for Alafdhal's ring, The Star of Khorala which she doesn't find. They flee back to Alafdhal and give him the serum. Zabibi informs Conan he can not collect his price for she is actually Queen Naferteri and Alafdhal is King Jungir Khan. Conan gives in with good grace. He has recognized the pair and has stolen the Star of Khorala when he knock down the prince. Conan goes back to Aram Baksh's inn and takes the man forcefully from his bed, shaves off his beard and then gives him to the disappointed cannibals for their feast. Monsters: None History: One of Howard's more politically-incorrect Conan tales. He has Conan battling for payment in sex and a lot of innate racism. Not that these were issues in 1935. The fact that Howard got the cover with this story shows how popular he was by 1935. The story has no monsters and fairly few scenes worthy of a cover didn't matter. (Margaret Brundage always preferred the girls anyway.) Below is a version of this cover where stickers were applied to Zabibi's naked bod (probably from Canada).
The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams for Savage Sword of Conan #14 (September 1976).
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