"The Skull of Silence" by Robert E. Howard (Circa 1928?)

Originally appeared in King Kull 1967.

Plot: Kull hears of an ancient vault where the embodiment of all Silence was said to be held. He is fascinated and takes a group of men to see the tower and vault where Raama was said to have trapped it. He (foolishly) cuts open the vault, allowing the complete silence of the universe to escape. By accident he strikes a gong set near the vault and its weak sound forces Silence back a little. He strikes it over and over, forcing Silence back into the vault. Unlike Raama, Kull does not stop at trapping it but goes on striking the gong until he destroys Silence, which dies with a scream.

Monsters:

The Embodiment of Silence - existing in a Platonian sense as the ultimate definition of Silence, the force trapped in the old vault is Silence at its purest and most evil.

History: Like many of the Kull stories, "The Skull of Silence" never saw publication in Howard's lifetime but in the 1960s. The tale is interesting in that Howard skirts the line closer to horror than in most Kull stories.

"The Skull of Silence" appeared in Creatures on the Loose #10 (March 1970) and was adapted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Bernie Wrightson. It was an important comic for it was one of the first experiments Marvel did before trying a full-fledged Conan comic. The selection of Bernie Wrightson seems odd until you consider COTL was supposed to be a horror comic and the Kull story is more of a horror tale than sword-swinging action. Read the entire comic here.

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