‘Worms of the Earth’ – Robert E. Howard.

Page Count: 27 Pages

I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉

I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me…

After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at what cost to his own soul…? For in order to claim that vengeance, Bran Mak Morn must venture into the very earth and deal with a race of creatures that haven’t seen the sun in millennia. A race of creatures banished underground by Bran’s own ancestors and keen to take their own revenge on him…

‘Worms of the Earth’ is so much more than a simple tale of revenge, no matter how well that plot is told. Bran Mak Morn is resourceful and relentless, he will not stop until his objective is secured and the risks that involves really make this tale sing with excitement and tension. Clearly a character that you can really get invested in then, at least that’s what happened to me, I couldn’t put the tale down until I knew he was safe. And maybe that’s a small criticism of this piece, Bran Mak Morn beats his foes far too easily, but I guess when you’re selling a story to the pulps… Certain things have to happen. It certainly didn’t make me enjoy the story any the less. In that respect, ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much about the journey rather than the destination and plenty happens along the way.

Luckily, there’s a lot more to ‘Worms of the Earth’ which gives this tale a lot more staying power and pretty much guarantees a number of re-reads from me. This story is all about ‘hidden depths’ and how, despite what you think you know, nothing is quite as it seems. Sulla’s viewpoint is the obvious one here as not only does Bran Mak Morn hide in plain sight, there is more to the Pictish people (as a whole) than Sulla knows. It’s interesting to see this play out but the real fun to be had is watching Bran himself slowly realise that there is more to his world then he ever thought (although references to R’leyh suggest that Bran knew a fair bit to start off with, sweet little Lovecraft reference as well, even so though…) Even the ground he walks on hides danger and it is fascinating to watch this knowledge slowly dawn on him. Luckily for us, Bran is as resourceful as hell and you’ve got to admire how he gives himself a little insurance against the world, even though he couldn’t have chosen a worse mere to hide the treasure in. I mean, it was actually called ‘Dagon Mere’… But anyway.

‘Worms of the Earth’ is a hell of a lot of fun to read, full of adventure but with a nasty dose of creeping dread as well. Another reminder that there’s a whole vein of Lovecraft’s output that I haven’t tapped yet. Do give it a read if you haven’t already.