3 h 46 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In fog-bound London, a sorcerer with a dead man's face dreams of ruling the world.
In Robert E. Howard's Skull-Face, London after the Great War is a city of narrow streets, cheap rooms and doors that should stay shut. Behind the fear stands Kathulos, a sorcerer whose skull-like face hides a cold, patient intelligence. A few determined men stand against him, facing an enemy who is far more than a common criminal.
This short pulp novel brings detective fiction, horror and spy adventure into the same shadows. Kathulos is said to be older than any living man, and his ambition reaches far beyond London. Yet the struggle is also painfully private: the hero faces addiction, fighting his own weakness as well as the sorcerer. Fast scenes carry a story of dread, danger and tested will.
What you’ll discover
- A city of shadows Enter a London where fog and narrow streets make danger feel close.
- The face of Kathulos Meet a withered sorcerer whose cold intelligence makes him more unsettling than an ordinary criminal.
- A desperate unequal struggle Follow a few determined men as they confront a sorcerer's bid for world domination.
- The enemy within Discover how addiction turns the hero's struggle into a battle against himself.
- Horror meets spy adventure Feel creeping dread run beneath fast scenes that bring detection and espionage together.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy shadowy Edwardian cities, secret passages, masked villains and fast action will feel at home here, as will fans of weird tales, spy hunts and the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 1930s.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dream of a skull in Limehouse
- The master behind the lacquer screen
- A spy, a leper and a fist
- The skull-faced man and his chains
- Zuleika, Kathulos and a secret plan
- A gorilla suit and a night of waiting
- The stroke of five
- Mummies, an ocean legend and Soho 48
- Voodoo on the rooftops
Who’s who
- Stephen CostiganAn American shell-shocked at Argonne, now a hashish addict in Limehouse, who wants to be a man again and to free the girl he loves.
- KathulosThe skull-faced Master of the Scorpion society, a sorcerer who plans a black empire and rules his followers with drugs and hypnotic power.
- ZuleikaA Circassian girl raised in harems and bound to Kathulos, who risks her life to help Costigan and longs to be free.
- John GordonA secret service agent with a roving commission who hunts the Scorpion across London and learns to trust Costigan.
- HassimA huge Senegalese doorman at the Temple of Dreams who bullies the addicts and serves the Master with fierce loyalty.
- Yussef AliA young Moorish slave trader in the Master's service who despises Costigan and wants Zuleika for himself.
- Yun ShatuThe withered Chinese owner of the Temple of Dreams, an opium lord who bows to the unseen Master.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Skull-Face
by Robert E. Howard · 1929
A shell-shocked American hashish addict in Limehouse is offered a cure by a skull-faced master with a deadly price.
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In short
Skull-Face is a pulp thriller by Robert E. Howard, who died in 1936.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dream of a skull in Limehouse
The book opens inside a hashish dream. Costigan sees a hideous yellow skull with living eyes and clawed, mummy-like hands. A rusty voice says he is a strong brute who might be useful, and tells someone to keep him supplied with the drug. For one instant, over the skull's shoulder, he glimpses a girl with red lips and a cloud of hair.
When he wakes on a mat in Yun Shatu's Temple of Dreams, the dream will not fade. He remembers the day his money ran out. Hassim, the huge Black doorman, threw him into the gutter, and a girl with dark eyes and a gentle voice lifted him up, paid the doorman and led him back inside.
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What is Skull-Face about?
It follows Stephen Costigan, a hashish addict in London's Limehouse, who is cured and then enslaved by a skull-faced sorcerer named Kathulos. With the help of a girl and an agent named Gordon, he fights to stop a plan for world domination.
Who is Kathulos in Skull-Face?
Kathulos is the Master of the Scorpion society, a living skull-faced man who claims to come from Egypt. He uses drugs, hypnosis and spies to spread a plot against the white races.
When was Skull-Face written and where did it first appear?
Robert E. Howard wrote it in the 1920s, and it appeared in Weird Tales magazine. It belongs to the pulp tradition of masked villains and secret societies, and it reflects the attitudes of its time.
The author
Robert E. Howard
1906–1936 · American fantasy writer
Robert E. Howard was an American author born in Peaster, Texas, in 1906. He lived much of his life in Cross Plains, Texas, where he died in 1936. He wrote fantasy, horror, adventure stories, and poetry. His stories featuring Conan appeared in the magazine Weird Tales during the 1930s.
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