The Challenge

Legacy Circle members of the Robert E. Howard Foundation have something to look forward to: The Challenge from Beyond Drafts.

In 1935, fan publisher and future DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz wanted to celebrate the third anniversary of his Fantasy Magazine. He asked five prominent science fiction authors and five prominent fantasy authors to collaborate on two stories, both to be titled “The Challenge from Beyond.” The round-robin stories would appear in the September 1935 issue. The writers chosen for the fantasy tale were C. L. Moore, A. Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, Frank Belknap Long, and Robert E. Howard.

By 1935, Robert E. Howard was in his prime—a professional writer who had series characters appearing in multiple publications. Deep in the Great Depression, these series characters must have been almost guaranteed sales, but Howard was interested in more than just the bottom line; his works often went through multiple drafts and revisions before he was satisfied. Even, apparently, when the work was intended for a fan publication.

While appearing beside other successful writers like A. Merrit and H. P. Lovecraft likely induced Howard to do his best work, his professionalism is also on display. Despite being only four pages long, he produced at least three drafts of his section of the tale—more work than was probably needed.

Without giving too much away, “The Challenge from Beyond” is uneven, at best. C. L. Moore begins by introducing readers to George Campbell, who discovers a strange blue cube while on a camping trip. After the discovery, he oddly decides to go to sleep. A. Merritt continues the narrative by having Campbell get back up to look at the cube. It produces some strange light and eventually sucks him in. Lovecraft takes over from here.

The longest of the sections, Lovecraft takes the tale in a Cosmic direction and reveals the cube’s purpose, as well as Campbell’s fate. Lovecraft isn’t known for having athletic, dynamic characters, and he sticks to form here by transforming the main character into, literally, a spineless insect. This is the tale that Howard had to work with. It is no surprise that Campbell doesn’t stay spineless for long.

Collected here for the first time are three surviving drafts of Howard’s section of the story, all from Howard’s typescripts, and the final version, as published in Fantasy Magazine for September 1935. Taken together, these drafts reveal a writer who isn’t just pounding out a few pages for a fan publication, but one who is painstaking in his decisions and interested in presenting his own worldview, even in just a little more than three pages.

Coming soon–With cover art by Tim Truman!