The Children of the Night
Encyclopedia
"The Children of the Night" is a 1931
short story by Robert E. Howard
, belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos
. It was first published in the pulp magazine
Weird Tales
in the April/May 1931 issue. Howard earned $60 for this publication.
Initially the group discusses anthropology but begin to talk about Conrad's collection of books, which includes a copy of Von Junzt's Nameless Cults
. This brings Clemants to discuss the Cult of Bran, mentioned in Nameless Cults and by his former University roommate in his sleep. The cult worships the Dark Man, an ancient king of the Picts called Bran Mak Morn
. The others are skeptical but Conrad brings up a flint mallet found recently in the Welsh hills which is "obviously of no ordinary Neolithic make" - it is too small but still heavy, with odd shape and balance. While others handle the mallet, Ketrick accidentally strikes O'Donnel on the head and knocks him unconscious.
O'Donnel wakes in a forest wearing deer skins. He calls himself "Aryara" of the Sword People, one of the Aryan tribes of the time. His hunting party have been killed by a group of "Children of the Night", snake-like people the Aryans consider vermin. He kills several of them and follows a trail back to their village where he again attacks and kills many more. Aryara is killed in the process.
O'Donnel wakes up again back in Conrad's study but still remembering his life as Aryara. On seeing Ketrick he becomes enraged, believing him to be a descendant of the Children of the Night. The others restrain him and think he has gone mad with exclamations such as "You fools, he is marked with the brand of the beast--the reptile--the vermin we exterminated centuries ago! I must crush him, stamp him out, rid the clean earth of his accursed pollution!"
Ketrick leaves, but O'Donnel swears to hunt him down and kill him while, as is his habit, he is walking the moors alone at night, even if he will be hanged for it.
They are frequently described as snakes or having snake-like qualities. The Aryan legends say that the Children--none of the Aryans know what they call themselves--used to own the land in an ancient "outworn age" until they were hunted and driven underground by the Picts.
. At one point, the character Tavrel notes "Lovecraft's
Call of Cthulhu" as one of the "three master horror-tales" alongside Poe's
The Fall of the House of Usher
and Machen's
Black Seal
. He later mentions, however, the historical existence of cults dedicated to "nameless and ghastly gods and entities as Cthulhu
, Yog Sothoth, Tsathoggua
, Gol-goroth, and the like". The Necronomicon
is mentioned as a real book - both Conrad and Kirowan have read the Latin version. Nameless Cults
is obviously real to the characters as it is on show on Conrad's bookshelf.
The story is also clearly linked to other stories in the works of Robert E. Howard
. Bran Mak Morn
and the cult of The Dark Man are explicitly mentioned. The Children of the Night may, from their description, be the Serpent Men
of the Kull story The Shadow Kingdom
, the "Worms" from the Bran story Worms of the Earth
, or both.
1931 in literature
The year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....
short story by Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
, belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. It was first published in the pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
in the April/May 1931 issue. Howard earned $60 for this publication.
Plot
The story starts with six people sitting in John Conrad's study: Conrad himself, Clemants, Professor Kirowan, Taverel, Ketrick and the narrator John O'Donnel. O'Donnel describes them all as Anglo-Saxon with the exception of Ketrick. Ketrick, although he possesses a documented pure Anglo-Saxon lineage, appears to have slightly Mongolian-looking eyes and an odd lisp that O'Donnel finds distasteful.Initially the group discusses anthropology but begin to talk about Conrad's collection of books, which includes a copy of Von Junzt's Nameless Cults
Unaussprechlichen Kulten
Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a fictional work of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's short stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone" as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P...
. This brings Clemants to discuss the Cult of Bran, mentioned in Nameless Cults and by his former University roommate in his sleep. The cult worships the Dark Man, an ancient king of the Picts called Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in Weird Tales, Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts....
. The others are skeptical but Conrad brings up a flint mallet found recently in the Welsh hills which is "obviously of no ordinary Neolithic make" - it is too small but still heavy, with odd shape and balance. While others handle the mallet, Ketrick accidentally strikes O'Donnel on the head and knocks him unconscious.
O'Donnel wakes in a forest wearing deer skins. He calls himself "Aryara" of the Sword People, one of the Aryan tribes of the time. His hunting party have been killed by a group of "Children of the Night", snake-like people the Aryans consider vermin. He kills several of them and follows a trail back to their village where he again attacks and kills many more. Aryara is killed in the process.
O'Donnel wakes up again back in Conrad's study but still remembering his life as Aryara. On seeing Ketrick he becomes enraged, believing him to be a descendant of the Children of the Night. The others restrain him and think he has gone mad with exclamations such as "You fools, he is marked with the brand of the beast--the reptile--the vermin we exterminated centuries ago! I must crush him, stamp him out, rid the clean earth of his accursed pollution!"
Ketrick leaves, but O'Donnel swears to hunt him down and kill him while, as is his habit, he is walking the moors alone at night, even if he will be hanged for it.
The Children of the Night
As Aryara, O'Donel describes the Children of the Night as:They are frequently described as snakes or having snake-like qualities. The Aryan legends say that the Children--none of the Aryans know what they call themselves--used to own the land in an ancient "outworn age" until they were hunted and driven underground by the Picts.
Links to other works of fiction
The story clearly links into the Cthulhu MythosCthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. At one point, the character Tavrel notes "Lovecraft's
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
Call of Cthulhu" as one of the "three master horror-tales" alongside Poe's
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque...
and Machen's
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
Black Seal
The Three Impostors
The Three Impostors is an episodic novel by British horror fiction writer Arthur Machen, first published in 1895 in The Bodley Head's Keynote Series...
. He later mentions, however, the historical existence of cults dedicated to "nameless and ghastly gods and entities as Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
, Yog Sothoth, Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
, Gol-goroth, and the like". The Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
is mentioned as a real book - both Conrad and Kirowan have read the Latin version. Nameless Cults
Unaussprechlichen Kulten
Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a fictional work of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's short stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone" as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P...
is obviously real to the characters as it is on show on Conrad's bookshelf.
The story is also clearly linked to other stories in the works of Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
. Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in Weird Tales, Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts....
and the cult of The Dark Man are explicitly mentioned. The Children of the Night may, from their description, be the Serpent Men
Serpent Men
Serpent-Men have also appeared in the Marvel Comics universe.The original Serpent-Men were a race of reptilian semi-humanoids who were created by the demon Set and who ruled areas of prehistoric Earth. Due to the efforts of Kull and Conan, the original Serpent-Men became extinct about 8,000 years...
of the Kull story The Shadow Kingdom
The Shadow Kingdom
"The Shadow Kingdom" by Robert E. Howard is the first of Howard's Kull stories, set in his fictional Thurian Age. It was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in August 1929....
, the "Worms" from the Bran story Worms of the Earth
Worms of the Earth
"Worms of the Earth" is a short story by American fantasy fiction writer Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the magazine Weird Tales in November 1932, then again in 1975 in a collection of Howard's short stories, Worms of the Earth...
, or both.