Torches fled murkily on the rebels in the mall, where the thieves of the east held carnival by night.

In the mall they could carouse and roar as they liked, for honest people shunned the quarters, and

Watchmen, well paid with stained coins, did not interfere with their sport.

Along the crooked unpaved streets with their heaps of refuse and sloppy puddles, drunken

roasters staggered, roaring, steel glinted in the shadows where wolf preyed on wolf, and from the darkness

rose the shrill laughter of women and the sounds of scufflings and struggles.

Torch light licked luredly from broken windows and wide thrown doors,

and out of those doors stale smells of wine and rank sweaty bodies

Clammer of drinking jacks and fists hammered on rough tables

Snatches of obscene songs, rushed like a blow in the face.

H.Poncraft.com.

I wonder if the mall has shirtless Tuesdays.

Every day is shirtless in the mall.

That paragraph conjures up lots of pretty rank imagery, the torch light licks luredly etc but I think it's

Sloppy puddles that really gets me that's the mmm I can see them I don't like it but I do like this story yes the Tower of the Elephant by Robert E Howard and Robert E Howard was admired by

HP Lovecraft and that's why we're talking about it on the HP Lovecraft Lovescraft, literary podcast.

Here at HFPODcraft.com, I'm Chad Fifer.

And I'm Chris Laki.

Our reader that we heard there at the top

was Christopher Barnes, Kipp Barnes coming back to the show.

Kipp Barnes actually picked this story out as per his Kickstarter contribution level.

And when I say picked, what I meant is he said he really wanted a Conan story.

...