The Curse of the Golden Skull

"The Curse of the Golden Skull" is a short story by Robert E. Howard, first published in Spring 1967 issue of The Howard Collector (#9). Featuring Howard's recurring character Kull of Atlantis of Atlantis, the story is notable for the first mention of Shuma-Gorath, an entity later developed as a cosmic adversary by Marvel Comics.
== Synopsis ==
Rotath, a sorcerer who served and was betrayed by the king of Lemuria, lies dying, mortally wounded by the sword of Kull of Atlantis. With his dying breaths, he curses Kull, the king, and "all men living and dead, and all the generations unborn for a million centuries to come." He curses them by various eldritch forces: "by Hotath and Helgor, by Ra and Ka and Valka... Vramma and Jaggta-noga and Kamma and Kulthas... by the fane of the Black Gods, the tracks of the Serpent Ones, the talons of the Ape Lords and the iron bound books of Shuma-Gorath." He lays a curse upon his own bones, "that they might bring death and horror to the sons of men," and realizing that his bones would turn to dust before the curse would take effect, casts a final spell to turn his bones to solid gold.
Ages later, an explorer enters the ruins of a temple on a jungle island, once a mountaintop of Lemuria. There he finds a golden skeleton, which he first takes to be a fallen idol, then realizes was once living bones. He touches the skull and dies--as a venomous snake crawls out of the golden skull.
== Publication History ==
A manuscript discovered in Howard's storage trunk along with hundreds of other unpublished works, "The Curse of the Golden Skull" first appeared in The Howard Collector, a magazine published by Howard scholar (and literary agent) Glenn Lord. It has since appeared in various collections of Howard's fiction, including The Book of Robert E. Howard (Zebra Books, 1976), The Gods of Bal-Sagoth (Ace Books, 1979), Kull (Baen, 1995), Kull: Exile of Atlantis (Del Rey/Ballantine, 2006), and The Best of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1: Crimson Shadows (Del Rey/Ballantine, 2007).Internet Speculative Fiction Database, "Title: The Curse of the Golden Skull."
The story has been translated into German, French, Italian, and Hungarian.
== Adaptations ==
"The Curse of the Golden Skull" was adapted by Marvel Comics in Conan the Barbarian (Vol. 1) No. 137, written by Roy Thomas, with art by Neal Adams. In Marvel's version, Rotath is resurrected in a golden body during the Hyborian Age, and becomes an antagonist to Conan.Marvel Database, "Conan the Barbarian Vol 1 137." Rotath makes several more appearances in Marvel's Conan material.Marvel Database, "Rotath (Earth-616)."
== References ==
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Robert E. Howard works