Robert Ervin Howard (born on January 22nd 1906, committed suicide on June 11th 1936) was an American author from Texas famous for writing pulp fiction in a broad range of genres and his best known character (Conan the Barbarian) is considered one of the greatest fantasy characters of all time. Robert E. Howard is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery genre of fantasy literature.

Howard was born and raised in Texas, a nerdy boy who later became a fan of boxing and weightlifting in his late teens. He began writing stories at the age of 9 and by 23 was publishing in a selection of magazines, journals and newspapers. His main source of sales was the pulp magazine "Weird Tales". Howard created many beloved characters including: Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, Kull the Conqueror.

Having achieved success in numerous genres Howard was on the verge of publishing his first novel when he committed suicide in 1936 at the age of thirty. His mother was terminally ill with tuberculosis and when Howard learned that his mother had entered a coma from which she was not expected to wake, he, for reasons that are not clear, walked out to his car and shot himself in the head.

He left behind a collection of short stories and novels which are now available on this website.