Pigeons From Hell

Catalog Note Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" presents a supernatural horror narrative set in the decaying Blassenville Manor in the American South. Two New England travelers, Griswell and Branner, shelter overnight in the abandoned antebellum house and encounter inexplicable phenomena: a mysterious whistler upstairs, a spectral figure on the staircase, and Branner's return from the upper floor with a bloody hatchet, apparently murdered yet ambulatory. Griswell flees into the night, pursued by a wolf with glowing eyes, and is rescued by Sheriff Buckner, who reveals local folklore surrounding the manor—tales of pigeons appearing at sunset (believed to be the souls of the Blassenville family released from hell), disappearances of those who attempted to lodge there, and Miss Elizabeth Blassenville's unexplained flight from the house in 1890. The narrative blends psychological ambiguity with gothic horror elements, leaving uncertain whether events were supernatural manifestations or madness-induced visions.