This article is about a short story.
For the protagonist and principal character, see
Conan the Barbarian.
"The Thing in the Crypt" is a short story written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian created by Robert E. Howard.
Publication history
Plot summary
Conan has joined a band of warriors from the northern country of Asgard and takes part in a raid against the Hyperboreans to the east. He is captured and enslaved by them but does not remain a prisoner for long.
Escaping his chains and slaying his captors, he makes his way south, but is pursued by a pack of hungry wolves. Armed only with a broken length of chain, Conan manages to fight them off until he is able to find refuge from the starving wolves in the hills. There he discovers the entrance to a buried crypt and, finding himself in a chamber into which the wolves are strangely unwilling to follow him, Conan lights a fire and soon discovers a grisly occupant.
Enthroned on a square boulder of black stone is the large mummified corpse of a man, apparently a great warrior or chieftain of ancient times. Noticing a great iron sword that lies across the dead man's knees, Conan takes the weapon and claims it for himself. Exulting in his newfound sense of power, he hears the sound of a dry creaking and turns to face the mummy as it begins rising from its throne, standing to its full height, having been raised from the dead by Conan's warcry.
It advances on the young barbarian, but Conan, though frightened of the thing, stands his ground and engages in a desperate battle against the walking corpse. Finding that the wounds he inflicts are not enough to kill a creature that is already dead, he eventually manages to hurl the mummy into the fire, utterly destroying it.
Not wanting to spend the night in the haunted crypt, Conan emerges with his new weapon and, seeing no sign of the wolves, continues on his journey.
Miscellaneous
The story shares many similarities with a tale from the 14th century Icelandic Grettis saga.
In the Saga Viking Age hero Grettir Ásmundarson enters the mound of the chieftain Kár the Old. Grettir's objective was the treasure buried with the chieftain and especially a single edged Seax, reputed to be a great weapon.
Soon after entering the mound the corpse of Kár becomes reanimated and battles Grettir.
The scenes in the story involving Conan's flight from the wolves and his discovery of the crypt, sword and mummy parallel those in the film Conan the Barbarian (1982) directed by John Milius. However, in the film the mummy does not come to life.
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- Prospero's Isle (1987)
- "Professor Harold and the Trustees" (1992)
- "Sir Harold and the Monkey King" (1992)
- "Knight and the Enemy" (1992)
- "Arms and the Enchanter" (1992)
- "Enchanter Kiev" (1995)
- "Sir Harold and the Hindu King" (1995)
- "Harold Shakespeare" (1995)
- "Return to Xanadu" (2005)
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| | | | | The Mysteries of Mars |
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- The Flame of Iridar (1967)
- The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)
- The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
- The City Outside the World (1977)
- Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)
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| Short works |
- "The Martian El Dorado of Parker Wintley" (1976)
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| | Zanthodon series |
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| Novels |
- Journey to the Underground World (1979)
- Zanthodon (1980)
- Hurok of the Stone Age (1981)
- Darya of the Bronze Age (1981)
- Eric of Zanthodon (1982)
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| | Zarkon series |
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| Novels |
- The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
- Invisible Death (1975)
- The Volcano Ogre (1976)
- The Earth-Shaker (1982)
- Horror Wears Blue (1987)
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| | Minor SF series |
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| Great Imperium |
- The Man Without a Planet (1966)
- Star Rogue (1970)
- Outworlder (1971)
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| Hautley Quicksilver |
- The Thief of Thoth (1968)
- The Purloined Planet (1969)
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- "Thieves of Zangabal" (1969)
- "Keeper of the Emerald Flame" (1970)
- "Black Hawk of Valkarth" (1974)
- "Diombar's Song of the Last Battle" (1975)
- "The City in the Jewel" (1975)
- "Black Moonlight" (1976)
- "Demon of the Snows" (1980)
- "The Creature in the Crypt" (2012)
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- "Exile of Atlantis" (1967)
- "Black Abyss" (1967)
- "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" (1967)
- "Wizard and Warrior" (1967)
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| | The Gondwane Epic |
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| Novels |
- The Warrior of World's End (1974)
- The Enchantress of World's End (1975)
- The Immortal of World's End (1976)
- The Barbarian of World's End (1977)
- The Pirate of World's End (1978)
- Giant of World's End (1969)
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- Kesrick (1982)
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- Mandricardo (1987)
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- "Vault of Silence" (1970)
- "The Higher Heresies of Oolimar" (1973)
- "The Curious Custom of the Turjan Seraad" (1976)
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| | Tara of the Twilight |
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- "For the Blood is the Life" (1984)
- "The Love of the Sea" (1984)
- "Pale Shadow" (1985)
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| | Simrana the Dream World |
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| Short works |
- "The Gods of Niom Parma" (1966/70)
- "The Whelming of Oom" (1969)
- "Zingazar" (1971)
- "How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm" (1972)
- "The Laughter of Han" (1982)
- "The Benevolence of Yib" (1987)
- "The Thievery of Yish" (1988)
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| Short works |
- "The Red Offering" (1997)
- "The Dweller in the Tomb" (1971)
- "The Thing in the Pit" (1980)
- "Out of the Ages" (1975)
- "The Horror in the Gallery" (1976/97)
- "The Winfield Heritance" (1981)
- "Perchance to Dream" (1988)
- "Strange Manuscript Found in the Vermont Woods" (1988)
- "Something in the Moonlight" (1980)
- "The Fishers from Outside" (1988)
- "Behind the Mask" (1987)
- "The Strange Doom of Enos Harker" (1989/2001)
- "The Bell in the Tower" (1989)
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- "The Tired Tailor of Oz" (2001)
- "The Awful Ogre of Ogodown" (2004)
- "High TImes on Tip Top Mountain" (2004)
- "The Wooden Soldier of Oz" (2004)
- "No Joy in Mudville" (2004)
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| Collections |
- The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (2004)
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| | Other speculative fiction |
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- The Star Magicians (1966)
- Destination: Saturn (1967)
- Tower at the Edge of Time (1968)
- Lost World of Time (1969)
- Tower of the Medusa (1969)
- The Black Star (1973)
- Time War (1974)
- Found Wanting (1985)
- The Black Pharaoh (2007)
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| Short works |
- "The Castle beyond the World" (1950)
- "Masters of the Metropolis" (1956) with Randall Garrett
- "The Slitherer from the Slime" (1958)
- "Uncollected Works" (1965)
- "Crown of Stars" (1966)
- "Owlstone" (1969)
- "Keru" (1969)
- "Harvey Hodges, Veebelfetzer" (1969)
- "Under the Eaves" (1969)
- "A Guide to the City" (1969)
- "Azlon" (1969)
- "The Mantichore" (1969)
- "The Seal of Zaon Sathla" (1970)
- "Shaggai" (1971)
- "The Sword of Power" (1971)
- "The Double Tower" (1973)
- "The Utmost Abomination" (1973)
- "The Scroll of Morloc" (1975)
- "In the Vale of Pnath" (1975)
- "The Tower of Time" (1975)
- "The Twelve Wizards of Ong" (1976)
- "People of the Dragon" (1976)
- "The Stairs in the Crypt" (1976)
- "The Pillars of Hell" (1977)
- "A Farmer on the Clyde" (1978)
- "Rhian and Garanhir" (1979)
- "Zurvan's Saint" (1980)
- "The World Beneath the World" (1980)
- "Dreams in the House of Weir" (1980)
- "The Descent Into the Abyss" (1980)
- "The Light From the Pole" (1980)
- "The Offering" (1982)
- "The Vengeance of Yig" (1983)
- "History & Chronology of the Book of Eibon" (1984)
- "The Necronomicon: Concerning Them from Outside" (1984)
- "Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus: The Incantation of the Elder Sign" (1984)
- "The Feaster from the Stars" (1984)
- "The Goblinry of Ais" (1985)
- "Geydelle's Protective" (1985)
- "The Acolyte of the Flame" (1985)
- "The Stone from Mnar" (1985)
- "Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom" (1988)
- "From the Archives of the Moon" (1988)
- "How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth" (1988)
- "The Secret in the Parchment" (1988)
- "How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon" (1988)
- "Black Stars in the Skulls of Doom" (1988)
- "Dead of Night" (1988)
- "Carcosa Story about Hali" (1989)
- "Terror Wears Yellow" (1989)
- "A Bottle of Djinn" (1989)
- "Sweet Tooth" (1989)
- "The Necronomicon, Book II: The Book of Preparations" (1990)
- "The Necronomicon, Book III: The Book of the Gates" (1990)
- "The Necronomicon, Book IV: The Book of Dismissals" (1990)
- "King in Yellow: A Tragedy in Verse" (1993)
- "Cthulhu & Co." (1997)
- "The Light in the East" (1997)
- "Curse of the Black Pharaoh" (1997)
- "Khymyrium (excerpt)" (1997/98)
- "The Demon Star" (1998)
- "The Life of Eibon According to Cyron of Varaad" (2002)
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| | | | | | Poetry |
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- Sandalwood and Jade (1951)
- Galleon of Dream (1955)
- A Letter to Judith (1950)
- Dreams from R'lyeh (1975)
- The Intelligent Child's Own Book of Interesting and Instructive (1987/88)
- Limericks from Yuggoth (1983/88)
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