IRON, FIRE AND BLOOD is an anthology of classic fantasy fiction which examines the roots of grimdark, perhaps fantasy’s most hard-hitting modern sub-genre. The anthology presents fiction by two key authors, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, originally published in the seminal Weird Tales pulp magazine between 1926 and 1936.

With nine stories of sorcery and swords by each author, IRON, FIRE AND BLOOD shows how elements of grimdark fantasy trace back to Howard’s primal world of barbarians – especially the iconic Conan – and to Smith’s Zothique, a continent ravaged by grotesque and often sadistic manifestations of ancient magic cults.

The eighteen stories included in IRON, FIRE AND BLOOD are: Robert E. Howard’s “The Shadow Kingdom”, “The Mirror Of Tuzun Thune”, “Kings In The Night”, “Worms Of The Earth”, “The Phoenix On The Sword”, “The Scarlet Citadel”, “Queen Of The Black Coast”, “Beyond The Black River”, and “Red Nails”; and Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Abominations Of Yondo”, “Empire Of The Necromancers”, “The Isle of The Torturers”, “The Charnel God”, “Witchcraft In Ulua”, “The Death Of Malygris”, “The Dark Eidolon”, “The Last Hieroglyph”, and “Necromancy In Naat”.