costigan

At the risk of  coming off like a complete wacko, I feel obligated to offer my slant on this whole REH--Conan--Hyborian Age business.  While the workings of the creative intellect differ from one artist to another, I come to this material as a kindred soul, the stories, places and people who populate them more than a little familiar.  Jung would call it "the collected unconsciousness", Campbell, "the universal power of myth", but there is something else going on here, something utterly impossible while completely probable.  It's more than role-playing or wish-fulfillment.  It's something more pervasive, more disturbing and more dangerous.  Howard was the victim of an overly-sensitive nature, that same nature that enabled him to plug into another realm of consciousness.  But those forays into the fantastic demanded a price to be paid, hence his battle with depression and  his untimely demise.  If anything I'm saying sounds just a little familiar to somebody out there, then I would feel somewhat vindicated.  If not, then forgive the ramblings of an "old soul".