The October 1933 issue of Weird Tales has possibly one of the most iconic covers of all time, and features the usual selection of stories, spearheaded as usual by Seabury Quinn. Both H.P. Lovecraft and Frank Bellknap Long have stories in the magazine, and Conan is back with the story The Pool of the Black One.

The story is not particularly memorable – coming after The Tower of the Elephant is hard – but it does have one of the most memorable openings in the whole series, as a soaking Conan climbs up on a vessel in the middle of the ocean.
This, we find out, is Conan in his pirate days – and he’s had a falling out with his former friends, the Barrachan Pirates. He is accepted on board and has an eye for Sancha, the captain’s woman (who shows a similar interest).

From here, the story proceeds to a visit to an uncharted island, peopled by sinister humanoids who capture and plan to sacrifice the crew. The titular pool is the place where the strange creature dwell, and in which they cast their prisoners to kill and shrink them
As predictable, Conan saves the day and goes back to the ship, having won the girl and found a crew with which he’ll launch a further career in piracy.

Apart from the opening, the only other noteworthy bit in the story is probably Sancha, a Zingaran noblewoman who, kidnapped by the pirates, found that she enjoyed the lifestyle of captain’s mistress.
She’s selfish and amoral, and injects a little excitement in a story that goes from one set-piece to the next with the usual energy but with a certain lack of momentum.

A fun romp, but hardly one of Howard’s best.