Scary Stories: "Skulls In The Stars"

The episode presents a complete reading of Robert E. Howard's short story "Skulls In The Stars," a supernatural horror tale featuring Solomon Cain, a Puritan traveler who deliberately walks into a cursed moor despite explicit warnings from a village youth. The story is told in full, with no interruption or commentary from the podcast host.

The Central Conflict: A Man Who Chooses to Face Evil

The narrative opens at a crossroads. Solomon Cain, described as a "tall, gaunt man" with a "darkly pallid face and deep rooting eyes," is overtaken by a breathless youth who implores him to take the swamp road instead of the shorter moor road. The villagers have sent the boy after Cain because they watched him turn toward the cursed path. When pressed, the boy reveals that the moor road is "accursed" and has not been traversed by anyone in the countryside for over a year. Some "score of unfortunates" have died there. No one knows what the thing looks like—"none has ever seen it and lived"—but travelers have heard "terrible laughter" and "horrid shrieks."