The top articles at Black Gate in July and August were both features on Conan, and last month Bob Byrne managed to nab the top slot with his look at a strange mash-up of police procedural and sword & sorcery, the Conan tale “The God in the Bowl.” Conan was created by Robert E. Howard in the pages of Weird Tales in 1932; 85 years later, he’s still the most popular character among our readers. That’s durability.

The second most popular article at Back Gate in September wasn’t about Conan, but it did feature a sinister cosmic entity also created in Weird Tales, this time in H.P. Lovecraft 1928 story “The Call of Cthulhu” — our report on the latest Call of Cthulhu solo module, Alone Against the Flames. At #3 was Elizabeth Crowen’s interview with popular cosplay photographer Bruce Heinsius. Fletcher Vredenburgh placed two articles in the Top Ten last month; the first was his review of Roger Zelazny’s 1983 novel Dilvish, the Damned, which placed at #4. Rounding out the Top Five was an article on famous book hoarders, “What do George Lucas, Michael Jackson, and Harry Houdini Have in Common?”

Our summary of the top BG articles in August came in at #6, followed by Ryan Harvey’s fond look back at Tobe Hooper’s best film, the “bizarre nude space vampire epic” Lifeforce. M Harold Page’s opening entry in his 3-part Starfinder review, “OMG! All Your Trope Are Belong To Us,” rocketed all the way to #8. The ninth most popular post last month was Fletcher’s review of Paul S. Kemp S&S novel The Hammer and the Blade. And closing out the Top Ten was our sneak peek at Bean’s new Poul Anderson collection, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 1.

The complete list of Top Articles for September follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in September were:

1. Robert E. Howard Wrote a Police Procedural? With Conan?? Crom!!!
2. In Alone Against the Flames You Face the Horror of Cthulhu the Way the Universe Intended: By Yourself
3. The Poison Apple: A Cosplayer’s Best Friend, Interview with Photographer Bruce Heinsius
4. Dilvish, the Damned by Roger Zelazny
5. What do George Lucas, Michael Jackson, and Harry Houdini Have in Common? It Combines Reading and Obsession
6. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in August
7. Tobe Hooper Is Dead… Long Live Lifeforce!
8. Modular: A First Look at Starfinder 1: “OMG! All Your Trope Are Belong To Us”
9. The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp
10. Future Treasures: The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 1 by Poul Anderson

     

11. How I Spent My Summer Vacation
12. Modular: Picking Pathfinder
13. Modular: The New Mongoose Traveller #3 — Random Adventures, Or How I GM’d With No Prep
14. Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast: The Golden Age of Science Fiction, Part II
15. New Treasures: Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions, by Lois H. Gresh
16. A Jaunt Through Clark Ashton Smith’s Collected Fantasies—Vol. 3: A Vintage from Atlantis
17. Early Peek at 2000AD Prog #2050: A Jumping-On Issue
18. Edgar Allan Poe Wrote Fake News
19. Goth Chick News: Holy Cosplayer Batman! Wizard World Comic Con Lands in Chicago
20. Space Opera Reminiscent of Star Wars and Firefly: Starflight by Melissa Landers

     

21. Goth Chick News: If You Like Your Horror Victorian Style…
22. Modular: Dungeon Delving Tips – Part II
23. The Complete Carpenter: Christine (1983)
24. Kit Reed, June 7, 1932 — September 24, 2017
25. Goth Chick News: Will IT Do It for You…? Maybe.
26. September Short Story Roundup
27. Two Films on Netflix: Enter the Void and Kagemusha
28. Peplum Populist: Howard Hawks Goes to the Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
29. Paperbacks From Hell: An Interview with Author Grady Hendrix
30. The Evolution of Process — A Writerly Tale

     

31. Zombies Need Brains Needs You
32. Good Old-fashioned Military Science Fiction: The Icarus Corps by Zachary Brown
33. Rock Stars, Bloggers, and Hidden Magic: The Wind in His Heart by Charles de Lint
34. Companion Robots, Grave Robbing, and Monster-haunted Catacombs: July/August 2017 Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
35. September/August 2017 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale
36. A Not So Trimphant Ending to The Atlan Saga: Some Summer Lands by Jane Gaskell
37. It’s So Weird I Can’t Look Away: DC Comics’ Young Animal Imprint
38. Modular: The Traveller Central Supply Catalogue Page by Page: Survival Gear, Electronics and Computers…
39. Making it on the American Grub Street: Hired Pens, Professional Writers in America’s Golden Age of Print
40. Axiom Verge: Retro Gaming At Its Finest

     

41. Modular: Successful Adventuring — Or, Staying Alive & Getting the Gold
42. Once It’s Invented, You Can’t Uninvent It
43. Amazing Stories, December 1964: A Retro-Review
44. July/August Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale
45. Superheroes, a Wise-Cracking Demon, and Warrior Dinosaurs: To Hell and Back by Matthew Hughes
46. World Weaver Press Open for Submissions, Both Novels and Short Stories for a New Anthology
47. Vintage Treasures: Dragonfly by Frederic S. Durbin
48. Fantasia 2017, Days 7 to 9: The Laplace’s Demon
49. Celebrate the Optimism of Old-School Science Fiction, With a Twist: The Stars at my Door, edited by George Ilett Anderson and Neil Baker
50. New Treasures: The Tensorate Series by Jy Yang

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before September were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
3. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
4. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
5. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
6. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
7. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
8. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
9. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
10. The Return of the King (1980)
11. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
12. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
13. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
14. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
15. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
16. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
17. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
18. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
19. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
20. Why isn’t Conan a Mary Sue?
21. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
22. Art of the Genre: Art of Dungeon Maps
23. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in July
24. Part Gothic, Part Sword and Sorcery, and Part Horror: Andrew P. Weston’s Hell Bound
25. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Skeleton Matters (Or, Why It’s Not OK to Skip Scenes in Your Third Act)

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. An excerpt from Pirates in Hell, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. “Goat-Beard the Pirate, Part 2: Evil Angel,” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
6. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
7. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
8. “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” by Alex Kreis
9. The first chapter of The Wreck of the Marissa by M Harold Page
10. “Awakening” by Judith Berman
11. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
12. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
13. An Excerpt from Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
14. “Vestments of Pestilence” by John C. Hocking
15. “The Trade” by Mark Rigney
16. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
17. An excerpt from “The Hand That Binds” by Michael Livingston
18. “The Whoremaster of Pald” by Harry Connolly
19. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
20. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
21. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston
22. An Excerpt from Souldrifter by Garrett Calcaterra
23. An excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna
24. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
25. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Vintage Treasures
3. Books
4. Art of the Genre
5. Blog Entry
6. Art
7. Conan
8. Comics
9. Reviews
10. Convention Report
11. Game Reviews
12. Role Playing Games
13. Magazines
14. Goth Chick
15. New Treasures
16. Black Gate Goes to Summer Movies
17. BG Staff
18. News
19. Discovering Robert E. Howard
20. Writing
21. Pulp
22. Obituary
23. Series Fantasy
24. Fiction
25. Contest
26. Essays
27. Future Treasures
28. Interviews
29. Fashion
30. Solitaire Game Reviews

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in August are here, and you can see all 81 posts we made in the month of September here.