Favorite Clark Ashton Smith Story

Just wondering which of his stories Clark Ashton Smith fans/readers prefer.

There are so many great ones, but my "eureka" moment came when I read "Xeethra" for the first time. That was when I said, "I've been looking for someone that writes like this my entire life. I've finally found him."

(Also, not that you asked, but my favorite poems of his are "The Hashish Eater" and "The Centaur". :D )

Thanks artturnerjr,

I actually am interested in his poetry too, but haven't read any yet.

Check this out then:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/

As for the stories, Morthylla does it for me. Full text at the Eldritch Dark here:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/142/morthylla

>5 Soukesian:

Interesting story - hadn't read that one before. Thanks for the link. 8)

A Vintage from Atlantis was pretty good, but The Door to Saturn and The Beast of Averoigne are my two favorites.

"Necromancy in Naat," I think. See the discussion here.

"Bow down, I am the emperor of dreams..." -- I love the Hashish Eater, though it's been years since I read it!

My favorite story by CAS ... I forget the title, but it was about a giant zombie (or ghoul?) made from lots of normal-sized zombies! Great stuff! Ya gotta love his luxurious purple prose and wild plots! :-)

Seeing this forum topic reminds me that I need to dig out my old CAS books and read 'em again! Thanks!

>9 MarkMcLaughlin:

Hi, Mark! We are discussing CAS' "The Isle of the Torturers" over at the Weird Tradition group (http://www.librarything.com/groups/theweirdtradition) on February 20th. You are more than welcome to come and join us. :)

My biggest impression and first one was the "City of the Singing Flame." Now that I realized I read the mash-up of that and its sequel, I like the shorter version better.

I can read the sardonic Hyperborea stories over and over again, though.

>9 MarkMcLaughlin:

That's "The Colossus of Ylourgne".

Hard to chose a single favorite, but "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros", "The Dark Eidolon", and "Ubbo-Sathla" would be candidates. Also, though bordering on a prose poem, "Sadastor".