Conan the Cimmerian and the pirate queen Valeria, both on the run, find a massive, crumbling city in the middle of a poisonous jungle. They think it's deserted. They're wrong. Inside, they discover the last survivors of two ancient noble houses, the Tecuhltli and the Xotalanc, locked in a generations-long war within the same sprawling palace. The place is a maze of death traps, hidden passages, and rooms stained with the 'red nails' of the title—marks of old murders. Our heroes get pulled into this insane conflict, where every ally is suspect and every shadow hides a knife.

Why You Should Read It

This is Howard at his most intense. He trades wide-open plains for a suffocating, decaying palace. The action is brutal and fast, but what really gets under your skin is the atmosphere. You can almost smell the mold and the old blood. The feud between the two houses is a sharp look at how pointless hatred can outlive its original cause, turning people into monsters in beautiful rooms. Valeria is fantastic—she's every bit Conan's equal, which was pretty bold for the 1930s.

Final Verdict

This is a must-read for fans of dark fantasy and horror-tinged adventure. If you think of Conan as just a big guy with a sword, this story will surprise you. It's perfect for anyone who loves a story where the setting itself is a character, a creepy, breathing entity. It's a tight, nasty, and incredibly gripping tale that proves old-school pulp can have a lot on its mind.