Shadows in Zamboula

Shadows in Zamboula is a story written by Robert E. Howard and first published in 1935.

Set in the exotic and dangerous city of Zamboula, Conan arrives in the city and stays at an inn where he discovers that the guests are being drugged and given to cannibals.

Escaping this trap, he meets a woman named Zabibi who is trying to save her lover, Alafdhal, who has been driven mad by a spell.

Together, Conan and Zabibi face numerous dangers, including cultists and evil creatures, on their mission to save Alafdhal and survive the dark threats lurking in the streets of Zamboula.

"'Peril hides in the house of Aram Baksh!'
The speaker's voice quivered with earnestness and his lean, black-nailed fingers clawed at Conan's mightily muscled arm as he croaked his warning. He was a wiry, sun-burnt man with a straggling black beard, and his ragged garments proclaimed him a nomad. He looked smaller and meaner than ever in contrast to the giant Cimmerian with his black brows, broad chest, and powerful limbs. They stood in a corner of the Sword-Makers' Bazar, and on either side of them flowed past the many-tongued, many-colored stream of the Zamboula streets, which is exotic, hybrid, flamboyant and clamorous."