Our Lady of Darkness

The plot unfolds as Westen discovers an old journal belonging to Clark Ashton Smith, a real-life writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

As Westen delves deeper, he learns about "megapolisomancy", a fictional occult science focusing on harnessing the supernatural forces present in large cities.

The novel's climax involves Westen's confrontation with these forces, symbolized by the entity "Our Lady of Darkness" – a powerful, ancient being connected to the history and fabric of San Francisco itself.

The main difference in Our Lady of Darkness is that, unlike much of his earlier works, the references to these figures are explicit, rather than implied, and at times supported by direct quotations.

Our Lady of Darkness was originally serialised, in shorter form and with the title The Pale Brown Thing, over two issues of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (January/February 1977).

[3] The volume includes an introduction by Leiber's friend, the San Francisco poet Donald Sidney-Fryer, who was the basis for the character of Jaime Donaldus Byers.