FROM THE PUBLISHER...
To many westerners, Asia might be considered an entirely different planet right here on earth. The ancient wisdom of its many cultures — some of it
esoteric and fantastic — has been described by travelers like Alexandra
David-Neel (Magic and Mystery in Tibet) and Madame Blavatsky (Isis Unveiled
and The Secret Doctrine), who invited Westerners to imagine the existence of Asia’s deepest and most sinister secrets. Sax Rohmer, Talbot Mundy, John Taine, E.
Hoffman Price, and so many others attest to this. Nor was H.P. Lovecraft
immune to the lore of this fictive Orientalism. For example, the
hidden Plateau of Leng was likely another name for Tibet. August Derleth set
up his lemonade stand right next door, creating the shunned Plateau of Sung in
Burma, where the terrible Tcho-Tcho People planned their mischief. Lin Carter
joined the game, contributing his own Plateau of Tsang. There seemed to be
room in the vastness of Asia for all of them and more. The title of the
present volume is a phrase taken from one of Carter’s Mythos tales, and it nicely
sums up the general theme.
Some of these stories are set here in the West, but they derive their horrors from
imported Asian traditions. Others actually take place in Asia. All are
fascinating and full of wonder and dread. Our gurus of gore and and lamas of
lore include the likes of Ann K. Schwader, Stephen Mark Rainey, Don Webb, Michael
Fantina, Joseph S. Pulver, Laurence J. Cornford, and Pierre Comtois.
Secret Asia’s Blackest Heart, edited by Robert M. Price and published by Sweden’s Timaios Press, features my story, “The War Lords of Leng.” Check it out at Amazon.com here.
