Our Lady of Darkness
#7853.59 adjusted 3.70 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1977 Reading commitment Low Fritz Leiber Last reviewed 2026-08-18
Overview
A recently widowed writer in San Francisco, recovering from grief and drink, discovers an old journal describing "paramentals," entities that feed on human emotion in dense urban areas, and an invented occult system called megapolisomancy tying the city's own skyline and history to a malevolent presence that has already claimed one life close to him. Fritz Leiber set the novel around real San Francisco landmarks, including Corona Heights and the author's own former apartment building, and blended psychological horror with metafictional, Jungian ideas about imagination and the self. A standalone urban horror-fantasy novel, it won the 1978 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Fritz Leiber's 2nd, unrelated universe in this canon, alongside Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Dark fantasy, Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Our Lady of Darkness Fritz Leiber
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Our Lady of Darkness | 1977 | 1 | core | 3.59 (2,479 ratings) |
Standalone novel; an urban horror-fantasy in which a widowed writer in San Francisco uncovers a occult system of 'megapolisomancy' tied to the city's own geography and history. Fritz Leiber's 2nd, unrelated universe in this canon, alongside Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Our Lady of Darkness? Our Lady of Darkness's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Our Lady of Darkness finished? Complete (1977).
- How much reading does Our Lady of Darkness take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~183 pages).
- How is Our Lady of Darkness ranked? #785 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,479 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #785?
Ranked #785 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.59 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (2,479 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #784, Osama (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #785 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 1978: won: Our Lady of Darkness
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.59 across 2,479 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Our Lady of Darkness admitted accepted 2026-08-18
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-18
Rule: Core = the single standalone novel; unrelated to the author's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series.