An Annotated Bibliography
of Books and Periodicals
Related to Sax Rohmer

This list is in two parts. The titles below are commentaries or closely related items such as Bianca in Black (written by Rohmer's wife) and Apologia Alchymiae (written by his family doctor and containing an "Introduction" by Rohmer). These entries are followed by some titles related in a more frivolous or marginal manner. The Smiling Corpse, for example, is a mystery novel in which Sax Rohmer appears as a character.

Related material posted on the web is found on the Analysis and Stereotype on the WWW page.

Ackerman, Forest J. "The Mask of Fu Manchu: When Karloff Threatened to Conquer the World." Famous Monsters of Filmland. 65 (May 1970).

The screen story is presented in thirteen chapters and illustrated with twelve photographs. The cover is a Basil Gogos portrait of Fu Manchu and his Death Machine of A Thousand Silver Swords.

Ash, Cay Van and Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Master of Villainy: A Biography of Sax Rohmer.  Edited, with Foreword, Notes and Bibliography by R. E. Briney, ed. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1972; London: Tom Stacey, 1972. 312 pages.

Contains many photographs and extensive bibliographic material. The two dustjackets are remarkably different.

"The authors approach is anecdotal, rather than that of formal biographers. That is not surprising, considering that they were protege and wife, respectively, of the subject. If occasionally hero-worshipful, they nonetheless strive (successfully) to present a balanced picture of the man to whom they were so close." --Marvin Lachman. "Master of Villany: A Review" The Rohmer Review No. 9

The full text of the "Limehouse Incident" from Master of Villainry.

Ash, Cay Van. The Fires of Fu Manchu.  New York: Harper and Row, 1987.

Cay Van Ash's second Fu Manchu novel. A third novel was planned but never finished.

Covers  and additional information

Ash, Cay Van. "On Moris Klaw." 100 Great Detectives. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Maxim Jakubowsky. London: Xanadu Publications Ltd., 1991; New York: Carrol & Graf, 1991.

A series of one hundred essays on one hundred detectives.

Ash, Cay Van. Ten Years Beyond Baker Street. New York: Harper and Row, 1984.

Cay Van Ash's first Fu Manchu novel. The author was a close friend of Sax Rohmer and collaborated with Mrs. Rohmer to write her husband's biography, Master of Villainy.

Covers and additional information

Biggers, Julian L. English Locations in the Novels and Collected Short Stories of Sax Rohmer.  [Privately printed] October, 1976.

Over 800 place-names are cited, with sources. Several maps and drawings are included.

Bleiler, Everett F. The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1983.

Includes a "Sax Rohmer" entry with a short biography and eleven book reviews. A separate entry for Rohmer pseudonym, "Michael Furey," discusses Wulfheim.

Bloom, Clive. Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory. London: MacMillan, October 1996.  272 pp.

Includes a chapter titled "West is East: Nayland Smith's Sinophobia and Sax Rohmer's Bank Balance."

Briney, R. E. "Sax Rohmer." Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage. Robin W. Winks and Maureen Corrigan eds. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. Volume 2, pp. 791-804.

Includes "Early Years and First Success," "Dr. Fu Manchu," "Other Detective Characters," "Fantasy and Supernatural Stories," "The New York Years," a "Coda," and a "Selected Bibliography."

Briney, R. E. "Sax Rohmer: An Informal Survey." The Mystery Writer's Art.    Francis M. Nevins Jr., ed. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1971.

Briney, R. E. "Sax Rohmer Revisited." Views and Reviews.   3.2-4 (Fall 1971, Winter 1972, n.d. 1972).

The most comprehensive survey of all of Rohmer's fiction.

Briney, R. E. and Douglas A. Rossman. eds. The Rohmer Review.

Eighteen issues were "edited and published on an irregular schedule" from July, 1968 through Spring/Summer, 1981.

"The contents of this inaugural issue of  The Rohmer Review reflect the fact that The Sax Rohmer Society is dedicated to the total literary output of Sax Rohmer, and is not limited to the sinister saga of literature's best known master criminal -- Dr. Fu Manchu -- although the devil doctor will be given his due in future issues." -- Douglas A. Rossman. The Rohmer Review No. 1.

Finding copies is quite a challenge but well worth the effort for anyone with a serious interest in Sax Rohmer. It took me over twenty years to obtain every issue! LK

Cannon, Garland The Arabic Contributions to the English Language, An Historical Dictionary.  Wisbaden, Otto Harassowitz, 1994.

This study of the migration of Arabic words into the English language utilized many of Sax Rohmer's novels. Description and illustration at the Cushing Library.

Chang, Sue F. "From Fu Manchu, Evil Genius, to James Lee Wong, Popular Hero: A Study of the Chinese-American in Popular Periodical Fiction from 1920 to 1940." Journal of Popular Culture  10.3 (Winter 1976): pp. 535-547.

Chapman, Paul M.  "The Long Shadow of Moriarty.  The Master Villains of Pre-War Crime Fiction." Sherlock Holmes, The Detective Magazine. Issue 29, 1998, pp. 6-9

Chapman, Paul M.  "Moriarty's Spectre.  The Twilight of the Master Criminals."   Sherlock Holmes, The Detective Magazine.  Issue 30, 1999, pp. 12-14.

Among other topics, the first article explores the roots of Dr. Fu Manchu in earlier villains such as Professor Moriarty and Dr. Nikola.
The second article deals with the criminals in Sexton Blake, Dick Tracy, and the James Bond books and compares them with earlier villains.  Dr. No's derivation from Fu Manchu is discussed.

Clegg, Jenny. Fu Manchu and the 'yellow peril': The Making of a Racist Myth.  Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books, 1994. 58 pp.

Clute, John.  "Fu Manchu" The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.   eds. 
John Clute and Peter Nicholls. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. pp. 378. 

Also contains "Rohmer, Sax" by Brian Stableford on pages 819-820. 

Colombo, John Robert. "Sax Rohmer and His Yellow Shadows." Tamarack Review 17 (Autumn 1960): pp. 43-57.

Cooper, Anice P. Authors and Others:Articles on Sax Rohmer,Ellen Glasgow and others. New York: 1970. Reprinted from 1927 ed.

Councell, Dr. R. Watson. Apologia Alchymiae.  London: John M. Watkins, 1925.

A book about the occult written by the the young Sax Rohmer's family doctor and mentor in the occult. Rohmer wrote the Preface -- Cay Van Ash believed this was "the only known instance when Sax wrote introductory matter for another person's work." (Master of Villainy. p. 30)

R. E. Briney later  reported a "Foreword" to the American Stage and Screen Tribute to the King George V National Memorial Fund. The "Foreword" was discovered by Vernon Lay. (The Rohmer Review, No. 17)

In Fu Manchu's Bride, Rohmer has Dr. Fu Manchu refer approvingly to the book and to Dr. Watson Councell.  See the end of Chapter 23 (page 144 in the first edition, page 88 in the Pyramid edition).

Day, Bradford M. Bibliography of Adventure: Mundy, Burroughs, Rohmer, Haggard. New York: Arno Press, 1978.

Lists the books alphabetically and the magazine stories chronologically. Includes two short sections: "A Short Biography" and "The Films of Sax Rohmer."

Deegan, Mary Jo. "Woman as Cat Monster: Sax Rohmer and the Green eyes of Bast"   Women's Power and Roles as Portrayed in Visual Images of Women in the Arts and Mass Media. Valerie Malhotra Bentz and Philip E.F. Mayes eds. Lewiston, New York: E. Mellen Press, 1993.

"The Doctor's Blade." New Yorker (November 29, 1947).

An interview with Rohmer.

Dunning, John. Tune In Yesterdays : The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Old-Time Radio 1925-1976. New York: Prentice-Hakk, 1976. 703 pages.

Eggeling, John. "Rohmer, Sax." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. eds. John Clute and Peter Nicholls. London: Orbit, 1993; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. pp. 1024-1025.

Gifford, Denis. "The Year of Fu Manchu." House of Hammer 1.10 (January 1978) pp. 18-22.

Goode, Greg. "The Oriental in Crime Fiction and Film: A Bibliography of Secondary Sources." Armchair Detective 15.3 (1982) pp. 203-211.

Goode, Greg. "The Oriental in Mystery Fiction: Part I: The Sinister Oriental." Armchair Detective 15.3 (1982) pp. 196-202.

Includes "The Oriental in Crime Fiction and Film: A Bibliography of Secondary Sources." pp 203-211.

Goodwin, Geraint. "The Birth of Fu Manchu." Daily Sketch [London] May 24, 1934.

An interview with Sax Rohmer. The full text is available here.

Hollo, Anselm. Nostalgia: Sax Rohmer. Toothpaste Press 1982; First edition. 

Limited edition broadside issued for the Bookslinger exhibit at the A.B.A. convention in Anaheim from Hollo's book. Single sheet printed in brown and black on one side, oblong 8vo.

Holman, Paul. "Sax Rohmer." The Edge. No. 2 March-April 1990 ed. Graham Evans. Chelmsford, Essex.

A brief, critical survey of much of Sax Rohmer's work, concentrating on Dr. Fu Manchu.

Hunt, Roy. Fu Manchu and Company: a Folio with Remarks by the Artist. Introduction by Irving L. Jaffee. Culver City, California: Luther Norris, n.d.

Thirteen 8.5" by 11" black and white plates and a four page textual insert.

Hutchison, Don. The Great Pulp Heroes. Oakville, ON & Buffalo, NY: Mosaic press, 1995.

A very informative history and analysis of the pulp magazines, it includes a detailed discussion of Rohmer, Fu Manchu, the "yellow peril" in general, and the very clear relationship to Wu Fang and Yen Sin.

"Small wonder that Popular's first all-villain pulp should be titled The Mysterious Wu Fang. In 1935, when the Wu Fang magazine made its debut, the name of Fu Manchu was already a household word; the Fu Manchu books were best-sellers and they were usually serialized in such prestigeous slick magazines as Colliers and Liberty. If the public confused one character with the other the confusion could only aid the sales of the humble pulp magazine." (234)

Hutchison, Don. "Those Mad, Mad, Mad Pulp Villains." Collector's Dream. Vol. 1, No. 2. pp. 10-21.

Kemp, Sandra, Charlotte Mitchell, and David Trotter Eds. Edwardian Fiction: An Oxford Companion. Oxford University Press, 1997. 464 pp.

A guide to the literature of the Edwardian era -- 1900 to the start of World War I, the contents range from Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim and D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles and Sax Rohmer's The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu.

On Fu Manchu: "Here we have, not Shiel's obsessive fear of oriental nationalism and militarism, but a master criminal who focuses racist fear of the mysterious East." (345-346)

Lane, Andrew. "The Crimes of Fu Manchu." Million (May/June 1991) pp. 40-44.

Lowndes, Robert A. W. "The Immortal Enemy." Is (April 1971). Reprinted in The Rohmer Review 7 (August 1971) pp. 1-10.

Madden, Cecil, intro. Meet the Detective. Harrisburg: The Telegraph Press: 1935. 158 pp.

Fifteen "newcomers" in detective fiction explain how they created their most famous characters. Sax Rohmer writes of Dr. Fu Manchu and Leslie Charteris, The Saint.

Mank, Gregory William. "The Mask of Fu Manchu: A Production History." Scarlet Street: The Magazine of Mystery and Horror. No. 24 (1997). pp. 42-51,78-81.

This very comprehensive article covers all the Fu Manchu movies as well as the television show.  It includes sixteen stills. The issue also contains "Fu! Fu!" by Richard Valley and "Fooey!!!" by Jeff Siegel two appraisals of Sax Rohmer's legacy with eight paperback covers and two stills including a scene from the European release of The Brides of Fu Manchu which was dropped from the American release. Karloff's Fu Manchu is featured on the cover. This issue is still available and can be ordered from the Scarlet Street web site.

Mank, Gregory William.  "The Mask of Fu Manchu." Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films from the Genre's Golden Age. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland, 1994.

"The Mask of Fu Manchu" is a thirty six page chapter providing a detailed look at the production. Many anecdotes are included as well as photographs.

Nielsen, Bjarne.   FU MANCHU — en dokumentation.    Privately published in an edition of 221 copies, Christmas 1977.    8 pages, A5 size. Cover: Henry Lauritzen (a redrawn version of the Fu Manchu portrait from the back cover of The Rohmer Review #2). [In Danish]

Contents: a brief passage from Fu Manchu's Mysterium (the Danish translation of The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu), a "cast of characters" listing the main continuing characters from the Fu Manchu series, a concise bibliography of U.S., British, and Danish first editions of the Fu Manchu series, a filmography, and brief addenda on TV and radio versions, August Derleth's "Old Doctor of Limehouse" clone, and brief mention of secondary material about Rohmer and Fu Manchu.

Ng, Maria Noëlle. "Representing Chinatown: Dr. Fu Manchu and the Disappearing Moon Cafe." Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review. Winter 1999. pp. 157-175.

O'Mealia, Leo. The Zayat Kiss and The Severed Fingers. Newbury Park, California: Malibu Graphics, 1989. Introduction  John Wooley.

This classic comic strip by artist Leo O'Mealia has had three lives. The strips were originally drawn for the newspapers and were distributed by the Bell syndicate. The strip lasted from April 20, 1931 to  July 3, 1933. They were later resurrected in the summer of 1938 as a new feature in Detective Comics. The first two episodes were collected and printed in their entirety by Malibu Graphics in 1989. This accounts for only the first 54 daily strips out of the nearly 600 strips that were published. The strip  followed the text of Rohmer's books faithfully, up to the end of Chapter XXVII in THE HAND OF FU-MANCHU. Then someone (artist or syndicate) lost interest, and the series was hastily concluded with 5 more daily strips that departed widely from Rohmer's text.

Pan, Lynn. Sons of the Yellow Emperor: A History of the Chinese Diaspora. New York: Little, Brown and Company,  1990. Hard Cover (With Dust Jacket) 408 Pages.

Lynn Pan examines the reasons Chinese emigrants left their native land and how their travel was influenced by various commercial and economic interests. The British influence is specifically examined. The real secret societies are examined as well as fictionalized accounts--including Fu Manchu.

Poupard, Dennis, Ed. "Sax Rohmer, 1883-1959" Twentieth- Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 28.  Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company, 1988.  pp. 274-302.

Reprints much of "Sax Rohmer---An Informal Survey" by Briney (pp. 279-286), plus Rohmer commentary by many other writers including Cay Van Ash.

Prager, Arthur. Rascals At Large or The Clue in the Old Nostalgia. New York:  Doubleday, 1971.   334 pp.

"An affectionate and humorous look at those books and hardback heroes that at one time occupied the imagination of so many American children:  the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Dr. Fu Manchu, Tom Swift, -- even Bomba the Jungle Boy and Frank Merriwell."

Fu Manchu gets the entire twenty-two page Chapter 2, "The Mark of Kali," which, among other things, catalogies many of Fu Manchu favorite weapons -- everything from the "Coughing Horror" of the Cynocephalus hamadryas or sacred baboon to the "Zayat Kiss" of the giant centipede of the scolopendra group.

Priestley, J.B.  The Balconinny. London: Methuen, 1929. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1931. Reprint: New York: Books for Libraries, 1969.  

Essays, including one on Little Tich.

Pringle, David. Ed. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy" The Definitive Illustrated Guide. London: Carlton Books, 1998; Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1999. Contributors: David Langford, Brian Stableford and Tim Dedopulos. 256 pp

The volume contains entries for both "Fu Manchu" ("the most famous villain in 20th-century popular fiction") and "Sumuru."

Rohmer, Elizabeth Sax. Bianca in Black. New York: Mystery House, 1958; Toronto, Canada: Ryerson Press, 1958.

This mystery novel was written by his wife, Elizabeth, while he was in the midst of a legal battle over the rights to his material. On the back cover of the Airmont paperback reprint, the book was credited to the (non-existent) daughter of Sax Rohmer rather than to his wife.

Rose, Walter Redmond. Fu Manchu and Sax Rohmer: a collector's bibliography of Arthur Sarsfield Warde. Afton, NY: Tristram Shanty Publications, 1970.

I've not seen a copy of this bibliography but one wonders how accurate it can be if Ward is misspelled in the title.

Schleicher, David. "Fu Manchu: The World Shall Hear From Me Again!" Filmfax 41 (October/November 1993).

Illustrated article surveying the British Christopher Lee movies.

Schwartz, Richard Alan. Cold War culture; media and the arts, 1945-1990.   Facts on File, Inc., 1998.   376 pp.

An encyclopedia styled book with entries exploring how films, tv shows,  books, stories and other media were influenced by a conflict between the west and the east.   Fu Manchu is included. 

Siegel, Jeff. "Fooey!!!" Scarlet Street: The Magazine of Mystery and Horror. No. 24 (1997). pp. 70, 75-76.

See the Gregory William Mank entry.

Stableford, Brian.  "Rohmer, Sax" The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.   eds.  John Clute and Peter Nicholls. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. pp. 819-820.

Also contains "Fu Manchu" by John Clute on page 378. 

Stafford, Jean. "Truth in Fiction." Library Journal 91.17 (1966) pp. 4557-4559.

Stein, Hannah. "Spies Part in War is Important." The Washington Post. 6 November 1932.

"Sax Rohmer, Who Had Thrilling Experiences as a Member of the British Intelligence Service, Discloses Espionage Secrets as Armistice Day Anniversary Draws Near."

Symonds, Julian. Mortal Consequences: A History from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel.  New York: Harper & Row, 1972; New York: Schocken, 1973 [paperback]. 

According to Symons, "The Fu Manchu stories are complete rubbish, penny dreadfuls in hard covers, interesting chiefly in the way that they reflect popular feeling about the 'yellow peril,' which in these books, as a
character remarks, is 'incarnate in one man.'"

Tuck, Donald H. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Volume 2.    "Rohmer, Sax." New York: Advent, 1978.  pp. 368-371.

A four page survey of Rohmer's life and work.

"Rohmer had qualities lacking in most suspense and thriller writers: a thorough and first hand knowledge of exotic backgrounds, a flair for vivid description, and a sense of atmosphere, of magic and mystery. He applied his unfettered imagination not only to his fiction but to his personal publicity--interviews, biographical sketches, etc. As a result it is difficult to separate fact from fancy, and many details of his early personal life are obscure."

Valley, Richard. "Fu! Fu!" Scarlet Street: The Magazine of Mystery and Horror. No. 24 (1997). pp. 71-74, 76.

See the Gregory William Mank entry.

Warton, Carl. "Houdini Saved the Day for Sax Rohmer." Boston Sunday Herald. March 8, 1931.

Watson, Colin. Snobbery with Violence: English Crime Stories and Their Audience. London: Methuen, 1971.

Weinstein, Jay. "Fu Manchu and the Third World." Society (January/February 1984) pp. 77-82.

Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. To Be Continued . . . a complete guide to motion picture serials. New York: Bonanza Books, 1972.

Weiss and Goodgold discuss 231 serials and include over 400 photographs. They include seven stills from The Drums of Fu Manchu as well as cast information and a plot summary.

Wu, William F.   "Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan," The Yellow Peril: Chinese Americans in American Fiction, 1850-1940.   Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1982.  pp. 164-182.

"The Yellow Peril: Fu Manchu."  Yesterday #3.  1970.

Young, Mary E. Mules and Dragons: Popular Culture Images in the Selected Writings of African-American and Chinese-American Writers. Contributions in WOmen's Studies, Number 136. Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1983.

The first clearly delineated characterization of a Chinese woman came before the American public not as an American creation but as a British import . . . . (p. 93)

Zinman, David. "Fu Manchu," Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1973.

A thirteen page chapter covering Fu Manchu's various serial and movie appearences. It includes numerous photos and cast lists as well as material about Sax Rohmer.

Frivolously or Marginally Related Titles

Anonymous. The Smiling Corpse. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1935.

A mystery subtitled "Wherein G. K. Chesterton, S. S. Van Dine, Sax Rohmer and Dashiell Hammett are surprised to find themselves at a murder."  Illustrated by Georg Hartmann.  The book was actually written by Philip Wylie and Bernard A. Bergman.   It is a parody of detective fiction, in which the above-named authors have their try at being detectives, with incomplete success.  Robert Benchley, Talulah Bankhead, Dorothy Parker, Gene Tunney, James Thurber, and many other personalities also take part.   

Beard, Henry. "The Thoughts of Chairman Fu-Manchu." National Lampoon (Crime Issue). February 1972.

After nearly twenty years, Petrie once more hears from Smith -- with Fu Manchu not far behind.

Benda, W. T. Masks. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1944.

A book about masks and mask making by W. T. Benda (Wladyslaw Theodore Benda), the premiere mask maker of the early Twentieth Century. His cover for The Mask of Fu Manchu in Collier's magazine is a highly collectible  classic.

Burroughs, William S. Exterminator. New York: Viking Press, 1973.

"Conspirators plot to explode a train carrying nerve gas. A perfect servent suddenly reveals himself to be the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Science-fantasy wars, racism, corporate capitalism, drug addiction, and various medical and psychiatic horrors all play their parts in this mosaic-like, experimental novel." 
                                 -- From the back cover of the Penguin edition [1986]

Carr, John Dickson. It Walks by Night. N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, 1930. [Reprinted numerous times].

"And then," I said, "there's the equally poisonous pretzel adder from the Swiss Congo. It is so called because it curls up like a pretzel and is a convenient salty yellow color; it can be sent to your victim in a box of harmless pretzels. Sax Rohmer says there is only one way to detect the presence of this viper. You should always drink beer with your pretzels, for at the sight of beer this adder emits a faint but audible smacking of the lips, whereat you can seize it with a tongs and throw it out of the window. Sax says he got the tip from an old Scotland Yard man who finds 'em in his bed every night."  -- middle of Chapter XII.

Dickson, Carter. (pseudonym of John Dickson Carr). The Plague Court Murders. N.Y.: Morrow, 1934. [Reprinted numerous times].

 "And what's more, their idea of sending me messages, and bribing Chinamen to call, and the cards that're sent up here ... Why, only last week they phoned up from the downstairs office and said an Asiatic gent wanted to see me, and gave his name. I was so bloomin' mad I chewed the phone, and I yelled down and told Carstairs to chuck the fellow down all four flights of stairs. And he did. And then it turned out that the poor feller's name really was Dr. Fu-Manchu after all, and he came from the Chinese Legation."  -- Chapter XIII.

Effinger, G. A. "The Musgrave Version" in  Sherlock Holmes in Orbit. Mike Resnick, Martin H. Greenberg Eds. New York: MJF Books, 1995. (New York: Daw Books, 1995)

Sherlock Holmes meets Dr. Fu Manchu in July of 1875.

The cover & details

Farmer, Philip José. Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. New York: Doubleday, May 1973; New York: Bantam, July 1975.

The title page of the paperback edition nates that it was "corrected and expanded for Bantam Books, Inc. by the author."

Farmer, Philip José. Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke. New York: Doubleday, 1972; New York: Popular Library, 1972.

One of Farmer's more elaborate pastiches, his "biographies" of Tarzan and Doc Savage included geneological charts and information which not only revealed they were related but also revealed an extended family which included a who's who of popular fiction--all descended from the occupants of two carriages which were exposed to ionization effects from a meteorite which struck just twenty yards from them in Wold Newton, Yorkshire in 1795. 

In Tarzan Alive we learn that Sherlock Holmes sister, Sigrina, was Denis Nayland Smith's mother (252).  In Doc Savage, we learn "The 'supermen' in this family tree were mostly battlers against evil. But every family barrel has its rotten apples, and this one produced two of the greatest evil men in history, geniuses in both science and crime: Fu Manchu and Professor James Moriarty. (200).

Win Scott Eckert maintains a Wold Newton website.

Groom, Mrs. Sydney.  Detective Sylvia Shale.   London: Hurst & Blackett, 1923.

Victor Berch discovered the following tidbit for the "miscellany" file.   A serial titled "Shadowed" by Kit Dealtry appeared in The All-Story Magazine, Feb - May 1908.  The story was later rewritten and brought up to date for a book version, DETECTIVE SYLVIA SHALE by Mrs. Sydney Groom (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1923).  One of the additions was the following passage:

"The conditions of Miss Smith's rescue, however, are mysterious enough  to form the subject of a Sax Rohmer story, for although she was discovered in the Flame Lighthouse, she protests that she is unable to explain how she got there."

Jaccoma, Richard. Yellow Peril: The Adventures of Sir John Weymouth-Smythe. New York: Richard Marek, 1978.

Yellow Peril is clearly based on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu. The villainous Doctor Chou en Shu and his Dak Fang bear more than a little resemblance to Fu Manchu and the Si-Fan.   The hero's name, Sir John Weymouth-Smythe, is a clear combination of the names of two Rohmer heros: Inspector Weymouth and Nayland Smith. Dacoits, well used Briars and a variety of poisonous insects abound, and at the end Chou en Shu vanishes from from a secure room. Sax Rohmer is named as a significant member of The Golden Dawn Lodge in chapter 13. See the Clones page for details.

Jones, Raymond F. "The Alien Machine" in Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1949; reprinted in They Came From Outer Space, edited by Jim Wynorski.    New York: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1980.

This story and two sequels, "The Shroud of Secrecy" and "The Greater Conflict" (same magazine, December 1949 and February 1950) were combined and rewritten into the novel This Island Earth (Chicago: Shasta Publishers, 1952), which was filmed under the latter title in 1955.
    Larry Feher reports: "[They Came from Outer Space] is a collection of stories that were later made into science fiction movies. 'The Alien Machine' contains the following passage:

'There was no guarantee that their purpose was altruistic. With his past knowledge of human nature he was more inclined to credit the possibility that he was being led into some Sax Rohmer melodrama.'"

Keeler, Harry Stephen. The Riddle of the Yellow Zuri. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., November, 1930.

Luther L. Norris reported the following passage in The Rohmer Review, No. 3.

"Why Mister Wolff, would a Chineyman lend him bigger more dollars on that there ring than a white man? Chineymen are very bad men. I saw one once in the drammar. Don't you love drammar, Mr. Wolff? I do. The Chineyman's name in this drammar was Mister Fu somethin'. That's the way I cotched it in my ear. And oh -- was he bad! Why he p'ssened people, and killed 'em. He was -- he was just awful. And he had long mustiches. Oh -- you'd a-been scairt to death of him, Mr. Wolff, if you'd seen him. All Chineymen are very bad, bean't they, Mr. Wolff?"

"Lord no, child. You've been drinking in Sax Rohmer's 'Fu Manchu,' that's all. The Chinese are a super-race. They are more patient, persevering, trustworthy, frugal, hard-working and last but far from least, honest, than any white man who ever walked in two shoes. Just a bit inclined to accept blindly certain supersti -- well, by that word, Lola, I mean beliefs. Beliefs that have no foundation. See?"

Macer-Story, Eugenia. Dr Fu Man Chu Meets the Lonesome Cowboy:  Sorcery and the Ufo Experience. New York: Magick Mirror Communications, 1991.

"All UFO experiences are not encounters with the shape changers. There is another level to the UFO experience which does involve telepathy and the ability to mold physical objects and the process of events, as shown in an elementary way in the crop circle phenomenon, but is qualitatively different from the shape changing experience. Of course,sorcerers of all persuasions have sought to mold events in this way and there is an analogy to sorcery in the "mind over matter" aspect of these truly powerful and unexplained UFO contacts. This is why I subtitled my book SORCERY AND THE UFO EXPERIENCE. But the real, initial title -- which editors and publishers relegated to the inside front cover -- is DR. FU MANCHU MEETS THE LONESOME COWBOY. For I feel that Eastern and Western mindsets are both trying to investigate the UFO phenomenon and are both baffled by the unexplained use of advanced Intelligence which seems also to guide research into these topics."

From an interview with the author by Adam Gorightly at the Magonia site in Great Britain.

McDaniel, David. The Rainbow Affair,  New York: Ace Books, 1967.

A "Man From U.N.C.L.E." novel in which Thrush courts Fu Manchu.

Metcalfe, Herbert. The Amazing Dr. Khan Manchester: Church & Foster, 1966.

"Here's a little-known macabre thriller inspired by Rohmer ...  in a dw that is a wholehearted throwback to the pulps. Chicago occult detective Wes Cassin joins Scotland Yard's Inspector Kearns to stop Khan's blend of Eastern mysticism & modern science from establishing the Mafia in 1930s London."
 --  Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Visit her site: Violet Books. She has many Rohmer titles available.)

Newman, Kim. Anno-Dracula.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.

An interesting alternate timeline story. What if Dracula hadn't lost and tried to take control of London, particularly if a certain mysterious Devil Doctor opposed him?

Olsen, Robert E. Illusion Builder to Fu-Manchu. Charlotte, NC: Morris Costumes, 1986. 219pp.

The story of David Bamberg, the magician who took the name Fu-Manchu (without permission), the book includes over 350 illustration including rare photos, posters, handbills, and drawings of his illusions and tricks.

Suter, Jon Michael. The Passing of Fu Manchu. Ada, Oklahoma, nd.

This title was first reported by Bill Maynard and was confirmed by the author who provided the following information. The book is part of the "Mustard Jar" series of books that incorporate characters created by H.P. Lovecraft and L. Frank Baum. The books were published by a small bindery in Ada, Oklahoma. Copies were never sold; they were only distributed to friends and relatives. Some  bibliographic records still linger even though no library actually has a copy.