[24] [c. 20 October 1931]
From the inner vaults
of Yoh-Vombis.
Dear E'ch-Pi-El:
[. . .]
[. . . Wright] wants me to speed up the first half of "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis", on the plea that many of his readers would never get to the interesting portion as it stands. Oh hell . . . I suppose I can leave out a lot of descriptive matter; but it's a crime all the same.
[. . .]
Wandrei has just sent me a good scientifiction yarn, "Raiders of the Universe", [1] which will come to you presently. You will also receive a new tale of mine before long — "The Demon of the Flower", which is partly based on the prose-poem, "The Flower-Devil", in Ebony and Crystal. I have two other weirds under way — "The Nameless Offspring", which I once outlined to you, and a brand-new opus, "Slaves of the Black Pillar". This latter deals with an ultra-terrene drug that left the bodies of those who were tempted to take it in a state of permanent catalepsy, while their minds, souls or astrals (whichever you prefer) were held captive in a dark planet at the rim of the galactic universe.
Wright tells me that "The Monster of the Prophecy" will furnish the cover design for the Jan. W.T. Holy smoke! I wonder what it will look like. You may recall that the earth-hero was stark naked in the tale; and that the heroine, as well as the other Antareans, was equipped with five arms, three legs, three eyes, and a superabundance of other anatomical features. However, Senf (if he does the picture) probably won't read that far.
Good luck,
Klarkash-Ton
From: Clark Ashton Smith: LETTERS TO H. P. LOVECRAFT, edited by and footnotes by Steve Behrends (July 1987) Necronomicon Press.