Tarzan and the Leopard Men – Edgar Rice Burroughs (1935)
In this 18th installment of the Tarzan series, Edgar Rice Burroughs pits the Lord of the Apes against one of his most sinister adversaries: the Leopard Men, a secret society of murderous cultists who don leopard skins and claws to terrorize Central Africa. When a wave of brutal killings strikes the jungle, tribal superstition blames actual leopards—but Tarzan recognizes the handiwork of something far more human, and far more evil.
The novel weaves together two parallel plots: Tarzan’s hunt for the Leopard Men, and the journey of Orlando, a young American traveler searching for his missing fiancée, Kali Bwana, who has been captured by the cult. Their paths collide in a deadly game of deception, where the Leopard Men’s high priest, Gogolo, uses fear and ancient rituals to maintain power. Burroughs ramps up the horror elements, with eerie moonlit ceremonies, poisoned arrows, and a climactic battle in the cult’s treetop stronghold.
A standout for its darker tone and anthropological intrigue, Tarzan and the Leopard Men explores themes of superstition versus reason, and the masks men wear to hide their savagery. Tarzan, as always, straddles both worlds—unraveling the mystery with his civilized intellect, then confronting it with jungle ferocity.
“Burroughs strips away pulp adventure to expose the real beast—the human heart in leopard’s clothing.”
For the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ collector, please check our Edgar Rice Burroughs First Editions Identification Guide.
