A Night in the Lonesome October

A Night in the Lonesome October – Roger Zelazny, 1993

Having dealt with the immensity of The Book of the New Sun last week, and with this being the last post before Halloween, I thought it was a perfect time to look at perhaps the best Halloween book ever written: Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. 

Snuff is watchdog and faithful companion to Jack, who wields a knife, and they have come, in the last days of September, to a small village outside London. Others too, soon take up residence. There is the cackling Jill, who flies through the night on her broomstick, and her cat Greymalk. There are Morris and MacCab, bodysnatchers, and Larry Talbot, who becomes a good deal more lupine at the full moon. There is the Mad Monk Rastov and Owen, the Welsh druid. The Good Doctor, along with his hunchbacked associate and a third man, a huge, hulking figure, arrive at an old farm house, while the sinister Count prefers a disused crypt. All these varied persons have an animal associate with them, and all are come to take part in the Game. Some are openers, and will, at the full moon on All Hallows Eve, attempt to open the doorway, that the eldritch elder gods may return, while the closers work to ensure this never happens, but, for much of the story, no one knows who is on their side, and who is against them. And all the while, the Great Detective and his trusted companion dog their heels, determined to solve the mystery of what will happen on a night in the lonesome October. 

All rights Gahan Wilson

As I stated in my review of Zelazny's Lord of Light, his trademark as a writer, along with some sparkling prose, is his way of taking established mythologies, sifting them through his own imagination and crafting superlative tales. This time he delves into far more modern legends, those of the quintessential horror stories and classic monster movies, grisly Victoriana, the Cthulhu Mythos and the Sherlock Holmes canon. His spin is to give centre stage to the player's animal comrades, making their interactions, their alliances and enmities the focus of the book and relegating the icons of book and film to supporting characters and cameos, referred to, but only appearing intermittently. It is therefore, Snuff, Jack's dog, who is our narrator-protagonist and Zelazny's writing of the canine is a delight throughout as Snuff's voice walks a perfect line between wry and satirical. The book can be uproariously funny at times, particularly when Zelazny lampshades horror tropes: 'The master's blade flashed, the woman screamed and there was a rending of garments...Why his list of materials required the edge of a green cloak worn by a red-haired lady on this date at midnight and removed while still on her person, I am uncertain. Magical rotas sometimes strike me as instructions for lunatic scavenger hunts.'1. As the novel goes on, however, and the situation becomes more critical, Snuff's relaxed, deadpan narration means that we understand immediately how dire things are without Zelazny needing to force a sudden, dramatic change in tone: we take it seriously because our wry, understated narrator is taking it seriously. 

As well as the obvious homage to the horror genre, there are more nuanced overtones of the spy and detective story, as Snuff carefully manoeuvres his way through the Game, swapping information and forging temporary alliances while trying to solve the central mystery – where the ceremony will need to take place. An even subtler nod comes in his relationship with Graymalk, which has all the frisson and wit of Bogart and Bacall at their finest, albeit in a rather more understated, English manner. Zelazny also uses their growing respect and understanding as a stand-in for the one that develops between Jack and Crazy Jill, and therefore he only needs to allude to several shared carriage rides and meals, and, with Snuff and Graymalk's repartee in mind, we already have a full picture of their relationship. 

All rights Gahan Wilson

The interactions between the animals is also heightened by the fact that when the legends do appear, Zelazny writes them as just that: legends. Indeed, the way that I refer to them in my summary is how they are referred to throughout: the names 'Frankenstein', 'Dracula' or 'Sherlock Holmes' are never mentioned. Zelazny is uninterested in delving into their psyches or presenting a new interpretation; they are there to be excellently written archetypes. When Snuff first encounters Holmes, he remarks 'As a watchdog, I could appreciate the mode of total attentiveness he assumed. It was not a normal human attitude. It was as if his entire being was concentrated in the moment, sensitive to every scrap of intelligence our encounter furnished'2, which is such a unique way of exactly representing Holmes' abilities. Likewise, Dracula, who appears most infrequently of all, carries with him more than the required menace, as Zelazny makes it clear that even Snuff is intimidated by the Count, though he prefers to use the word 'impressed'3. Indeed, the only established figure who receives much characterisation is Larry Talbot, whom Zelazny develops from the ever-helpless victim of his lycanthropic curse into a more capable figure and worthwhile ally to Snuff. 

All rights Gahan Wilson

Zelazny's writing is more restrained here, allowing his dryness and wit to come to the fore, though the pared-down style does not limit the ingenuity at work. Snuff's backstory is alluded to in a single sentence, 'I like being a watchdog better than what I was before he summoned me and gave me this job'4, and an entire article at Tor.com has been rightly devoted to the economy and wit of that sentence.

There are also illustrations by Gahan Wilson, which are odd to say the least, but do contribute to the overall eccentricity of the book. Plus he draws an excellent Lon Chaney Jr.: 

All rights Gahan Wilson

Though it may have less substance than some of Zelazny's other work, this light-hearted homage to a far more modern pantheon is also much more fun to read. The structure helps; thirty-one chapters, plus a prologue, one for each day of October, slowly building from brief, two-to-three page chapters, through the artful politics and drawing of battle lines to the fateful confrontation. I am aware that some fans will try to re-read the book every October, only reading the relevant chapter each day, and I applaud their restraint, as once I begin, I find it is such a glorious read that it's very difficult to stop.


Criminally, this wonderful book is out of print, so if you want a copy, Amazon's your best bet!


1 Zelazny, Roger. A Night in the Lonesome October, Orbit, 1994. pp. 31
2 pp. 46
3 pp. 145
4 pp. 2