A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER
Roger Zelazny
Illustrations by Gahan Wilson
A review by Ken Cox

Wow.  To think I'd been worrying about Zelanzy of late -- Amber 2 was
disappointing, and his recent Sheckley collaborations (_Bring Me the
Head of Prince Charming_ and _If At Faust You Don't Succeed_) were
mildly amusing but not comparable to, say, _Lord of Light_.  Well, to
be honest, _A Night in the Lonesome October_ isn't comparable to
_Lord of Light_ either, but it's definitely up there with _Roadmarks_
or _Jack of Shadows_ or _This Immortal_.  Zelazny's still got it.

It's a little difficult to comment on the contents, since I don't want
to give too much away (and by the way, _don't_ read the material that
the publisher helpfully put on the inside cover -- it gives away too
much).  Perhaps the best way to start would be with the dedication:

	"To--
		Mary Shelly,
		Edgar Allan Poe,
		Bram Stoker,
		Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
		H. P. Lovecraft,
		Ray Bradbury,
		Robert Bloch,
		Albert Payson Terhune,
		and the makers of a lot of old movies--
	Thanks."

Yes, _A Night in the Lonesome October_ is a horror novel, in a very
low-key way; a pre-Technicolor way, a pre-Stephen-King way, a Halloween
way.  That might be a good characterization -- this is a Halloween
present from Zelazny.

In case you're wondering who Albert Payson Terhune is, he wrote a lot
of juveniles about dogs; an appropriate dedication, since the narrator
of _A Night_ is a dog.  Snuff is a watchdog.  He watches things (and
also Things) for his master Jack.  Jack is engaged in an important work
that often takes him to the foggy alleys of nearby London.  And I have
absolutely no intention of saying anything more and possibly spoiling
the story.

The Gahan Wilson illustrations add an appropriate touch of macabre
humor, although their placement could have been better -- one in
particular is several pages _ahead_ of the corresponding text and
rather spoils a surprise.


%T A Night in the Lonesome October
%A Roger Zelazny
%I Avon Books
%C New York
%D 1993
%G ISBN 0-688-12508-5
%P 280pp
%O hardcover, US$18.00; illustrations by Gahan Wilson

Ken Cox
kcc@cs.wustl.edu