From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

A Night in the Lonesome October

Roger Zelazny,

Gahan Wilson (Illustrator)

Start date: October 1, 2018

Finish date: October 24, 2018

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Jim

Why we're reading this: Group classic novel discussion October 2018
[close] Group classic novel discussion October 2018

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What Members Thought

Dec 19, 2007 Jim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, horror, fantasy, 2fiction, 1paper

An entertaining, interesting story on the face, the understory is even better. Zelazny's sheer number of allusions and amount of sources truly make it a lunatic scavenger hunt that lead to research in some very dark & dusty corners of history, film, myth, & writing.

2019: Read with SciFi and Fantasy Book Club, invited by Anna.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

2017: Read with ? group?

2012: Re-reading yet again with the Beyond Reality group.
By Day: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Cove ...more

51 likes · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2009 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, horror, favorites, 1paper, 2fiction

Oct2017: Reading yet again with Fantasy Book Club. Many thanks to Helen for inviting me to read along. It is in memory of Brenda who recently lost a battle to cancer & this was one of her favorite books. Mine too, obviously. Definitely a Halloween tradition. I must watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" tonight. The one with Tim Curry, of course.

It was a great read with a great bunch of people. I added some to my notes & we relabeled the characters on the front cover due to a great insight by Ann ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it really liked it

Shelves: wizard-warlock-sorcerer, library-checkout, witch-sorcereress-healer, humor, 2013-200s-club-challenge, humorous-fantasy, animal-centered-fiction, animal-character-steals-the-show, famous-literary-historical-characte, old-school-horror

Goodness gracious, I am super late writing this review. My schedule just exploded after the middle of October, and I had no time. Because it's been nearly a month, I don't have the best memory of all the plotlines. But I promised I would write a review for every book I read, so better late than never, and my review will be of the more general sort.

I was fortunate to find this at my library and it fit very well thematically into my October Scare Fest reading. I enjoyed it overall. It's an odd lit Goodness gracious, I am super late writing this review. My schedule just exploded after the middle of October, and I had no time. Because it's been nearly a month, I don't have the best memory of all the plotlines. But I promised I would write a review for every book I read, so better late than never, and my review will be of the more general sort.

I was fortunate to find this at my library and it fit very well thematically into my October Scare Fest reading. I enjoyed it overall. It's an odd little book, no question about it. I would consider it a bit of a pastiche to the famous literary figures of Dracula, Frankenstein and his monster, Sherlock Holmes, Merlin-type druids, and the Wolfman. I rather enjoyed that about this book. What I loved the most is that the narrators are the familiars, or animal companions of the human (or humanlike characters). They all strike up a strange sort of friendship driven by mutual interest and that old adage that drives too many middle grade friendships, especially among girls: better to be friends with someone than to have them as an enemy.

The story's chapters are broken down into each one representing a day in October. They are getting ready for some very important magical event that will have seemingly profound consequences. It sort of reminded me of the Highlander movie where the various characters are pairing off against each other, but this was more of a semi-good versus evil sort of standoff. Just my take. Forgive me if I am way off here. I didn't quite understand all of that, but I don't think it was as important as the unfolding paranormal mystery as various human (or humanlike) characters start to be picked off, one by one. The main character is a dog, who is the familiar of a male wizard. He's an endearing narrator. I liked how he plays dumb dog when necessary, but he's not the average canine (I truly feel some dogs are incredibly intelligent, so don't assume I'm picking on dogs here). I liked his wry and atypical friendship with a cat, who is the familiar of a witch. Along with the fact that their humans are striking up a courtship that may not end well if they end up choosing opposite sides. There is also a bat, rat, snake, and owl character. I'm sorry I don't remember all their names. I do remember the snake's name was Quicklime, so go figure. Strangely enough, the humanlike character who was most developed was Larry Talbot. Classic horror movie buffs will recognize that name as that of the Wolf Man. He did have the tragic vibe of the character in the movie, but he was quite likable.

This book isn't that deep. I mean it's a short book and probably has some hidden meaning, and I think a very prominent satirical tone that some readers will pick up on immediately. It's not super scary, it's a bit. Enough to make for a nice Halloween read.

I'd say this one is worth tracking down if you can find it at your library. Unfortunately, it's out of print.

A good read for this time of year. And fun for animal lovers like myself. ...more

22 likes · Like · see review

Nov 30, 2020 Scott Firestone rated it liked it

So, I only found out about this book a couple of years ago. I figured it would be a fun book to read in October. Of course, lots of people had that same idea last year. And this year. I finally got a copy from the library in November but figured I wouldn't wait another year.

It's told from the viewpoint of Snuff, a super-smart dog, who might not be a dog after all. It's never quite clear but you get the feeling there's a History here. And I'm not sure if it's a knowable history, and I just don't ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2019 Bee rated it really liked it

That was unexpectedly fun and wholesome, despite the famously ghoulish cast

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2021 Tani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, male-author, horror, 2021-novels, sff-2021

4.5 stars. Thoroughly enjoyable, and the ending was fantastic!

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2023 Georgann rated it liked it

Shelves: horror

Snuff was a terrific narrator and I quite liked him. It was interesting to see who the other characters might be, and the tale was certainly unusual.

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2018 Carro rated it really liked it

Relatively short for a novel. I did have the feeling that I was missing some of the nuances from not having read enough classic horror - but I picked up on Jack the Ripper, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein and general witchcraft.
I loved the voice of Snuff the dog and his narration. I was really impressed how well the story was told and amused by some of the dog characterisation touches - especially when he is in a dreamworld and sees dustbins made of gorgeous things like onyx.
What this mos ...more

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