“Should a deity listen if you can’t even pronounce its name?”

99. A Night in the Lonesome October – Roger Zelazny

Jack the Ripper’s dog, and familiar, Snuff, tells the story of each night in an October with a Blue Moon, when familiar literary characters take sides and decide if they’re going to let H.P. Lovecraft style Old Ones come back through and take over – there’s even a tentacle. It’s mostly told through the familiars of the various players – openers who want to let the Old Ones back in and closers like Jack the Ripper (oddly pleasant here), who’d like the world to stay as it is. This was a very strange story, a little bit like The Monster Squad and The Monster Club in tone, but with no musical performances and we’re supposed to be on the side of some monsters and one very disguised and Sherlock Holmesy detective. It’s kind of sweet how the cat Graymalk and the dog Snuff interact and the worst character is actually the vicar with his crossbow.

 

Snuffy vs. Thorfy, Pig vs. Pig, they both just really want territory and escarole.