A Night in the Lonesome October

This was a fine Halloween fable. It's lighthearted, pretty easy on the horror elements, but it plays out as an homage to classic horror stories, with beings such as Count Dracula and Lovecraftian beings making an appearance.

The focus is not so much on the movie icons as it is on the animal companions who help them in preparing for a bizarre Halloween ritual that may or may not announce the end of the world as we know it. The narrator itself, Snuff, is a gruff, wizened dog, thus giving us a glimpse at the proceedings of the Game from the familiars' perspective.

What makes this novel fun to read, ultimately, is Zelazny's gift for character voice. We get a fast, firm grip on Snuff's character, and it's great just to watch him interact with the other animal companions going around. Snuff's relations with the cat Greymalk and Bubo the rat, in particular, were pretty neat.

Ultimately, A Night in the Lonesome October isn't grand literature. It's a fun tale that fits the Halloween moon, and it's cool to try and figure out all the references that Zelazny threw in. The book is fast-paced, funny and light. A perfect read for a night in the lonesome October, as it were.