“Every few decades when the moon is full on the night of
Halloween, the fabric of reality thins and doors may be opened between this
world and the realm of the Great Old Ones. When these conditions are right, men
and women with occult knowledge may gather at a specific ritual site to hold
the doors closed, or to help fling them open. Should the Closers win, then the
world will remain as it is until the next turning... but should the Openers
succeed, then the Great Old Ones will come to Earth, to remake the world in
their own image (enslaving or slaughtering the human race in the process). The
Openers have never yet won. These meetings are often referred to as ‘The Game’
or ‘The Great Game’ by the participants, who try to keep the goings-on secret
from the mundane population.”
The events of A Night In the Lonesome October take place during the English Victorian Era and set primarily in London and is
narrated by Snuff, a dog who is happens to be Jack the Ripper’s companion.
Zelazny (admittedly) is heavily influenced by those writers of the time period,
like H.P. Lovecraft, Mary Shelly, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allen
Poe, and even modern era writer (during Zealanzy’s time) Robert Bloch. Each of
the characters –or “players”- are from pages of gothic fiction of that era,
including the after mentioned Jack the Ripper (only ever referred to as
"Jack"), Dracula ("The Count"), Victor Frankenstein ("The
Good Doctor"), and the Wolf Man (known as "Larry Talbot", the
film character's name). Also we have others, like the Witch ("Crazy
Jill"), a Clergyman (Vicar Roberts), a Druid ("Owen"), a
"Mad Monk" ("Rastov" – apparently modeled after Rasputin),
and a few others, including Sherlock Holmes (“The Great Detective”).
It’s an oddly paced novel, and there is a lot going on
that Zelazny deliberately does not explain, but Snuff was a great
character, a fun narrative device choice. It’s a fun read, creative, dark, and unusual.
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