[Dragaera] Hallowe'en!

[Scott Schultz]

I've always felt that Zelazney is peripherally on topic here, given Steve's 
admiration for Roger Zelazney, so I figured I'd make my annual 
recommendation to check out "A Night In The Lonesome October". I've got to 
figure out where my own copy has got to!

The novel features an assortment of archetypical horror characters engaged 
in a "game" that has some cosmic consequences to the winners and losers. The 
story-behind-the-story is that Zelazney was challenged to write a story that 
featured Jack the Ripper as a sympathetic protagonist and this was the 
result.

Whether that's actually true or not, I couldn't say, but I CAN say 
unequivocally that "A Night in the Lonesome October" is one of my favorite 
Zelazney novels. It's fun, it's engaging, and it's a very different sort of 
story than your "typical" Zelazney. The story is told through the eyes of 
Snuff, Jack's canine companion, and the rest of the animals who accompany 
the people that are playing the Game. The people, in fact, are secondary 
characters. It makes for an interesting multi-layered feel to the narrative 
and a means to depict some of the horror of the people in the Game while 
still remaining one-step removed from it.

If you've never read it, I recommend it highly. If you own it, tonight's a 
good night to pull it out. :-)