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Study 014 - A Night in the Lonesome October - Part 2 (Patreon)

Published:
2022-10-13 16:51:29
Imported:
2026-06
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AROOO!!! It's Part Two of A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny!

Special thanks to our reader: Jason Rainbird!

Next week: Part 3 - The Lonesoming!

Comments

Matthew Alderman

Side note: the reading the vicar is doing is a parody of a portion of the Cantice of Canticles, Chapter 2.

David Halstead

A friend and I got into watching "So Bad They're Good" movies a while back and one of them was a 1976 movie titled Embryo. In it, Rock Hudson is a scientist who rapidly grows a fetus into an adult woman and falls in love with her, but she's turns into a homicidal maniac. It's bonkers. It'd make any episode of Manimal look like The Godfather by comparison. At one point, in the movie, a dog with enhanced intelligence hides a body to protect its master. My friend and I loved that part, glad to see the idea got used in a better story.

Richard Horsman

The sense I got was that the game is something cyclical, and that players die and return in each round. Like it’s always some version of this configuration, with some or all of these archetypes. A bit like Mad Monster Party, where a plausible time period when all these characters could co-exist is less important than the sparks when they all get together. Also, I’m not convinced the closers are “the good guys” (even relatively speaking) but I’ll hold that thought until the end. Speaking of the end, I thought it was a fun dynamic that you were in different places in the book. Hearing Chad speculate and Chris try to hold back on spoiling anything added something. But it’s a hard book to go slow on. Even when the chapters get longer it really hits that “just one more” spot.

Eldritch Golem (JPM)

Really enjoying your coverage of this novel so far. I wanted to make two comments in reference to your discussion last episode about Zelazny's use of Jack the Ripper as a character. The first thing is that I'm pretty sure that Zelazny's Jack is based on the one from Robert Bloch's short story “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” published in the July 1943 issue of Weird Tales. In that story Jack the Ripper is also an immortal sorcerer who must periodically kill in order to maintain his occult powers. I am almost certain Bloch originated this idea. The second comment I wanted to make is that - in following the arguments made by historian Donald Rumbelow, in his book Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook (1975 and still in print today), and to a lesser extent in Judith Flanders' The Invention of Murder (2011) - it is important to remember that "Jack the Ripper" is a name originating in a letter (the "Dear Boss" letter) now widely regarded as a hoax but at the time seized on by the late Victorian era media for its sensational nature. While the five women whose names Chris rightfully read out at the top of the episode were all the victims of someone the evidence that they were all the victims of the same singularly elusive serial killer is actually pretty scanty. In fact at the time (1888) the police initially thought there were as many as eleven victims of "Jack" and it has only recently been paired down to five, with Rumbelow making a compelling case it should actually be four or less. All this to say that I think writers like Bloch and Zelazny are entirely within their rights to use Jack the Ripper as a fictional character because that's exactly what he is and always was.

Ben Gilbert

The closers may be on the good side but they are not necessarily good guys.

Drix

I gotta say I'm really happy discovering this novel for the first time and hearing you guys discuss Zelazny too. He was one of the first fantasy authors I read post Tolkien, and to this day my answer to the "which fantasy/sci-fi world would you live in" question is his. Provided I get to be a Prince of Amber/Chaos of course. Reality shifting, near immorality or pseudo godhood, magic, crazy sci fi tech, regeneration, super strength and durability. Kind of a total package in my opinion. Really enjoying this novel its a lot of fun to read and super easy to get lost in.

James Kundart

Thanks for addressing the Gypsy/Roma issue! I feel honored to have my comment shared. There’s a documentary about the Romany people in America that may be of interest. The explanation of the title “Searching for the 4th Nail” at the beginning of the trailer is worth hearing: https://youtu.be/-ETvxV9jw4k

Jeppe Mulich

I like this book so much, I hope people are reading along with you guys. Your reaction to the count's demise was very funny. I tend to think that the focus on the familiars, rather than the more monstrous players of the game, is one of the great conceits of the book. It gives it a bit of that TNG "Lower Decks" feel, highlighting how much of the actual work is carried out by the animal companions.

Jason of the K

Digging this story quite a bit. I can't help but visualize this as one of those kids talking animal movies like the "Snow/Treasure/Spooky Buddies" series, if you just downplay some of the violence. I also got the impression Snuff wasn't actually a dog, but something else just in dog form. Anyone else get that read?

Jack Saul

On Holmes’ disguises being unconvincing- there is a comic “Holmes” by Omaha Perez, one of whose central conceits is that Watson is an unreliable narrator, that Holmes and Watson are inveterate drunks and drug addicts and that as a consequence Holmes’ “brilliant” disguised only look that way to Watson because he is out of his skull….it’s actually just a boney high guy in a dress and badly badly applied makeup.

Christine M

I'm so happy you're covering this, and it's a delight to hear you discover the Lovecraftian references! I've read this for years and only recently discovered I'd been pronouncing Tekela incorrectly. An audio version with Zelazny reading was discovered not too long ago, and it turns out he pronounces it exactly like Tequila! It's a great listen, if you can find it (I think it's only available on CD). You can hear a sample (and unfortunately see the cover art for the CD case) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR2bVd3OOX8

Joshua Weiss

I loved the chapter in the graveyard. The image of all the weirdo cultists tossing body parts back and forth filled me with delight, and the illustration just made the scene all the more ludicrous.

Darth Pseudonym

My understanding of the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller issue is that it's just really complicated because in some places (notably the UK, I think) Gypsy is considered the correct and standard collective name for the people, while in other areas (Eastern Europe), it's absolutely a slur as bad as the N-word in the United States. To further complicate it, some groups don't like being called Roma because that technically refers to a specific ethic group, while others use it regardless of actual ethnicity. And Traveller is no more useful because depending on who you ask, that term may include modern or "New Age" Travellers, who adopted the lifestyle but don't actually have any ethnic or cultural connection to the historical Roma/etc groups. At least for now, it seems like there's no agreed-upon general term, and any one you use is probably going to offend somebody. Roma is probably the safest if you want to talk about the ethnic group, I guess.

Jack Saul

Does anyone else remember when White Wolf Games released a book call “gypsy” in the same vein as their vampire, werewolf, mage lines?….it was… not good.

Jeremy Impson

So hey, does this mean Dr. Watson is an animal familiar?

Jim Cannon

Don't count out the Count just yet.

Jim Cannon

Delightful to listen to you guys discover this book and how much fun it is. Chris seemed on the fence last week, but all in this week, and I think thats what this book does. Starts off with a slow burn and goofy premise and then grabs hold of you and does not let go.

It's a Ghost.

I was really curious who Linda Enderby was, so when it was revealed that she was actually the Great Detective in disguise I very much laughed out loud.

Michele Stuart

Haven't listened yet because I wanted to read the book first. What a delight. Reminded me of why there was a period in my life when I read every Zelazny book I could get my hands on. I'm still not convinced I've correctly identified Jack though, so I'll be interested to hear what Chris and Chad think.

Michele Stuart

And another thing. I want to say that, as much as I love Zelazny, I would not have been able to appreciate this story the way I did without your podcast. I think I had read Dracula, for the 1st time, before finding you guys. But I had never read Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde, nothing by Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, Algernon Blackwood, or Ashton Clark Smith, had never heard of Charlotte Perkins or M.R. James. And funny thing is, way back in my youth, I was an English Literature major. Thank you, guys. I'm so glad you didn't stop after the Lovecraft stories were exhausted. You unlocked a corner of literature for me that had been completely missed both in my collegiate guided tour and in my own later exploration.

PD Rothenberger

Let us not rule out that the ‘The Count’ might be ‘Count Nut-Puncher’ which would posit the notion of a, or possibly an The Warriors-themed gang, of ‘Nut-Punchers’ in play… all capable of seeing through Holmes’ >Linda Enderby< disguise no doubt…

Ratchbox

This is a great story.. thanks for yet another great literary introduction! I love the blend of the Lovecraft mythos with the goofy comic elements that shouldn't work at all.. but somehow they do! I'm really enjoying your coverage so far.. can't wait to hear the next 2 episodes!