This is the second Zelazny novel I’ve read, having only dipped my toe into his Chronicles of Amber with the first book. Zelazny is a science fiction and fantasy forefather of the 1960s through the 1980s, having influenced the likes of Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin. He won 3 Nebula Awards and 6 Hugo Awards, and is most famous for his Chronicles of Amber. In other words, we have him to thank for some of the stories and authors that we as SFF fans love so much. During the entire month of October, in the late 1800s, in a year when the full moon falls on Halloween, strange forces gather in a village outside of London. Various iconic characters ― who will be familiar to fans of Victorian literature and classic horror movies ― create shifting alliances, gather herbs, instruments of power and the odd eyeball and femur, and prepare for a mystery-shrouded event that will take place on Halloween night. The Audible description is really good. It's difficult to write a good description that doesn't give away everything. Zelazny had a great skill in his writing and his use of language, puns, turns of phrase, style, etc are perfect. It feels like it is a dog speaking to you. It's very well done. And having once spent several hours talking to Roger Zelazny and enjoying his delightful sense of humor, I can absolutely attestthat this book is an excellent representative of his power over the English language.

Evil Only Has to Win Once: The gate may or may not close again, but with Nyarlathotep and his pals on this side, it wouldn't matter much. Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Crazy Jill and Graymalk. Gray hints that they're Openers only because they'd both had such horrible lives that they suspect anything else - even a world dominated by the Elder Gods - is bound to be an improvement. Non sono la prima a venire qui oggi. Chi mi ha preceduta ha lasciato delle tracce. Lo sapevi, fedele guardiano?" Seriously, as I said to my buddy readers as soon as I finished reading it, this is EPIC. I couldn't be more satisfied or impressed with the ending. Those last couple of lines left me with a big smile on my face. Me happy. We summarized the book, one day at a time, discussing the characters, their names & more about the book in the Roger Zelazny group in the spoiler topic.We laughed, sat enraptured, and, because this was a very tiny crowd, sitting around him in one of the tiniest meeting rooms in the hotel, we all got to talk with him.

How many times have I read Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October? I literally can’t remember if it’s four or five or six. And it never loses its freshness or excitement. You know. The big fellow the Good Doctor put together from all the parts his assistant dig up for him." Heroic Sacrifice: Larry Talbot wrestles Roberts into the Gateway, but is pulled through himself. Though it's worth noting that, due to his unique condition, Larry is the only one of the players besides possibly the Count who could really survive on the other side, and for that matter might even be able to do some damage. And he's most likely be relieved to end up someplace where it won't be people his moon-mad form is killing. Now, I respect the Great Detective's use of disguises and have no problem with seeing him spend nearly the entire book as a sweet biddy named Linda Enderby. But I really object to the ultimate disguise in which he appears at a climactic moment; Roger, you can only pull someone`s leg so far before it hurts a bit.)Bad People Abuse Animals: Nearly all the Openers are shown being cruel to animals at some point. One attempts to poison Snuff. Another attempts to drown Greymalk in a well. The main villain hunts Needle with a crossbow and tries to get Snuff done in by vivisectionists.