This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 5, 2019.

The Ballad of Black Tom

By Victor LaValle – Tordotcom – February 16, 2016

Review by Robin Marx

This novella is a companion piece to H. P. Lovecraft's “The Horror at Red Hook.” While the original story focused on a New York detective named Malone and his investigation of the rich, aging occultist Robert Suydam, this book introduces a new character named Charles Thomas Tester to the mix. “The Horror at Red Hook” is one of the more racist Lovecraft stories—full of “swarthy” types of various ethnicities up to no good—and Victor LaValle counters this by centering the African American perspective. The result is sort of an inversion of the original tale, elevating racism as one of the multiple horrors in the story and turning the original protagonist into one of the villains.

The writing was generally fine, but the story was a bit sleight. “The Horror at Red Hook” isn't particularly interesting as Lovecraftian source material, so it's a little baffling why it was chosen as a story. The above-average racism is basically the only element recommending it for use in a progressive reaction to Lovecraft. And while Cthulhu doesn't play a role in “The Horror at Red Hook,” he's been shoe-horned in here. His inclusion seems more like fan-service, or something especially blatant to clue in those unfamiliar with Lovecraft's work of the connection. It just seemed a little extraneous to me.

“The Ballad of Black Tom” interweaves interestingly with “The Horror at Red Hook,” providing a more intimate view of events elided in the original story, but it's also lacks subtlety in places. The racist abuse faced by Charles Tester is horrific, but it also felt that the story lacked the page count to handle his descent into villainy in a realistic manner. I see it singled out for praise in other reviews, but the “Every time I was around them, they acted like I was a monster. So I said goddamnit, I’ll be the worst monster you ever saw!” line is so cheesy and on-the-nose.

Overall I liked this story and thought the confrontation of racism in Lovecraft's work was interesting, but I can't help feel there was a missed opportunity. By all means, confront retrograde elements in Lovecraft's work, but “The Horror at Red Hook” is one of the lesser works in the canon. Deconstructions tend to work best when they target a great piece of art, not one that even die-hard Lovecraft fans are lukewarm on.

★★★☆☆

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