As if to signal that we’ve reached critical consensus that the granddaddy of cosmic horror is profoundly problematic, last fall the World Fantasy Awards announced that Lovecraft’s visage would no longer appear on their trophy. The Ballad of Black Tom couldn’t be timelier, for Lovecraft’s influence on pop culture is more powerful than ever, even as criticisms of his racism and xenophobia have swept through literary and fan circles. The Ballad of Black Tom stands on its own as a compelling weird tale of Jazz-age New York City, but its penetrating examination of Lovecraft’s creations and how they reflect racism’s profound influence on our cultural imagination is where it really shines. Lovecraft will recognize these latter two characters-both white-and their plots from Lovecraft’s story “The Horror at Red Hook” among other things LaValle’s novella is a clever retelling of Lovecraft’s story about occult forces at work in an immigrant neighborhood.
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