The Ballad of Black Tom

A very clever re-imagining* of The Horror at Red Hook, which is arguably Lovecraft's most racist story. Which is a shame, because the plot has some interesting possibilities that would require acknowledgement of the race issues (rich white dude snubs his family to hang out with immigrants and people of color), but allows for arm's length commentary on those issues, rather than whole-hearted endorsement.

And The Ballad of Black Tom mines a lot of that potential. The portion of the novella told from Tommy's point of view is definitely the more powerful. The Malone point of view has its moments, don't get me wrong. Seeing the Irish mystic who thinks he knows about the occult try to cope with unfathomable cosmic horror has its own satisfactions.

You don't need to read the original story to appreciate this one (and I understand if the racism is just too much to deal with), but knowing the Lovecraft will definitely deepen your appreciation of this story.

*The story itself gives some clues about the in-world relationship with Lovecraft's story, but I won't spoil any of that here.