The Ballad of Black Tom
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd
Published:17th Sep '26
Should be back in stock very soon
THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM is a retelling and reclamation of H.P. Lovecraft's most xenophobic story, THE HORROR AT RED HOOK, from the perspective of a black man. Set in 1920s Harlem, a hustler and musician known as Tommy trades in illicit occult items. When he agrees to deliver a magical tome to a secretive sorceress, he gains the attention of dangerous and incomprehensible beings that are best left slumbering.
The Ballad of Black Tom is an atmospheric historical horror novella which reimagines and reclaims the Lovecraftian Mythos, for fans of Sinners and Lovecraft Country.
‘This ingenious recasting of an H.P. Lovecraft classic is as creepy as it is thought-provoking.’ People
The Sleeping King rests at the bottom of the ocean.
The Sleeping King slumbers on the other side of the door.
The Sleeping King is dead but dreaming.
In New York City, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Charles Thomas Tester is a hustler, trading in occult items.
He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the glamour written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops.
But what Tom doesn't know is that there is something ancient and hungry that sleeps just on the other side of reality. The more magic he touches, the closer he gets to waking it up.
A tempest that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn, and Black Tom is trapped in the eye of the storm. Will he live to see it break?
‘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.’ Slate
‘LaValle's novella of sorcery and skullduggery in Jazz Age New York is a magnificent example of what weird fiction can and should do.’ Laird Barron
🥇 WINNER of Shirley Jackson Award 2016 for Best Novella
🥇 WINNER of British Fantasy Award 2017 for Best Novella
🥇 WINNER of This is Horror Award for Novella of the Year 2016
🥈 FINALIST of Hugo Award 2017 for Best Novella
🥈 FINALIST of Locus Award 2017 for Best Novella
🥈 FINALIST of Bram Stoker Award 2016
🥉 NOMINEE of Nebula Award 2016 for Best Novella
🥉 NOMINEE of World Fantasy Award 2017
This ingenious recasting of an H.P. Lovecraft classic is as creepy as it is thought-provoking. * People *
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. * Slate *
Ingenious... darkly witty... The writing is full of rage and passion: love for the vanished culture of 1920s Harlem and love — conflicted — for crazy Lovecraft. * New York Times *
LaValle's novella of sorcery and skullduggery in Jazz Age New York is a magnificent example of what weird fiction can and should do. * Laird Barron, author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All *
Holds all the horror of the cosmic void that has made the Lovecraft mythos such an enduring cultural artifact, placing it deftly amid the very real terrors of life for a young black man in a racist society. * Metastellar *
LaValle cleverly subverts Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos by imbuing a black man with the power to summon the Old Ones, and creates genuine chills with his evocation of the monstrous Sleeping King. * Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill *
LaValle has taken Lovecraft’s most notorious tale and reframed it for us as an even more horrifying story, exceptionally well-written with the utmost attention to detail... The horrors of the story are both real and imagined for the reader, as we confront racism head-first with some nasty dealings in the arcane arts designed to wake up the sleeping ‘Elder Gods’. * This Is Horror *
ISBN: 9781804999899
Dimensions: 197mm x 126mm x 11mm
Weight: 108g
160 pages