| "The Ballad of Black Tom" | |
|---|---|
| by Victor LaValle | |
 First edition | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror, Historical fantasy |
| Publisher | Tor.com |
| Publication date | February 16, 2016 |
The Ballad of Black Tom is a 2016 fantasy-horror novella by Victor LaValle, revisiting H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Horror at Red Hook" from the viewpoint of a black man.
In 1924 Harlem, Tommy Tester is a small-time hustler whose regular guise as a street musician brings him in contact with reclusive millionaire Robert Suydam, who wants him to participate in a nefarious scheme involving the Great Old Ones. Among the tools that Tester uses to thwart the scheme is the Supreme Alphabet of the Five-Percent Nation.
"The Ballad of Black Tom" won the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award for best novella, [1] and was a finalist for the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction, [2] the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2016, [3] the 2017 British Fantasy Award for best novella, [4] the 2017 Theodore Sturgeon Award, [5] the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novella, [6] and the 2017 World Fantasy Award—Long Fiction. [7]
Slate called it "riveting", "clever", and "compelling", and noted LaValle's comparison of "cosmic indifference" to targeted racist malice and brutality. [8] Vice described it as "tightly written, beautifully creepy, and politically resonant", and emphasized that despite its nature as a literary "rebuttal", it is still "a thrilling Lovecraftian tale of mystery, monsters, and madness". [9]
Nina Allan commended LaValle for "making (...) 'The Horror at Red Hook' (into) an actual story (...) featuring real characters with real motivations – a claim that can not safely be made for the original tale", but observed that — when compared to the vivid "lunacy" of Lovecraft's writing — LaValle's prose is "grounded and sound in both mind and body" and ultimately "pedestrian". [10] Conversely, the Philadelphia Inquirer preferred LaValle's "sharp and direct sentences" to Lovecraft's "spongy prose". [11]
In 2017, AMC announced that it was planning a TV adaptation of The Ballad of Black Tom, with LaValle as co-executive producer. [12]
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