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For October, Matt & Adrian are dipping their toes into the world of Horror, reading Victor LaValle's novella The Ballad of Black Tom. The Ballad of Black Tom is a retelling of one of HP Lovecraft's most egregiously racist short stories, "The Horror at Red Hook", from the perspective of a black man living in Harlem who gets wrapped up in NYC's magical underworld. It won or was short listed for a number of top SF, Horror, and Fantasy awards due to its compelling characters, comfortable prose, and ratcheting tension.
In this episode, we discuss our own histories reading HP Lovecraft and other Weird/Horror authors, how our perceptions of racism in these stories changed over time, and get into the history of why Lovecraft in particular became so popular.
Content warnings are due for the book & this episode. The book has some shocking racist police violence in it, and this episode we discuss Lovecraft's racism & xenophobia head-on, including reading some passages from "The Horror at Red Hook".
Resources for this episode are below. Links are available on our webpage (spectology.com) if they don't show up in your podcatcher.
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
- "The Horror at Red Hook" by HP Lovecraft (in the public domain)
- The Weird, a short story collection by Ann & Jeff VandeerMeer
- Searching for Zion by Emily Raboteau (LaValle's wife)
- How to Adapt Lovecraft in the 21st Century video essay by H. Bomberguy
- Pseudopod, a horror fiction podcast
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We'd love to hear from you, either by chatting with us on twitter at @spectologypod, sending us an email at spectologypod@gmail.com, or submitting the episode to r/printSF on reddit. We'll reply, and shout you out in the next podcast when we talk about your comment.
And if you like the episode, subscribe at spectology.com or whever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!
Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.
In Conversation: Our Favorite Aliens in Science Fiction
25.1: The Tea Master & the Detective pre-read w/ Julia Rios: Domestic Cozy Detective Fiction, in Space!
24.2: Wittgenstein's Mistress post-read: In February reading this seemed like a good idea.
Things We Like: Quarantine Edition! What to do, watch, and play while you're stuck inside.
24.1: Wittgenstein's Mistress pre-read: Philosophical Science Fiction & being lonely at the end of the world
23.2: The Ghost Network post-read w/ Ben Roswell: Celebrity, Internet Culture, Architecture, and Secret Utopias
In Conversation: 2019 Recap, Book Stats, & Reader Questions
23.1: The Ghost Network pre-read w/ Ben Roswell: Experimental Narratives, Storytelling Games, and Postmodern Literature
22.2: A Memory Called Empire post-read: Matters of Taste, Culture Shock, and Historical Worldbuilding
In Conversation: How & Why to Vote for the Hugo Awards
22.1: A Memory Called Empire pre-read: Martine's academic work, historical ambassadors, and what it means to be a member of an empire
18.3: Stanley Chan discusses Chinese Science Fiction, the process of translating his novel Waste Tide, and trends in technology.
21.4: Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand w/ Bee: Radical visions of Identity, Class, and Gender
21.3: Ice by Anna Kavan post-read with Charlotte Geater: Experimental & Postmodern Fiction, and Death Meditations
21.2: Childhood's End post-read w/ Seth Heasley: Religion, Psionics, and Big Ideas in Science Fiction
21.1: Classic SF pre-read: On creating cannons, and how to read problematic fiction & authors.
20.2: An Unkindness of Ghosts post-read: Slave States, Trauma, and Theocracy
In Conversation: Fancasting Binti, Black Tom, the Culture, and Ninefox Gambit
20.1: An Unkindness of Ghosts pre-read: Reading with privilege, using genre conventions, and truth in fiction
19.2: Zone One post-read: Depression, Surviving the Apocalypse, and New York City in fiction
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