HP Lovecraft had an undeniable talent for crafting intricate mythologies and building atmospheric tension in his stories.

However, he often fell short in areas like writing dialogue, creating engaging characters, and overcoming his own prejudices, notably his racism.

As a horror enthusiast, I acknowledge Lovecraft’s significant influence on the genre. Yet, his overt racism is hard to ignore, especially as it frequently surfaces in his narratives. One of his most infamous works, The Horror at Red Hook, features Detective Thomas Malone as he uncovers a dark cult in a Brooklyn neighborhood fraught with Lovecraft’s racial biases.

The Ballad of Black Tom reimagines this tale from the viewpoint of Charles “Tommy” Tester, a Black man from Harlem who inadvertently becomes entangled in a battle involving power and law enforcement. Author Victor LaValle transforms Lovecraft’s xenophobic original into a poignant critique of police violence, racism, and the toll of systemic oppression. It’s a narrative Lovecraft himself might have despised.

Tommy is portrayed as a resourceful hustler, navigating the world as a courier or fixer. He possesses a certain understanding of magic and mystical artifacts, though the story doesn’t burden readers with heavy exposition or detailed origins of his knowledge. Instead, it immerses us in a reality where these elements are simply part of life.

In a longer novel, this lack of explanation might be frustrating. However, at just 149 pages, The Ballad of Black Tom stays focused on its core narrative, prioritizing storytelling over elaborate magical frameworks.

Tommy embarks on a new hustle that leads him to Flatbush, where he hopes to make a few dollars busking, despite not being a particularly good musician. He is spotted by an elderly man named Robert Suydam, who hires him to play a party at his home. This exchange is witnessed by Officer Malone and a private detective, Mr. Howard, who shake Tommy down and attempt to scare him away from returning to Flatbush. Of course, the promise of $300 in the 1920s is too hard to pass up, and Tommy returns, allowing the rest of the story to unfold.

Warning: Spoilers for The Ballad of Black Tom ahead.

Interspersed between the conjuring of cosmic horrors at Suydam’s home, the assault on the cult compound in Redhook, and the police harassment, we get a handful of scenes with Tommy and his father, fleshing out characters in a way that Lovecraft never did. Tommy has an actual arc, motivations, and personality. When the climax of the book arrives, we’re fully invested in Tommy (who now goes by Black Tom).

Getting attached to Black Tom is important because, well, he’s not the hero. In fact, there are no heroes in this story, really. There are villains, there are victims, but it’s hard to call anyone a hero. Black Tom lashes out at the white men who seek to exploit him and oppress him. It’s cathartic and satisfying as a reader, but his vengeance is also indiscriminate, and it’s implied it will lead to the end of all mankind.

Tommy Tester is a broken man at the end of the story. One who is so tired of the indignities of being a black man in a white man’s world that he would prefer the destructive indifference of the great old ones like Cthulu to the destructive indifference of systemic racism.

The Ballad of Black Tom is not a subtle book, but it’s also a quick and enjoyable read that takes the iconic Lovecraft mythos and gives it real heart. The Horror at Red Hook is not a particularly good story. It has almost no plot, its story arc is a straight line, and the characters have less depth than a sheet of looseleaf. The Ballad of Black Tom salvages what makes Lovecraft compelling, at least in theory (despite his awfulness as a person), and gives us something worth reading in the 21st century.

The Ballad of Black Tom is available on most e-book stores, but I highly recommend you go and buy a physical copy at your neighborhood independent bookshop or support your local library.