A review of J. T. O’Connor and J. Walt Layne’s book The Coming Of T’Loal.
O’Connor and Layne remind us that some of the trickiest bits of Lovecraftian horror aren’t the monsters or the rubber suits or the excess use of liquid latex on set.
One of the hallmarks of Lovecraftian horror is the cosmic aspect, the sense that human beings (and indeed, all of Earth) are simply grains of sand in the whirlwind combats between gods.
One of the other hallmarks of Lovecraftian horror is the sense that there is no recovery. There is no savior. In fact, most of the time, by the time we hear of the thing, it’s already done and the world is already doomed.
O’Connor and Layne hit both of those nails directly on the bobbing gibbering head with their short novel The Coming of T’Loal.
The novel takes the form of personal chronicles of three different people, each exploring what seems to be harmless history at first, but which quickly unravels into the darkest terror. As their chronicles unfold, they are all drawn toward each other, to play their parts in a cosmic climax that saves Earth — for now!
O’Connor and Layne’s book can be found on Amazon.