Despite its high Goodreads rating, this was not my favourite Richard Laymon novel. Unlike more typical Laymon novels, which are known for relatively large amounts of gore and sexual violence, Night in the Lonesome October is quite restrained in terms of sexual violence, and physical violence is never described in detail. Thus, outside of a dangerous encounter rather early on in the book, most of the horror is purely psychological and stems from the writer's unfamiliarity with the town at night. This does sometimes get interesting, but it's often hard to shake off the impression that the protagonist is only this afraid because he's doing something wrong.

Laymon novels are no stranger to unlikeable, perverted male protagonists, and this one is no exception. In this relatively slow-paced novel, much of the writing is spent describing the protagonist's actions in the dark, which are usually illegal: having sex in public, breaking and entering houses, stalking strangers, and at one point even theft. It doesn't help that he is two-timing the two main female characters, either. What's most disgusting is that he seemingly blames his immorality on his previous partner's infidelity. And in spite of all these, the female characters in the story still succeed in falling in love with him. (The last genre I listed in the title was no joke; it really fits the story.) This is what made the ending so jarring.

Of the other main characters, my favourite character is tied between the comic relief character and the second main female character. The comic relief character actually had the most fleshed out backstory which explains his behaviour (believe it or not). Every single line from this guy is r/iamverysmart material, but in a very entertaining way. (His role in the climax was pretty predictable, though.) The second main female character has a bunch of interesting personality quirks that make her actions and dialogues quite fun to read, and I wish we could know more about her (though being shrouded in mystery may be an important aspect of her character too). We never get to understand the first female character very well; the most salient point about her personality is her moodiness, which unfortunately has only led to forced drama between the main characters and doesn't play much of a role in the story (in fact, it only made the ending feel even more out of place). We don't spend a lot of time with the final female character, and her existence did not seem very important in the story; she could have been replaced by Casey easily. The antagonist is, expectedly, a horrible human being that makes the protagonist look good by comparison, but again, we never learn enough about him to understand his motivations.

The plot is very simple and straightforward, without many twists or turns. Before the climax, in fact, it felt that there wasn't much of a plot at all; the story felt, first and foremost, like a description or painting of the town at night, with recurring motifs like the 'bike hag', the trolls and the antagonist (whom we don't even find out is the main antagonist until late in the book). (I was actually expecting the trolls to be an important part of the story, and in fact I'd probably have liked the story more if they had played a more prominent role.)

This could be an excellent book for those who prefer atmospheric horror to suspense, character development or blood and guts. For me, however, while the book certainly had it moments, I would not count it among my favourites.