|
To those looking for literary horror/dark fantasy/fiction that gives you the existential willies: I saw a few of you throughout these five pages, so maybe I can lend a hand. Thomas Ligotti is a genre unto himself, but he usually attracts readers who are looking for something a bit more substantive and lingering than your average King/McCammon/Barker/whoever. In the realm of pulp horror, Ramsey Campbell probably comes closest to an analog, but even that's a stretch. Ligotti is considered an heir to Lovecraft, though he's not as ... nerdy, I guess, and he likewise doesn't overwhelm you with detail. His own cited influences are Poe, Kafka, Nabokov, Borges, Bruno Schulz, E.M. Cioran, and the aforementioned HPL. He writes mainly short stories, though poems, vignettes, and one short novel have turned up over the course of his career. (And his interviews can be just as good as his fiction.) Granted his stuff can be hard to find, but everything is worth tracking down, imo. Anyway, most of his stories are told in the first person, and deal heavily with the flimsy nature of the human psyche -- or perhaps the flimsy nature of reality itself, that can be for you to decide. Usually these protagonists encounter some sort of malevolence, whether being, entity, or force, and the resultant revelation tends to be of the "we're all doomed" variety. A better way to say this is that Ligotti is a supreme nihilist whose pessimism pervades his every printed word, and even though the form is fiction, the message is philosophical. His most "famous" quotation is something like, "It's a damned shame that organic life ever developed on this planet;" his stories reaffirm this belief. (Also he suffers from a massive anxiety disorder, so not only do his stories drip with dread and dis-ease, but fellow sufferers usually find in him a sympathetic voice.) Be forewarned, though: reading Ligotti can be exhausting and depressing over time. He's my favorite writer, yet I can only immerse myself in his world once or twice per year. An excellent resource is Thomas Ligotti Online. Have at it.
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2009 05:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 16:47 |
|
|
Timelord posted:This poster wants the exact kind of books I am looking for, I did not see a response to him. Are there any books/authors of this nature that we would enjoy? I thought I posted a response (in which I didn't quote anyone, oops), but it may not have been what you're looking for.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 13, 2009 08:10
|
|