Waiting for my copy of Noctuary to arrive + some requests?

[eldritch00]

In a couple of days, I'll be receiving the copy of Noctuary that I ordered. While I have read the stories in it that appeared in The Nightmare Factory, this will be my first exposure to the section entitled Notebooks of the Night. I am, needless to say, quivering with excitement. Aside from that, I'm also looking forward to the foreword "In the Night, in the Dark." Is this the one that contained that bit about the guy waking up in the dark looking for his spectacles?

Anyway,I started thinking about that introduction to Grimscribe which I've never read, since it was excluded from TNF. Would it be possible to post that here? From what I heard, it's rather essential for a fuller appreciation of the stories in Grimscribe.

And while I'm at it, I have a copy of "Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story" from David Hartwell (ed.)'s Visions of Fear but have never read "Professor Nobody's Little Lectures on Supernatural Horror," aside from quoted excerpts here and there. A Google search revealed that the latter was never reprinted anywhere else.

Now I'm a big Ligotti fan, but I'm not entirely sure I can afford to buy Songs of a Dead Dreamer just for that, so is it possible for that to be placed here at the site as well? Maybe as the next piece after "Nethescurial" and "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel"? I know people want the more rare pieces, but...well...please? :oops:

[The Silent One]

They are great vignettes. "New Faces in the City" is excellent.

[adam]

Ask and ye shall receive.
The Introduction to Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti (Dr.B, if posting this was inappropiate please remove this part)

HIS NAME IS...
Will it ever come to me? There is a grand lapse of memory that may be the only thing to save us from ultimate horror. Perhaps they know the truth who preach the passing of one life into another, vowing that between a certain death and a certain birth there is an interval in which an old name is forgotten before a new one is learned. And to remember the name of a former life is to begin the backward slide into that great blackness in which all names have their source, becoming incarnate in a succession of bodies like numberless verses of an infinite scripture.
To find that you have had so many names is to lose the claim to any one of them. To gain the memory of so many lives is to lose them all.
So he keeps his name secret, his many names. He hides each one from all the others, so that they will not become lost among themselves. Protecting his life from all his lives, from the memory of so many lives, he hides behind the mask of anonymity.
But even if I cannot know his name, I have always known his voice. That is one thing he can never disguise, even if it sounds like many different voices. I know his voice when I hear it speak, because it is always speaking of terrible secrets. It speaks of the most grotesque mysteries and encounters, sometimes with despair, sometimes with delight, and sometimes with a voice not possible to define. What crime or curse has kept him turning upon this same wheel of terror, spinning out his tales which always tell of the strangeness and horror of things? When will he make an end of his telling?
He has told us so many things, and he will tell us more. Yet he will never tell his name. Not before the very end of his old life, and not after the beginning of each new one. Not until time itself has erased every name and taken away every life.
But until then, everyone needs a name. Everyone must be called something. So what can we say is the name of everyone?
Our name is Grimscribe.
This is our voice.


I bought a copy of Grimscribe just for the introduction since I already had a copy of the Nightmare Factory, but I'm glad I did. It does contribute to a greater appreciation of the stories.

Keep looking for SOADD for "Professor Nobody's..." I found a used copy last year for $5 (of course, I had to drive to San Francisco to get it, but that's another story). There are plenty of copies of the 3 or so reprinted editions if you keep a diligent eye out for them.

And yes, the Noctuary intro is the one with the unfortunate fellow who receives his spectacles. Enjoy the vignettes. They are very atmospheric and entertaining under suitable conditions. Although, I do know people who don't like that style of story (and hence wouldn't like TAROVFAOGT either). Personally, I tend to like the shorter pieces like that.

[eldritch00]

My copy has arrived, folks, and it's driving me insane (in a good way). I'm going to do another post about this as my anal-retentiveness has kicked in big-time. In the meantime, thanks for the comments.

The Silent One, I'm looking forward to reading all the vignettes of course, but anything with "city" in the title is right up my alley (pun unintended).

And adam, thank you so much for that introduction. If only I could find a copy of the other books here (which will free up my Nightmare Factory as a lending copy...but only to my girlfriend!). I could order them secondhand, I guess, but the shipping will kill me.

But then, it's Ligotti. Oh man. Anyway, thanks for the responses, folks!