Favourite Story Collection/Cycle

[The Silent One]

What's your favourite Ligotti cycle? Just wondering.

[unknown]

ooo this is a tough one...at the moment it's teatro grottesco

[yellowish haze]

I voted for "In Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land", however I still have to check out "Teatro Grottesco".

[dr. locrian]

Tough choice. I had to also go with Teatro Grottesco as the strongest cycle to date. A close second would be MWINYD followed by The Nightmare Factory. The reasons I didn't choose the latter, much larger collection are as follows:

1) asthetically, the Teatro stories are stronger and more meaningful on their own than any other collection of stories. There are not one of these stories, imo, that are anything less than superb, and a couple of them ("The Bungalow House" and "Gas Station Carnivals" at least) are still among TL's very best stories.

2) while TNF is by far the largest collection in scope, the publisher made some big mistakes (like leaving out "Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story").

3) TNF is, sadly, only available in paperback format. How can it compete in that department with, for example, MWINYD or IAFTIAFL? I know an English version of the Teatro stories hasn't been published yet, but I think we can be sure in advance of its high quality by the fact that it is to be published by Durtro.

4) According to Douglas Anderson's excellent Ligotti Bibliography, the Teatro Grottesco collection is expected to contain: "Teatro Grottesco"; "Severini"; "Gas Station Carnivals"; "The Bungalow House"; "The Clown Puppet"; "The Red Tower"; "The Shadow, The Darkness"; "Our Temporary Supervisor"; "My Case for Retributive Action;" "Sideshow and Other Stories"; In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land [collective title of the next four stories]: "His Shadow Shall Rise to a Higher House"; "The Bells Will Sound Forever"; "A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing"; "When You Hear Singing, You Will Know It Is Time"; "I Have a Special Plan for This World" [verse]; "This Degenerate Little Town" [verse], "Paradoxes from Hell". That's a hard group to beat.

[The Silent One]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Locrian";p=&quot

4) According to Douglas Anderson's excellent Ligotti Bibliography, the Teatro Grottesco collection is expected to contain: "Teatro Grottesco"; "Severini"; "Gas Station Carnivals"; "The Bungalow House"; "The Clown Puppet"; "The Red Tower"; "The Shadow, The Darkness"; "Our Temporary Supervisor"; "My Case for Retributive Action;" "Sideshow and Other Stories"; In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land [collective title of the next four stories]: "His Shadow Shall Rise to a Higher House"; "The Bells Will Sound Forever"; "A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing"; "When You Hear Singing, You Will Know It Is Time"; "I Have a Special Plan for This World" [verse]; "This Degenerate Little Town" [verse], "Paradoxes from Hell". That's a hard group to beat.

I've been chiding that for almost a week, and no-one notices :wink: .

[ElHI]

Teatro Grottesco is the one for me (The cycle included in The Nightmare Factory, even though the Durtro book promises to be quite something!).
But I Have a Special Plan For This World makes a very close second choice. (An it is to be part of the Durtro book as well!!)

[waffles]

This a tough choice. As one of my dad's best friends said (in a different context). "It is first among equals".

[G. S. Carnivals]

Teatro Grottesco and Other Tales, without a doubt. These stories are the offspring of a fully mature artist. Period.