Ligotti Panel at StokerCon

[Nicole Cushing]

A week from today (Saturday, April 29) at 2:00 p.m., there will be a panel at StokerCon titled "Thomas Ligotti and the Nightmare of Living".

S.T. Joshi, Ted Grau, and I will be discussing Tom's work aboard the Queen Mary. (A former luxury liner permanently docked in Long Beach, CA.) The panel will be in the Regent Room. Would love to see some TLO folks there.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Insentient Traveler]

Any chance of a live stream or later posted recording (video or sound) for those who have not succumbed to the Call of Cthulu(California)?

BTW: Nicole, I really enjoyed Mirrors. It read with a familiar while still wholly original voice.

[matt cardin]

That sounds wonderful. Wish I could be there. I hope you'll give us a report afterward, Nicole (and you, too, Ted, if you're listening).

[Spiral]

I hope there's going to be a recording, because this sounds really good

[T.E. Grau]

There was some confusion, initially, if the panel was going to be held on Friday or Saturday.

As it's now settled into the Saturday schedule, I'm confirmed as a panelist, and very much looking forward to it. Should be fun.

As I can never say no to Matt Cardin, I will for sure provide a recap for the good folks at TLO.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Mr. Veech]

Quote Originally Posted by T.E. Grau

There was some confusion, initially, if the panel was going to be held on Friday or Saturday. As it's now settled into the Saturday schedule, I'm confirmed as a panelist, and very much looking forward to it. Should be fun. As I can never say no to Matt Cardin, I will for sure provide a recap for the good folks at TLO.

I wish I could go. It would have been nice to have met you in person.

[Mr. Veech]

Hopefully, the event will spark interest in both Ligotti and the idea of "philosophical horror." I enjoy all things horror (well, not all things horror), but Ligotti as well as other practitioners of weird fiction represent the very summit of the genre itself.

[T.E. Grau]

Should there be a sudden downturn in Ligotti interest in the greater Los Angeles area beginning on April 29th, I have only myself to blame.

[Nicole Cushing]

I'm obviously biased, but I think it's fair to say the panel was a huge success. I'm not sure I can provide an in-depth summary (as I'm still recovering from yesterday's lengthy trip home). However, here are some of the highlights.

1. A packed room.

Despite the fact that George R.R. Martin was signing books at the same time, we had a large audience for our panel. It was gratifying to see.

2. A mixed audience.

Based on some of the questions and comments from the audience, it seems that we had a mix of folks who were already acquainted with Ligotti's work and those who were unfamiliar, but curious.

3. I remembered to plug TLO.

Toward the end of the panel I remembered to mention this web community. Hopefully some audience members will be joining.

4. Discussion that hit a healthy balance between "Ligotti 101" and more in-depth topics. To pull that off in the space of an hour is remarkable, indeed.

5. A good mix of panelists. John Palisano did a superb job of moderating the panel. And my fellow-panelists S.T. Joshi and Ted Grau contributed their own unique perspectives on Ligotti's work. I think this was good: we weren't all just saying the same things. There was enough variation of opinion to keep things interesting, but enough of an underlying similarity of opinion to keep things focused.

6. I had met S.T. several times previous to this convention, but this was the first time I've met Ted Grau. After the panel, John Palisano took this photo of us and we had a chance to chat for about an hour afterwards, as we were scheduled to sign books at the same time. Always good to meet folks in the weird fic community who you haven't met before.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[dr. locrian]

That sounds dreamy, Nicole. Thanks so much for the recap. I deeply wish I had been able to attend!