Madness in Literature

[bendk]

I found this in The Book of Lists Horror. It was under the heading: Eight Memorable Quotes From Horror Authors. (I recall reading this before, but it doesn't give its source.)

"Let's say it once and for all: Poe and Lovecraft - not to mention a Bruno Schulz or a Franz Kafka - were what the world at large would consider extremely disturbed individuals. And most people who are that disturbed are not able to create works of fiction. These and other names I could mention are people who are just on the cusp of total psychological derangement. Sometimes they cross over and fall into the province of 'outside aritists.' That's where the future development of horror fiction lies - in the next person who is almost too emotionally and psychologically damaged to live in the world but not too damaged to produce fiction."

- Thomas Ligotti