TLO Member Interview: njhorror

TLO Member Interview: njhorror
Conducted by Phillip Stecco


1) How did you first encounter the work of Thomas Ligotti?

It was probably in one of those "Year's Best Horror" anthologies and from there I purchased The Nightmare Factory, because with a name like that how could I resist?


2) What are some of your favorite works by Mr. Ligotti?

"The Frolic", "Vasterian", "The Last Feast of Harlequin", "The Sect of the Idiot", "The Bungalow House", "Nethescurial" to name a few.


3) What other writers do you enjoy reading?

Poe, Lovecraft, King, Cormac McCarthy, Paul Finch, Terry Lamsley, and a bunch of others.


4) Do you have any favorite singers or musicians?

I've always been a fan of The Rolling Stones, and lately I've been listening to Howlin' Wolf, R. L. Burnside, some Mardi Gras collections and a whole lot of classical music.


5) Do you have any favorite artists in the visual media?

Not that I could name at this time.


6) What are some of your favorite movies?

The Exorcist is one that comes to mind, but I'm always afraid that someone will ask me this question because I've enjoyed a number of movies for entirely different reasons and can't ever remember their names.


7) Do you watch television?

A little, maybe two hours a day, unless I'm watching movies on cable, and then it can stretch to eight hours on a Saturday or Sunday.


8) What foods do you enjoy eating?

Pizza, Indian food, burgers, but I really enjoy all kinds of food - Mexican, Thai, Greek, Italian, etc.


9) Do you have any odd hobbies or collecting fetishes?

Just those darn books! I never realized how many books I had until I had to pack them. I've got 60 boxes of books packed for when I move and I keep finding the darned things all over. I found 50 or so in my car, 35 at work, 10 in my wife's car, another 100+ in my basement.


10) What recreational activities do you enjoy?

I'd love to do more hiking, traveling, or fly fishing, but I don't have much spare time lately.


11) What makes you laugh?

Myself. I'm easy when it comes to laughter. The Simpsons have some magic hold over me. I see myself as Homer Simpson in so many episodes that I often check for cameras in my house.


12) Life?

It's a good life if you don't weaken.


13) Death?

Kinda sucks, but who knows? Maybe there's a heaven with ice cream snow and lollipop trees for everyone who's made it through Life.


14) Work?

I've done a lot of different things and at this moment I work too darn much.


15) Do you have any interesting work anecdotes to relate?

There are a couple that I'd rather not talk about, since it involves drinking to excess, midgets, a toilet plunger, and a llama. OK, there weren't any midgets.


16) What is your earliest childhood memory?

When I was two years old my six year old sister had me test the ice on the pond across from my grandmother's house (where we were living at the time) and I got about ten feet out and plunged head first under the ice. My sister started screaming, and my father came running outside, ran through the pond and plucked me out from underneath the water. I don't remember any of that, but for years I had dreams and daydreams of being underwater and seeing a large muskrat swimming across my field of vision and looking at me.


17) What is your fondest childhood memory?

Probably my mother reading to me as a child.


18) Who has been the most influential person in your life?

Bill W., the man saved my life. I misspent my entire youth after the age of twelve, and then up until my early thirties. Once I came to my senses, I realized that there is a world full of opportunities out there and I'm the only person preventing myself from taking advantage of them.


19) Do you have a special plan for this world?

To stay out of its way until I can move on to pumpkin ice cream snowdrifts and watermelon lollipops!


20) What else should we know about you?

I owe a great deal to my wife who has been able to stand me on a daily basis for the last 18 years.