Recent Reading

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Exactly. That's the author I'm referring to. At the moment, he's only been published by Aurora Dorada (yes, I know it's not the best publisher in terms of editions, but for now we don't have another option), under the title Morbid Tales.
He's a forgotten, or at least extremely marginal, weird fiction writer whom I personally place just one step below Ligotti. In fact, Ligotti praised and recommended his work in several interviews. His prose is exquisite: deeply Romantic and thoroughly Decadent. He reminds me of Oscar Wilde. Most of his protagonists are socially maladjusted men who flee the city, a kind of archetype descended from Lovecraft's Miskatonic scholar, while developing morbid, unhealthy obsessions with supernatural beings such as sirens and the like.
The first time I opened one of his books, I genuinely thought I was reading a nineteenth-century prose poet.

This sounds interesting... thank you, @Ironrose and @Mersennus1951, for recommending Quentin S. Crisp to me. When I buy several books from Aurora Dorada Ediciones in one go, including The Spectral Link, I’ll get that one as well.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

Different person? Quentin S. Crisp. I've read Graves, Shrike and Hamster Dam. Graves was maybe the heaviest. I have a few others, but haven't gotten to them yet.

Have you read Morbid Tales? What do you think of his prose? I'm fascinated by it.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

This sounds interesting... thank you, @Ironrose and @Mersennus1951, for recommending Quentin S. Crisp to me. When I buy several books from Aurora Dorada Ediciones in one go, including The Spectral Link, I’ll get that one as well.

Ah, now that I think of it, I believe there is actually a Spanish edition of one of Crisp's stories. It isn't from his best collection, Morbid Tales, though. The story appears in an anthology alongside works by two other authors: Mark Samuels, who was his closest friend, and Reggie Oliver. It's called Sui Generis. I'm not sure whether it's still available.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

All set, I just bought My Work Is Not Yet Done. It should arrive next week.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

All set, I just bought My Work Is Not Yet Done. It should arrive next week.

Congratulations. In the end, you chose one of the best options. The main novel included in the volume is divided into two parts. The first serves as an introduction with an almost workplace comedy feel. In the second, Ligotti unleashes all of his usual darkness.

 

[Ironrose]

Have you read Morbid Tales? What do you think of his prose? I'm fascinated by it.

I haven't. I had to go do some searching to see if I even own it (I do). I remember being just fine with his prose, but that not being the thing that really got me. I was more taken by the events in his books. They go places I didn't expect, places that are weird. In a similar way I experience with Broodcomb Press (no Spanish translations yet, alas...) I also thought his plots passed the suspension of disbelief test. My bullshit meter is sensitive.

 

[cannibal cop]

I've also been considering giving Mark Samuels a try. May he rest in peace. A local publisher recently released an anthology that, according to them, contains the last pieces of writing he completed before his passing.

I would say give it a shot, or at least set it aside as a future purchase. You might become a fan, who knows? I haven’t read those stories yet, but that’s certainly the best-looking volume of theirs I’ve seen so far. I don’t consider Teatro Grottesco representative of Ligotti’s best work, although it contains some good stories. It can wait.

 

[Athammaus]

My personal recommendation is forget Mark Samuels. I think he is overrated. He mostly writes pastiche, and badly. If you want to read something other than Ligotti, you could do a lot worse than Caitlin Kiernan. Drowning Girl is very good, as is Agents of Dreamland. Or most all of her short fiction. Not sure what all is available in Spanish (I'm thinking you tend to read in Spanish? - please excuse if I'm mistaken), but I wouldn't necessarily recommend her early novels. I think she was trying to write mainstream novels, and that really is not her thing. The later ones are all good. S. T. Joshi has much good to say about Kiernan, as does the guy at Taskerland:

REVIEW: Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Kiernan is a horror writer who denies that they write horror. They don’t just deny that they write horror… they angrily deny it and then decide to accept horror-themed literary awards and allow the…

tasker.land

La joven ahogada

India Morgan Phelps –Imp para los amigos– es esquizofré…

www.goodreads.com

Agentes de Dreamland (Tinfoil Dossier, #1)

En una calurosa mañana un agente especial del gobierno …

www.goodreads.com

Regarding Mark Samuels, I quite disagree. Although I do not own all of his books, most of what I've read by him I've enjoyed. Pastiche? Hardly. There's good reason why he's held in high esteem by many here, including other authors and publishers at many noteworthy small presses.

 

[Ironrose]

Regarding Mark Samuels, I quite disagree. Although I do not own all of his books, most of what I've read by him I've enjoyed. Pastiche? Hardly. There's good reason why he's held in high esteem by many here, including other authors and publishers at many noteworthy small presses.

I have a full set of those Zagava reprints which I unwisely committed to before I realized... Maybe they'll be worth money someday?

Yeah, I really do think his writing is clumsy, both in prose and storytelling, and full of tropes. (Others here may regard him as they wish.) This came through to me in the first book I read, The White Hands. But I thought maybe he got better with time. Then I read Witch Cult Abbey and found that full of tropes. Then, finally, I read The Man Who Collected Machen, and that pretty much established my opinion. He writes stories that have the right flavor, but that's all there is there. I think he was the first writer of this new Literary Horror/Weird fiction practiced by this new wave that I was severely disappointed by. I was, at least, consoled by a couple Goodreads reviews that pretty much nail it. I couldn't say it better.

And then...I read this little gem as the preface to one of his books, in which he reveals himself as a crank:

"I completed the first draft almost exactly six yeas ago. Somewhat to my surprise, I now discover that one of its themes - namely, the reality of the radical Left having launched a non-democratic "culture war" - has actually entered mainstream thinking and can no longer simply be dismissed as the ravings of some far-Right conspirator. During the first part of 2016, however, when this novel was first written, airing this view was generally regarded as being a tasteless assault on "good manners", an outrage to "basic decency", and clear evidence of reactionary sympathies. My, how times have changed in only six years! However, it is still only as a satire on certain aspects of modernity, as an expression of religious faith, and on its own aesthetic merits, that I hope A Pilgrim stranger will ultimately be judged." Mark Samuels, April 2022

Short version: I knew I was right all the time! Plus, this is satire!! You can tell by how I've gone out of my way to print this in my book.

Besides the fact that he does too much question begging, this dude protests too much. After reading that, I don't really care what he has to say.

PS. I just finished Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlin R. Kiernan. She can write.

PPS. Yes, this is just my opinion. And what do I know? I'm just a mailman.

 

[Athammaus]

I have a full set of those Zagava reprints which I unwisely committed to before I realized... Maybe they'll be worth money someday?

Should you want to get rid of a few of them, PM me, if you would.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I skimmed through part of the thread since this whole “beef” over Mark Samuels started. I can only say that I haven’t read him, but I believe that, out of respect for his legacy and for who he is, we cannot simply call him a Ligotti pastiche writer. Mark Samuels is recognized in the Spanish-speaking literary world for his own work; even if he inherited certain elements from Ligotti, I think his writing is far greater than to be reduced to that.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Based on my reading of My Work Is Not Yet Done, the novella, I wanted to share a more detailed reflection here.

I empathized with the protagonist—not in an incel way, but at least at the beginning. I feel that people like him, who live with obsessive-compulsive disorder—a condition I have myself and am not ashamed to talk about—often face the same kind of stigma and workplace issues that he does.

Then again, who hasn't experienced problems at work? Personally, what bothers me are certain workplace "codes" or unspoken customs that I've never fully understood. I simply focus on doing my job. Rumors, office politics, and everything that happens at work that isn't actually related to the work itself don't interest me. But, as we all know, not everyone feels that way.

To wrap up, I liked comparing it to Fight Club, except that here the ambiguity revolves around a supernatural element, which I interpreted as nothing more than the protagonist's episodes of depersonalization. And the pig metaphors are used exceptionally well...

 

[Grave Acolyte]

Based on my reading of My Work Is Not Yet Done, the novella, I wanted to share a more detailed reflection here.

I empathized with the protagonist—not in an incel way, but at least at the beginning. I feel that people like him, who live with obsessive-compulsive disorder—a condition I have myself and am not ashamed to talk about—often face the same kind of stigma and workplace issues that he does.

Then again, who hasn't experienced problems at work? Personally, what bothers me are certain workplace "codes" or unspoken customs that I've never fully understood. I simply focus on doing my job. Rumors, office politics, and everything that happens at work that isn't actually related to the work itself don't interest me. But, as we all know, not everyone feels that way.

To wrap up, I liked comparing it to Fight Club, except that here the ambiguity revolves around a supernatural element, which I interpreted as nothing more than the protagonist's episodes of depersonalization. And the pig metaphors are used exceptionally well...

Yeah. I identified with Frank and empathized with him a lot too (at least before his descent into hell). The description of fear and corporate oppression in the first chapter, right in those first few pages, is remarkably accurate. You can tell Ligotti lived through all of that. What did you think of the cockroach reflection section? And the one with the human-mannequin raped by the vagrants? Ligotti proves once again his incredible creativity and his pitch-black, sarcastic, cynical humor. The entire novel feels almost like a personal rant against that whole machine that dehumanizes people. I also really liked the final confrontation with Frank and the dialogue they had. I see you blew through the book pretty fast. I finished it the same day too (or rather, the same night). It's also proof that Ligotti can, once again, swap out the traditional casing of pure weird horror for something narratively lighter (like in The Frolic), using it merely as a Trojan horse. Frank Dominio sounds like a guy I'd get along with, if it weren't for the fact that I kept seeing myself in so many parts of the novel.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

Yeah. I identified with Frank and empathized with him a lot too (at least before his descent into hell). The description of fear and corporate oppression in the first chapter, right in those first few pages, is remarkably accurate. You can tell Ligotti lived through all of that. What did you think of the cockroach reflection section? And the one with the human-mannequin raped by the vagrants? Ligotti proves once again his incredible creativity and his pitch-black, sarcastic, cynical humor. The entire novel feels almost like a personal rant against that whole machine that dehumanizes people. I also really liked the final confrontation with Frank and the dialogue they had. I see you blew through the book pretty fast. I finished it the same day too (or rather, the same night). It's also proof that Ligotti can, once again, swap out the traditional casing of pure weird horror for something narratively lighter (like in The Frolic), using it merely as a Trojan horse. Frank Dominio sounds like a guy I'd get along with, if it weren't for the fact that I kept seeing myself in so many parts of the novel.

Ligotti takes the archetype of the 'outsider' figure, the guy who is incapable of taking action due to his own fear and paralyzed by his own consciousness. The entire novel is almost a power fantasy, a personal catharsis. It reminded me a lot of the Underground Man from Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. Fight Club too, yeah, especially the beginning of the movie. Although there's a bit of Taxi Driver in there as well

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I definitely picked up on the Taxi Driver vibe—it fits really well. As a standalone work, I honestly consider it one of Ligotti's best. It was also great to see him venture into corporate horror while fully embracing the sarcasm and dark humor that the genre often carries, Fight Club being a fair comparison.

The only thing I wasn't entirely sold on was the supernatural angle. It felt a bit out of place, at least the way it was handled. I mean, the character was obviously unbalanced, but the use of the epithets... I don't know. That said, whenever he reflects on the Darkness, it really works.

If you asked me what my favorite Thomas Ligotti book is, and they sold that story as a standalone volume, I'd probably say that one—or, more accurately, my favorite Ligotti novella (assuming he hasn't written any others).

As for the collection, no, I haven't finished it yet. I just read the opening novella. Now I still have I Have a Special Plan for This World, one more story, and then Crampton's script. I'll save those for tonight. I read pretty fast—it's a habit I've developed over the years.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

On the other hand, yes, I empathized with Frank—except when he turns into a Ligottian Travis Bickle.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

On the other hand, yes, I empathized with Frank—except when he turns into a Ligottian Travis Bickle.

Haha, yeah, a Travis loaded on Lovecraftian mushrooms.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I still like how the supernatural angle retains that ambiguity tied to the depersonalization of characters like Frank, something so quintessentially Ligottian. Ambiguity is something I really appreciate. In Lovecraft's stories (and only his, because I don't think this applies to other Mythos writers), there's always that lingering question: Did all of this really happen, or is it simply madness?

 

[Grave Acolyte]

I definitely picked up on the Taxi Driver vibe—it fits really well. As a standalone work, I honestly consider it one of Ligotti's best. It was also great to see him venture into corporate horror while fully embracing the sarcasm and dark humor that the genre often carries, Fight Club being a fair comparison.

The only thing I wasn't entirely sold on was the supernatural angle. It felt a bit out of place, at least the way it was handled. I mean, the character was obviously unbalanced, but the use of the epithets... I don't know. That said, whenever he reflects on the Darkness, it really works.

If you asked me what my favorite Thomas Ligotti book is, and they sold that story as a standalone volume, I'd probably say that one—or, more accurately, my favorite Ligotti novella (assuming he hasn't written any others).

As for the collection, no, I haven't finished it yet. I just read the opening novella. Now I still have I Have a Special Plan for This World, one more story, and then Crampton's script. I'll save those for tonight. I read pretty fast—it's a habit I've developed over the years.

I would say the same, and I felt almost identically to what you said regarding the supernatural element. It felt a bit forced, but it was fun to follow and very engaging just to see what Frank's next punishment would be. In that sense, it also has a bit of Seven, maybe? It’s a mix of influences. As a work, it would be perfectly adaptable into a one-season series. None of the other stories in the volume are on par with the first one. They didn't really convince me. And the one titled "The Nightmare Network" seemed pretty unreadable, to be honest. I mean, I get what Ligotti was trying to do: an experimental narrative collage, very much in the vein of William Burroughs and his cut-up technique, but it strays into pretentiousness at times. Right now, after this book, the best thing you could do is read Teatro Grottesco. On an individual story level, I think few of Ligotti's reach the plot of My Work Is Not Yet Done, but as a full collection and context, Teatro is without a doubt his most complete and highest quality work.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I would say the same, and I felt almost identically to what you said regarding the supernatural element. It felt a bit forced, but it was fun to follow and very engaging just to see what Frank's next punishment would be. In that sense, it also has a bit of Seven, maybe? It’s a mix of influences. As a work, it would be perfectly adaptable into a one-season series. None of the other stories in the volume are on par with the first one. They didn't really convince me. And the one titled "The Nightmare Network" seemed pretty unreadable, to be honest. I mean, I get what Ligotti was trying to do: an experimental narrative collage, very much in the vein of William Burroughs and his cut-up technique, but it strays into pretentiousness at times. Right now, after this book, the best thing you could do is read Teatro Grottesco. On an individual story level, I think few of Ligotti's reach the plot of My Work Is Not Yet Done, but as a full collection and context, Teatro is without a doubt his most complete and highest quality work.

If you stripped away the supernatural elements—which also felt somewhat forced to me, especially once it starts leaning into those Lovecraftian epithets—it still would have been a very good work of corporate horror by Thomas Ligotti. I don't think they were necessary; the other elements already provide a solid foundation on their own.