Noctuary - Thomas Ligotti

[D_Davis]

The Medusa - Thomas Ligotti

As a bookworm, I love books; I love everything about them.

The physical: their smell, their feel, the sound of a new spine being opened for the first time.

The metaphysical: the power they have over the imagination, the way they stir the heart and soul, the ability they possess to draw me to them.

Stories about books are something I cherish. I have often dreamed about discovering a secret book store. One that exists under or behind the facade of another. One that is greater than the one presented to the common man.

The Medusa, the first story in Thomas Ligotti's Noctuary, is such a story, and it is a good one. It is about a professor and philosopher named Lucian Dregler and his quest for the mythical Medusa. His quest leads him to a dungeon of books buried deep within the bowels of the earth. Here he meets a stranger, a silent women who gives him a key granting him passage to yet another hovel of tomes, one which possesses something even more cryptic.

Within the pages of this short story, Ligotti creates a world thick with texture conjuring the likes of Poe and Lovecraft and yet demonstrating his own unique voice. In Dregler, Ligotti fashions a classic hero, one who is driven by obsession, consequences be damned. And, in typical weird fashion, we all know what happens to the hero wrought with obsession: they find what they are looking for.

 

[ravenus]

I can empathize. The Medusa was by chance the first Ligotti story I read as well, part of one of the Stephen Jones edited horror anthologies.

 

[D_Davis]

Why must Ligotti's stuff be so hard to find? It boggles my mind. It's like he and Lansdale are in some kind of terrible competition to see who can write the best short horror fiction while making it almost impossible to find and purchase.

And all the while, the shelves of the bookstores are overflowing with Bentley Little and Robert McCammon books. It's enough to drive me crazy!

 

[j d worthington]

Lansdale isn't that difficult to find around here -- or wasn't, until fairly recently. But Stableford and Ligotti... that's another thing. And yes, he's one of the best writers we've got going; incredibly textured, rich in thought... and disturbing as hell....

 

[D_Davis]

Lansdale isn't that difficult to find around here -- or wasn't, until fairly recently. But Stableford and Ligotti... that's another thing. And yes, he's one of the best writers we've got going; incredibly textured, rich in thought... and disturbing as hell....

About 1/4 of Lansdale's stuff is easily available (mainly the mystery stuff), but the rest of his stuff (the really good stuff) is pretty hard to get, especially if you don't pre-order the hardbacks from his small publishers.

But Ligotti, damn near impossible to find.

 

[D_Davis]

Conversations in a Dead Language - Thomas Ligotti

This story, in a word, is sinister.

Halloween, trick or treat, murder, and revenge from beyond the grave.

Ligotti sets the stage effortlessly, and in only a few paragraphs he drew me into the world of a twisted man. It's hard to tell if its Ligotti's prose, or my own imagination, drawing upon the subconscious fears of a man preying on children, creating the atmosphere of dread and tension; it's most likely a combination of the two.

Skillful horror writers should know how to tap into the common fears of certain things we all possess. Through a careful selection of words, the able-minded horror author should unlock bits and pieces of terror trapped in our own imaginations. Ligotti takes these fragments and mixes them with his own ability to create and conjure, and thus he enraptures the reader in a world that is familiar and frightening, one made even more frightening because it is familiar.

Here, Ligotti reintroduces us to the boogie man we knew, the one we have forgotten about through the passage of time. He tells us again the tales of ghostly revenge, the ones we used to share around the campfire. He brings us back to a time when it was fun to be scared.

 

[D_Davis]

The Prodigy of Dreams - Thomas Ligotti

Things are changing around Arthur Emerson's estate; a strange force is gathering, bringing with it a bizarre evolution. The swans that float upon his pond no longer face each other, and in unison they raise their beaks to the heavens and cry out in an agonizing scream. Arthur's gardener is changed as well; he's more aloof, preoccupied with something. And Arthur's cat! The damned little beast! It attacked its master, and it has been using a subterranean room as a crypt for the dead and mutilated carcasses of its prey.

But what do these changes mean? What dark, shapeless force is congregating in the sky above Arthur's home?

Once again, Ligotti presents to us a character obsessed with books and esoteric knowledge. What is it about bookworms? What is in our blood that makes these characters so sympathetic, their drama so romantic? Arthur Emerson is a writer who has chronicled many of his strange adventures. Arthur possesses the power to go into other worlds, strange worlds that exist in, perhaps, a dreamcountry. But these worlds are more than phantom, more than dream, more than mere shadow.

In this story, Ligotti creates an atmosphere thick with impending doom. Perhaps this is what is like to know that death is on the driveway, making its way to your door, mere minutes away from a knock, coming to collect what all men must give.

 

[j d worthington]

About 1/4 of Lansdale's stuff is easily available (mainly the mystery stuff), but the rest of his stuff (the really good stuff) is pretty hard to get, especially if you don't pre-order the hardbacks from his small publishers.

But Ligotti, damn near impossible to find.

As I said, Lansdale's work was fairly easy to access around here until recently... now that we're relegated to the chain stores, this has changed somewhat. And what we had before then... well, you'd usually see anywhere between one to two shelves of his work alone. One bookstore carried about 2-1/2 shelves' worth in their mystery section, and another two in their sf section. That's not including the used room....

As for Ligotti... yes, I know. I'd love to lay my hands on The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein and Other Gothic Tales, but $540 up is a bit steep for my blood....

I do wish his work were more easily accessible, as he really deserves to be read by more fans of the genre. He's one of the treasures of the field, and his work is worth seeking out... but unless things change, it's not going to be any different for a good while....

 

[D_Davis]

I know Lansdale has a pretty rabid following in the UK. About 1/2 of my Lansdale books are UK printings. All of my Hap and Leonard books, Freezer Burn and Cold in July are. Most of the other stuff is signed HBs from Subterranean Press.


Why is Ligotti's stuff so hard to find?

I mean, come one. We're not talking ancient relics here. He's only been writing since when, the late 1980s? It's just paper and ink. Load up the damn printers and start printing! I really don't understand what the problem is. Every book should now be available for print on demand - it's ridiculous. In this day of instant information, no modern book should ever go OOP.

He does have a few stories available on his website.

 

[D_Davis]

j.d.,

Have you listened to the stuff Ligotti did with Current 93?

This is actually how I discovered his work.

 

[j d worthington]

j.d.,

Have you listened to the stuff Ligotti did with Current 93?

This is actually how I discovered his work.

No; though I'm aware of it, I've never heard it (the links I came across for it didn't work at the time...)

Another possibility may be that Ligotti himself has something in his contracts which allows him to buy back all remaindered books, etc., to prevent them from being sold at a reduced price (or worse yet, stripped), or he may have something similar. While this allows him to sell the books himself, it does mean they're not listed in the general market sources....

 

[nomadman]

I wish Ligotti's stuff were available as ebooks. Even if it makes them more prone to piracy I really don't see he has much to lose, in terms of sales. Most of his books are OOP anyway.

Another writer I wish were more available is Aickman. I've only ever been able to find his work in the Fontana anthologies.

 

[j d worthington]

There was a collection of all his Collected Strange Stories, from Tartarus Press, but it was a rather pricey 2-volume set. And yes, Aickman is someone whose work should definitely be made more available....

 

[nomadman]

Yes, I know specialist stores that sell him, but £50 for a single book is a bit beyond my means.

 

[D_Davis]

More of these niche authors need to take a cue from Doctorow.

There is no reason why any book written in the past 20 years should be OOP or be considered a "collector's item."

Since most of these have been written using word processors, as soon as the costs of marketing and publishing are recouped, it's all just bits of information that should be made available as cheaply and as quickly as possible.

Load the file and some paper, press print. That's really all there is to it. The work has already been done.

As Doctorow has said and proven regarding free e-books:

There are 3 kinds of people:

1. the kind that a free e-book will completely satisfy

2. a slightly larger group that a free e-book will spur on to buy a paper version.

3. a slightly larger group that would have never paid for your book in the first place.

An author's main enemy is not piracy, it's being an unknown.

If authors like Ligotti would make their work available, and for much cheaper, then they could actually sell more books.

 

[j d worthington]

If authors like Ligotti would make their work available, and for much cheaper, then they could actually sell more books.

You're assuming that's their intent. With Ligotti (possibly) and with Aickman (almost certainly), the indications are that such may not be the case....

 

[D_Davis]

You're assuming that's their intent. With Ligotti (possibly) and with Aickman (almost certainly), the indications are that such may not be the case....

If not sell more, then at least their stuff would be read more. I cannot imagine an author who wouldn't want their stuff read more. And if they really don't care about selling, then give it away for free. This why, the secondary markets aren't cleaning up by charging outrageous prices to people who just want to read a good story.


I question the sincerity of any author or artist who declares that they don't care if their stuff is experienced or not.

 

[j d worthington]

If not sell more, then at least their stuff would be read more. I cannot imagine an author who wouldn't want their stuff read more. And if they really don't care about selling, then give it away for free. This why, the secondary markets aren't cleaning up by charging outrageous prices to people who just want to read a good story.


I question the sincerity of any author or artist who declares that they don't care if their stuff is experienced or not.

Question it as you will, they have existed and do exist, albeit they're rare. As I said, I don't know if this applies to Ligotti, but Aickman deliberately wrote obliquely -- it was an aspect of his snobbishness -- and it was more important to him that the people who read his work were of a calibre to understand what he was doing, rather than to have wide exposure. His was self-expression of a very complex and often obscure nature, and he was going for some very subtle effects, things which he knew the majority of people would most likely not quite catch. And, as he didn't have to depend on his writing for money, he didn't have to cater to current tastes.

They do tend to enjoy it when more people do get their work, of course, and can intelligently discuss it; but such writers aren't writing for a mass audience -- they are chiefly writing for themselves, and the audience is often a secondary thing. (Again, I don't know this is the case with Ligotti, though I understand he's left behind the sort of story he used to write, and is focusing more on the sort of thing included in My Work is Not Yet Done, which is even less likely to appeal to a wide audience....)

 

[Fried Egg]

I've just finished reading "Noctuary" as Subterranean Press brought it back into print for a limited run. It's quite expensive but is available cheaply as an e-book for those happy reading in that medium.

I was wondering why Subterranean Press chose to produce such a limited run (300 copies) when shortly after the release date they announced that orders already outstripped supply by two to one. That can hardly have taken them by surprise as I suspect the same thing happened with their earlier reprints of "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" and "Grimscribe". After reading some of the comments above, one has to wonder whether the author himself chose to limit how many copies they could print?

As for the collection itself, it is not my favourite. There were some great stories and his usual satisfying prose style but overall it just didn't quite resonate with me as strongly as his other work that I have read.

 

[Christopher Lee]

For anyone interested, I've found a few people selling Noctuary on Amazon. That's where I just ordered mine from!