And believe it or not, it was hard for me to come up with a list that short- The Nightmare Factory has several classics which reveal Ligotti's dreary view of existence in stunning prose. In a nutshell, it contains the vast majority of the stories in his first three collections, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, Grimscribe and Noctuary, as well as six. 'A fractured mind is often the way into a world not suspected by those of an innocent normality.' Enter the universe of renowned horror master Thomas Ligotti—a universe where clowns take part in a sinister winter festival, a scheming girlfriend makes reality itself come unraveled, a crumbli. The Nightmare Factory (1996). Essentially an omnibus of selections from Ligotti's first three collections, with a concluding section containing new stories. In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land (1997, accompanying CD by Current 93) I Have a Special Plan for This World (2000, accompanying CD by Current 93).
The Nightmare Factory
This collection, bringing together the contents of several of Ligotti's short story collections, is a hefty volume that shows what an incredible body of work Ligotti has built up over the years. He is a master of the short form, writing prose that is uncomfortable and subtle, unfolding events that often appear off the page but whose resonances continue to run all through the collection. The opening tale, The Frolic, throws you straight into the deep end of Ligotti's unique form of terror. At first a seemingly harmless tale with a man talking of his work with a confined psychotic, it finishes with a far more personal and chilling flourish. It progresses with an assorted collection of tales that move in the shadows, sometimes bordering on the surreal, that slowly insinuate themselves into the reader. Sometimes there will be a shocking twist, or a satisfying final dénouement, but always it comes back to that sense of growing unease. The final tale The Red Tower is a surreal masterpiece about a strange manufacturing plant and it closes the collection with a perfect, unnerving chill.
Some of the other highlights in the collection are: Drink to Me Only with Labyrinthine Eyes, a story about a hypnotist and his rather special assistant; The Last Feast of Harlequin, a long story about a man's investigation into a strange festival; Teatro Grottesco, a story about a strange afflication striking down artists. These are merely the tip of the iceburg though, a small part of the multitude of great works in this collection.
Don't let the length put you off, it is a book to be savoured in pieces, to be read when the mood takes you; though more often than not, the act of putting it down after reading a tale is followed by the act of picking it up again.
Contents
- The Frolic
- Les Fleurs
- Alice's Last Adventure
- Dream of a Mannikin
- The Chymist
- Drink to Me Only with Labyrinthine Eyes
- Eye of the Lynx
- The Christmas Eve of Aunt Elise
- The Lost Art of Twilight
- The Troubles of Dr. Thoss
- Masquerade of a Dead Sword
- Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech
- Dr. Locrian's Asylum
- The Sect of the Idiot
- The Greater Festival of Masks
- The Music of the Moon
- The Journal of J.P. Drapeau
- Vastarien
- The Last Feast of Harlequin
- The Spectacles in the Drawer
- Flowers of the Abyss
- Nethescurial
- The Dreaming in Nortown
- The Mystics of Muelenburg
- In the Shadow of Another World
- The Cocoons
- The Night School
- The Glamour
- The Library of Byzantium
- Miss Plarr
- The Shadow at the Bottom of the World
- The Medusa
- Conversations in a Dead Language
- The Prodigy of Dreams
- Mrs Rinaldi's Angel
- The Tsalal
- Mad Night of Atonement
- The Strange Design of Master Rignolo
- The Voice in the Bones
- Teatro Grottesco
- Severini
- Gas Station Carnivals
- The Bungalow House
- The Clown Puppet
- The Red Tower
Bibliographic Information
- UK P/B - Raven 1996, 1-85487-436-5
- US P/B - Carroll & Graf Publishers 1996, 0786703024
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