Scan barcode
theesotericcamel's review against another edition
4.0
On the heels of "A Season in Carcosa," this is yet another great anthology by Miskatonic River Press. This time, the guest of honour is Thomas Ligotti. The stories contained in this book were largely inspired by Thomas Ligotti's horror fiction and nihilist philosophy, and are generally more successful than the stories collected in "Carcosa." Part of the reason for this might be that Thomas Ligotti is a modern writer, so his ideas and aesthetics are easier to adapt into the current setting. The same cannot be said for Robert Chamber's creation "The King in Yellow." The horrors contained in these stories are also more existential. There are few monsters and creatures lurking in these pages. Instead you will find degenerate little towns, and decrepit buildings, evil corporations, and lots of puppets.
lucasilievskie's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
A bleak and unsettling homage to Ligottian horror and the genre’s namesake progenitor.
I did genuinely enjoy a number of the stories – Furnace, By Invisible Hands, and The Xenambulist in particular were excellent pieces that evoked the classic nihilism and existential dread I’ve come to adore in Ligotti’s prose – but the rest of the stories, quality-wise, ranged from ‘pretty good’ (The Lord Came at Twilight, Basement Angels) to ‘confusing and mediocre’ (Gailestis, The Man Who Escaped This Story).
I also couldn’t help but notice that some of the stories felt out of place thematically (The Human Moth struck me as a classic dark fantasy piece, but not necessarily Ligottian, for example).
Regardless, I’d recommend this collection to any avid reader of weird fiction. There were a number of callbacks and fun little homages to Songs of a Dead Dreamer, Grimscribe, and Teatro Grottesco that I feel would go over the heads of readers not already acquainted with Ligotti.
Rating: Three and a half (potentially hostile) Blue Stars
A bleak and unsettling homage to Ligottian horror and the genre’s namesake progenitor.
I did genuinely enjoy a number of the stories – Furnace, By Invisible Hands, and The Xenambulist in particular were excellent pieces that evoked the classic nihilism and existential dread I’ve come to adore in Ligotti’s prose – but the rest of the stories, quality-wise, ranged from ‘pretty good’ (The Lord Came at Twilight, Basement Angels) to ‘confusing and mediocre’ (Gailestis, The Man Who Escaped This Story).
I also couldn’t help but notice that some of the stories felt out of place thematically (The Human Moth struck me as a classic dark fantasy piece, but not necessarily Ligottian, for example).
Regardless, I’d recommend this collection to any avid reader of weird fiction. There were a number of callbacks and fun little homages to Songs of a Dead Dreamer, Grimscribe, and Teatro Grottesco that I feel would go over the heads of readers not already acquainted with Ligotti.
Rating: Three and a half (potentially hostile) Blue Stars
More...