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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This is a short story collection that contains a devious narrative through-line. Maybe it'll be immediately obvious to you, maybe it won't be until you've realized you're wondering if you might be able to follow some of the 20 SIMPLE STEPS TO VENTRILOQUISM yourself. THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM is the Land of Oz if it were Centralia, PA, governed by Hunter S Thompson in a William S Burroughs fever dream. Everything is just a little too absurd to be real, but just recognizable enough to be acceptable. A horror that has flayed your mind so delicately you don't...mind. The imagery is evocative without being overbearing or stealing too much from your imagination. What can sometimes feel like the author has lost his way is actually a perfect study on how the average human mind just WORKS. Meandering thoughts lead to realizations lead to the ephemeral non-starter of action. Like the never ending ride of THE INDOOR SWAMP, Jon conveys thoughts and themes that are inescapable—life and death, anxiety and certainty, pollution and the illusion of cleanliness—and takes what should be unsettling and makes you want to go there. I want nothing to do with the particulate smog of the INFUSORIUM, but dammit do I want to see it, experience it, wave my hand through it slowly, and dig up blackened bones just to see for myself. Jon gives us that chance here. Dig through the loamy filth that is a nightmare, and if you don't find scattered remnants of what you didn't even know you feared, you'll certainly find an appendage or two willing to dig right back into you, and plant their seeds of convalescent madness.
pretty fabulous! an uncanny delight. i had to put the book down from time to time, and could only read it with other people in the house. it lost a bit of steam in the last stories for me, but only because the others were so captivating. definitely deserves a reread!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book maybe was fine for someone else, though not for me. I didn’t find any of it scary or disturbing and occasionally found myself wanting to laugh at times the author clearly meant me to be horrified. Generally, the horror here just felt kind of immature to me. I was waiting for it to be over pretty much the whole time I was listening to it. I did like that all the stories were connected, though I felt like some of those threads were pretty tenuous and would have liked to have seen more done with with the interconnectedness theme overall.
"Ligotti for Dummies" might sound offensive, but that's normal in greater ventriloquism.
A mere trifle, if you're down with organ void.
A mere trifle, if you're down with organ void.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was complaining recently about how I hate horror that focuses on dolls, puppets, or clowns, but I think this book changed my mind a little. It helps that the actual ventriloquist doll wasn't the scary part, but the "animal-dummies" (humans) were instead. Makes me want to actually read Ligotti.
Such a great collection of stories and I am excited to read more from Jon Padgett in the future.
The Indoor Swamp really got under my skin and affected me in ways very few stories have. Same with Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown; I constantly find myself thinking of these stories.
Origami Dreams actually gave me a nightmare which never happens to me.
Overall, these are all standout stories that have a way of burrowing deep within you and not letting go.
The Indoor Swamp really got under my skin and affected me in ways very few stories have. Same with Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown; I constantly find myself thinking of these stories.
Origami Dreams actually gave me a nightmare which never happens to me.
Overall, these are all standout stories that have a way of burrowing deep within you and not letting go.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“We Greater Ventriloquists are catatonics, emptied of illusions of selfhood and identity... We are active as nature moves us to be: perfect receivers and transmitters of nothing with nothing to stifle the voice of our perfect suffering.”
The Mindfulness of Horror Practice
What a way to start a collection of horrifying secrets to ventriloquism than with a therapy breathing session sprinkled in with a bit of existential dread. Short and sweet, I think this is like a great trailer that gives the tone of a film rather than a story outline.
Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown
Jesus Christ. That was so well written and so spine tingling that I immediately knew that I was in for an incredible ride. This is one of those stories that makes you unable to eat food or want to lay in bed at night because of how real and grounded in reality the story is and could be. This was a very intimate story that could have easily been reality rather than fiction, and it’s that fine line that amplifies the horror to a level that even the scariest demon could never begin to reach because of the simple fact that the horrific actions of a human will always be scarier than the hauntings of a fictional spirit.
The Indoor Swamp
I had to re-read this one after Origami Dreams, so my initial reaction is lost on my now. But in my re-read, I have to say that this was a dark short that perfectly sets up Origami Dreams while standing on its own as a horrifying little tale of a simple indoor ride in a city. Short, simple, pretty detailed and hauntingly believable, this is a memorable addition and prologue to what’s to come.
Origami Dreams
Jesus. Holy. Christ. Second only to The Auctioneer by Joan Samson, this is my favorite work of literature I have consumed. I don’t even know where to start other than by prefacing that this is my shit, this is my buttered bread, my bee’s knees. This was tailor made for me and I devoured every letter of this segment. Reality collapsing stories, especially one that is very much grounded in reality with the exception of a couple things here and there, or what unnerve me and keep me up at night. This one felt very similar to that one story online about the guy who was in a coma and dreamed an entire lifetime and started staring at a lamp for like three years and then woke up from his coma. Especially with one that features such a normal family and such a normal downfall of a character, that being obsession. Every single scene flows so well from one to the other, but also has that very much dream feel of a David Lynch film that is indescribable unless you’ve witnessed it for yourself. This was pure horror on a molecular level that I know will stick with me until the day I die, just asThe Auctioneer will. Without question this segment alone is a 5/5.
20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism
“you may think this is all complete nonsense, but a lot of things that people say—even most things—are complete nonsense. This is not the ventriloquist’s concern.”
Fun, mind bending, unhinged, deeply unsettling, and a perfectly realistic piece of text inside a fictional work. It is just brilliant, and while I found Origami Dreams just a bit better, this one was pretty damn close in terms of unsettling me.
The Infusorium
Overall a great continuation and addition to the greater narrative and probably the most lore heavy thus far in the story. I really dug the characters of Raph and Guidry, and the whole Paper Mill, the days revolving around it, and the location itself were all great. I felt this relied a bit too much of standard police and small-town cult clichés, there were many tropes that were subverted, but just as many were played out exactly as you would expect. Nowhere near bad or a miss, but also nowhere near the perfection of Origami Dreams.
Organ Void
Damn that was a weird one. This one crept into the realm of “splattergore” horror with its bodily descriptions and imagery. Pretty gross, pretty fucked up, I thought this was an amazing addition to the world of ventriloquism that has thus far been established. A bit short and a bit isolated in its progression of lore or characters, I thought this was overall pretty good.
The Secret of Ventriloquism
Holy fuck this was incredible. Admittedly, I am a big fan of plays and have read quite a number of them, And this was an absolute delight to read something along the lines of Arthur Miller meets H.P. Lovecraft: A Play in 1 Act. This was so in-depth, gives so much expansiveness to the lore, creeped me out to no end. It was absolutely addicting and fit so well with everything that has been established so far. I am so shocked and how much depth of the character Joe gets throughout the entirety of the collection. His story is absolutely insanity to read and I would love to read this book through at least a dozen times to be able to grasp everything that is offered.
Escape to Thin Mountain
By far the weakest in this collection simply due to the fact that it had nothing to do with the others at all. The other stories had reoccurring locations, symbols, motives, even characters, but this one really stood on its own, and not for the better. I think this one strays too far into the realm of oddity and doesn’t bring itself back into the world of ventriloquism in any sense of the word or the world created thus far. Well I thought it was fine, this one could’ve easily been left out of the collection and it would still work just as well as it does.
Overall, I have a new favorite book that stuck with me from beginning to end and it didn’t stop finding new ways to get under my skin and creep me out. It’s such a simple idea that really takes its time to concern you in a very grounded way through a number of short stories rather than an overarching narrative. I cannot recommend this book enough, if you are a fan of the odd and the macabre, as well as a high ability to suspend disbelief, then do I have the perfect book for you.
The Mindfulness of Horror Practice
What a way to start a collection of horrifying secrets to ventriloquism than with a therapy breathing session sprinkled in with a bit of existential dread. Short and sweet, I think this is like a great trailer that gives the tone of a film rather than a story outline.
Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown
Jesus Christ. That was so well written and so spine tingling that I immediately knew that I was in for an incredible ride. This is one of those stories that makes you unable to eat food or want to lay in bed at night because of how real and grounded in reality the story is and could be. This was a very intimate story that could have easily been reality rather than fiction, and it’s that fine line that amplifies the horror to a level that even the scariest demon could never begin to reach because of the simple fact that the horrific actions of a human will always be scarier than the hauntings of a fictional spirit.
The Indoor Swamp
I had to re-read this one after Origami Dreams, so my initial reaction is lost on my now. But in my re-read, I have to say that this was a dark short that perfectly sets up Origami Dreams while standing on its own as a horrifying little tale of a simple indoor ride in a city. Short, simple, pretty detailed and hauntingly believable, this is a memorable addition and prologue to what’s to come.
Origami Dreams
Jesus. Holy. Christ. Second only to The Auctioneer by Joan Samson, this is my favorite work of literature I have consumed. I don’t even know where to start other than by prefacing that this is my shit, this is my buttered bread, my bee’s knees. This was tailor made for me and I devoured every letter of this segment. Reality collapsing stories, especially one that is very much grounded in reality with the exception of a couple things here and there, or what unnerve me and keep me up at night. This one felt very similar to that one story online about the guy who was in a coma and dreamed an entire lifetime and started staring at a lamp for like three years and then woke up from his coma. Especially with one that features such a normal family and such a normal downfall of a character, that being obsession. Every single scene flows so well from one to the other, but also has that very much dream feel of a David Lynch film that is indescribable unless you’ve witnessed it for yourself. This was pure horror on a molecular level that I know will stick with me until the day I die, just asThe Auctioneer will. Without question this segment alone is a 5/5.
20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism
“you may think this is all complete nonsense, but a lot of things that people say—even most things—are complete nonsense. This is not the ventriloquist’s concern.”
Fun, mind bending, unhinged, deeply unsettling, and a perfectly realistic piece of text inside a fictional work. It is just brilliant, and while I found Origami Dreams just a bit better, this one was pretty damn close in terms of unsettling me.
The Infusorium
Overall a great continuation and addition to the greater narrative and probably the most lore heavy thus far in the story. I really dug the characters of Raph and Guidry, and the whole Paper Mill, the days revolving around it, and the location itself were all great. I felt this relied a bit too much of standard police and small-town cult clichés, there were many tropes that were subverted, but just as many were played out exactly as you would expect. Nowhere near bad or a miss, but also nowhere near the perfection of Origami Dreams.
Organ Void
Damn that was a weird one. This one crept into the realm of “splattergore” horror with its bodily descriptions and imagery. Pretty gross, pretty fucked up, I thought this was an amazing addition to the world of ventriloquism that has thus far been established. A bit short and a bit isolated in its progression of lore or characters, I thought this was overall pretty good.
The Secret of Ventriloquism
Holy fuck this was incredible. Admittedly, I am a big fan of plays and have read quite a number of them, And this was an absolute delight to read something along the lines of Arthur Miller meets H.P. Lovecraft: A Play in 1 Act. This was so in-depth, gives so much expansiveness to the lore, creeped me out to no end. It was absolutely addicting and fit so well with everything that has been established so far. I am so shocked and how much depth of the character Joe gets throughout the entirety of the collection. His story is absolutely insanity to read and I would love to read this book through at least a dozen times to be able to grasp everything that is offered.
Escape to Thin Mountain
By far the weakest in this collection simply due to the fact that it had nothing to do with the others at all. The other stories had reoccurring locations, symbols, motives, even characters, but this one really stood on its own, and not for the better. I think this one strays too far into the realm of oddity and doesn’t bring itself back into the world of ventriloquism in any sense of the word or the world created thus far. Well I thought it was fine, this one could’ve easily been left out of the collection and it would still work just as well as it does.
Overall, I have a new favorite book that stuck with me from beginning to end and it didn’t stop finding new ways to get under my skin and creep me out. It’s such a simple idea that really takes its time to concern you in a very grounded way through a number of short stories rather than an overarching narrative. I cannot recommend this book enough, if you are a fan of the odd and the macabre, as well as a high ability to suspend disbelief, then do I have the perfect book for you.