Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti (1953 - ) is a writer of horror stories.
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2 Reviews 3 Awards 4 Books 5 External links |
Often favorably compared to Edgar Allen Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and H.P. Lovecraft, Ligotti began his publishing career in the early 1980's with a number of short stories published in various American small press magazines.
His unique and affecting tales gathered a small following. Ligotti's relative anonymity and reclusiveness led to speculation about his identity: Was Ligotti a pseudonym used by a promenent literary writer? Were his stories in fact collaborations of multiple authors? In an introduction to his collection The Nightmare Factory, Poppy Z. Brite mentioned these notions, with a rhetorical question: "Are you out there, Thomas Ligotti?"
In recent years, Ligotti has conducted interviews, and disclosed some details of his background: He was raised in Detroit, Michigan and has worked for insurance firms. He descibes his worldview as profoundly nihilistic, and has stated he suffered from anxiety for much of his life: these have both been prominent themes in his work.
Ligotti generally avoids the explicit violence common in some recent horror fiction, preferring to establish an intesely disquieting, nihilistic atmosphere through the use of subtlety and repetition. He has cited Vladimir Nabakov, Bruno Schulz and William S. Burroughs among his favorite writers. H.P. Lovecraft is also an important touchstone for Ligotti: At least one story--"The Sect of the Idiot"--makes explicit reference to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and another was dedicated to Lovecraft.
Ligotti has explored Metafictional notions in several stories: "Notes on the Writing of Horror" and "Professor Nobody's Little Lectures on Supernatural Horror." Both begin as advice for prospective writers of horror fiction, but gradually become uniquely Ligottian excersizes in quietly disturbing fiction.
He has stated he prefers short stories to longer forms, both as a reader and writer, though he has recently written a novella.
Ligotti has collaborated with the music group Current 93.
Overview
Reviews
Critical opinion of Ligotti has generally been favorable. Awards
Ligotti has been awarded several Bram Stoker Awards:Books
External links