THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM by Jon Padgett.

[Dr. Locrian]

Anyone still lacking their purchased HC or PB, please PM me.

[MadsPLP]

Merely writing here that it hadn't shown up seemed to be enough to materialise as in an act of magic ... or an act of the mailman, but I prefer the first option.

[Coa]

[Dr. Locrian]

Quote Originally Posted by Coa

Sorry, Steve and Vickie. It's THE Secret (singular) of Ventriloquism.

[Dr. Locrian]

Speaking of which, I uploaded the final draft of the audiobook version for review last night. I narrated it, with a creepy singing assist from editor/author Dagny Paul. I'll let you all know when it's up.

In the meantime, (2nd edition) PB and Kindle versions of the collection are still available:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692799648

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692799648

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Ventriloquism-Jon-Padgett-ebook/dp/B01N0YB19V/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Ventriloquism-Jon-Padgett-ebook/dp/B01N0YB19V/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

[xylokopos]

The Secret That Puts Us Together – A review of Jon Padgett’s The Secret of Ventriloquism.

‘How is he doing this?’, I kept asking myself as I read the stories in Padgett’s stunning debut collection. I have read many short story collections where the individual tales are bound by common themes, characters or ideas – many collections that contain leitmotifs that appear and re-appear in the background with admirable timing or intensity. But The Secret of Ventriloquism is about something else entirely.

Rather than cross-pollination, what occurs here is cross-pollution: a metaphysical soiling of each story by the one preceding it. Padgett’s tales bleed into each other and infect each other. We bear witness to the dismantling and the transmutations of various inhabitants of Dunnstown, a town at the centre of a corrupting and disorienting dream, a plane of unbearable foulness and distress; or perhaps, just an experiment in Greater Ventriloquism. The narrative techniques that Padgett applies, force the reader into an unwanted complicity. We are guided through, we are instructed, we are mesmerized and we are made to attend and listen – the Secret is offered to us, a terrible and poisoned offering, one we would decline, if only we still had any choice and will left. But we have been manipulated and ultimately voided. And the toxic aftereffects of this collection will linger on.

Following Matt Cardin’s wonderful introduction, The Mindfulness of Horror Practice opens up the collection, a mock-guided meditation piece that ends up being an audio guide, setting the framework for promised horrors. Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown introduces another one of Padgett’s toxic notions, that of devastated domesticity and family trauma. The Indoor Swamp appears to be a vaguely Ligottian allegory at first reading, but in the context of the entire collection, acquires a grand aesthetic and instructional significance.

Origami Dreams is where this collection takes off [or maybe burrows deep] for me. We follow a lucid dreamer through a nightmare that is not that lucid and that ultimately might not even be his. The author’s hints at a broader mythology of negation are now hitting the reader with relentless clarity and force. Appropriately then, following this story and occupying the middle ground in the horrible topography of this collection, we find 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism, a literary performance that I predict will be referenced and anthologized with furious regularity in the future. In my humble opinion, it is Padgett’s signature piece, the spine of this collection and the summation of multiple moral, artistic and thematic preoccupations.

The Infusorium is the longest story of the book, a twisted twin (or surrogate mother) to the 20 Steps; it starts filled with narrative conventions that are taken apart with demonic flair as the story progresses, only to lead through successive revelations to an ending of pure horror, as the barriers between book and reader are torn asunder. De te fabula narratur. Yes, indeed, it’s all meant for our shark-doll eyes.

Organ Void, like Origami Dreams, blurs the lines between dreaming and waking life and introduces another unfortunate character who undergoes a terrible disassembling and reassembling.

The Secret of Ventriloquism, a play in one act, retreads the grounds of the Infusorium and retraces the 20 steps, from the point of view of the author of the 20 steps, as he graduates from lesser to greater Ventriloquism.

Padgett chooses to conclude his collection with Escape to Thin Mountain, an obvious homage or sequel or reimagining of one of Ligotti’s smaller and lesser known pieces, Ten Steps to Thin Mountain. Debts need to be acknowledged and repaid, but it is surprising how well this story works within Padgett’s own narrative universe and toxic symbology.

Dave Felton’s art compliments Jon Padgett’s voice wonderfully, the dust jacket design is grotesquely elegant, the binding is solid, the paper feels great – the whole damn thing is too pretty and too horrid.

Apologies if I haven’t been very clear in my review. Maybe there is still too much static in this trifle’s head.

[Mr. Veech]

Something else that occurred to me after finishing the book ...

As a male I think it would be liberating to write a first-person narrative involving a female protagonist. Although illusory, it's a chance to be free of one's own mind and body.

[Dr. Locrian]

Thanks to all of you for the kind, encouraging words and insightful reviews.

I have some amazing, book-related news this morning.

The Secret of Ventriloquism was selected as the Best Fiction Book of 2016 by Rue Morgue Magazine

[Kevin]

Congratulations, Jon. Well deserved!!

[Dr. Locrian]

The Lovecraft eZine's Acep Hale weighs in with one of the most in-depth reviews of my collection to date.

"One of the first lessons any great comedian learns is that the personal is universal and within The Secret of Ventriloquism we are allowed to watch Padgett using his personal obsessions as fuel for his artistic vision. The Secret of Ventriloquism’s courageously naked display coupled with its adroit manipulation of the reader’s expectations makes for a singular reading experience. Padgett’s work enraptured me on both an aesthetic and a philosophical level without my ever being aware of either."

I'm humbled, to say the least!

Please read the rest of the review here.

It's well worth your time.