The Attraction of Nihilism for Non-Nihilists in Ligotti’s Fiction

[Arthur Staaz]

This is directed mostly to the non-nihilists and non-antinatalists among us. Lately I’ve been wondering about the attraction of nihilism in Ligotti’s stories. I am not a nihilist or an antinatalist. Yet, I connect with and even luxuriate in the darkness and emptiness in his stories. Some might call the attraction masochistic. But somehow I find a kind of mysticism in it, a connection with a different realm, even if it is empty and hopeless. Maybe even because it is empty and hopeless. Also, I find that most supernatural horror fiction leaves me rather cold, mostly because the power of the supernatural in our day-to-day lives has been diminished in the last couple of centuries. Ligotti gives me a supernatural realm that feels more relevant, even in the absence of ghosts, zombies, werewolves, vampires, and other positively existing entities. Ligotti’s stories give us a negative apophatic supernaturalism that seems more relevant to modern life. What do you think? Does Ligotti’s nihilism have an attraction for you, even though you do not agree with his philosophy? If so, what’s the source of the fascination?

[Knygathin]

If life in the body is but an illusion and a dream, then I guess dodging mundane worldly responsibilities (career, family, wife, children, house, car) can be attractive. Turning inwards instead, reflecting upon the cosmos, looking to break through the illusion to find greater truth.

[Knygathin]

The basis for stable, bonding, traditional family formations has also been socio-economic-politically dissolved, obstructed, or made more difficult, through inhuman labor industrialization over the decades. Making escape from the worldly increasingly desireable.

[cannibal cop]

Speaking as one with a strongly antinatalistic outlook, I take exception to the suggestion that antinatalism and nihilism are in some way inextricably linked. I have little sympathy for nihilism in any form and don't consider Ligotti's fiction particularly nihilistic. Pessimistic, perhaps, but not to a significantly greater degree than most of my other favorite horror stories.

And to my way of thinking pessimism and nihilism have as little in common as optimism and nihilism do. Or optimism and pessimism, for that matter.

[Knygathin]

Isn't nihilism, with the added element of debauchery, equal to Satanism?

[ZC_HAWK]

Although Ligottis work naturally has it's allure towards nihilism and nihilists, frankly I've always found his work too knowingly funny, there's a sparkle to the humor of his work that true nihilism would balk at if not outright reject.

No, I find Ligottis is more in line with the absurdist pessimism of Beckett, or indeed Walser (whom I have recently started reading), though that latter was certainly much more gleeful in his embracing of the ludicrous paradox that is consciousness.

[Mr. D.]

In my opinion there are three reasons that I enjoy and respect Ligotti..The first reason is that he uses words to cast his spell over us better than almost any short fiction writer who ever lived. Secondly, Ligotti shows us the nightmare world that even the most conventionally minded among us suspect and worry about. I've lived both realities and can appreciate his insight into that side of our existence. Thirdly, I have always been struck by Ligotti's savage, aggressive sense of humor. This was, and maybe still is, one very angry man. Life being what it is one seeks revenge, and he got hi revenge in his stories.
Basically, I am not over impressed by whatever genre, philosophical leanings or particular library niche in which a writer may fall. I think of Ligotti as a Master Writer who stands with other Masters such as, say, Katherine Mansfield or Paul Bowles. That;s why I like him,