Reader's Guide to The Shadow at the Bottom of the World

I've been nursing this idea in my head, and I guess having more or less a month until the release of The Shadow at the Bottom of the World just set a fire under me to throw this to the rest of you here.

Since TSatBotW is meant to be some kind of primer for readers new to Ligotti, I guess we can reasonably expect more people to show up here as a result (at least we can hope so!).

One thing that might serve to welcome them would be for us Ligotti veterans to prepare some kind of document for those readers who are interested.

I know that we have an ongoing project here of essays for individual stories, but what I was thinking of was something a bit simpler and less time-consuming than that: short blurbs to be read before (and/or after) each story, perhaps?

I wanted to do this myself for every story in the collection and invite others to do the same thing for the entire collection to provide several such documents, but it seems unrealistic given how busy things can get for us. In addition, I haven't read "Purity," so it would look awkward if I left that one blank.

That said, any ideas about how to go through with this? My recommendation would be introductory blurbs to the stories--no spoilers. I don't think it's necessary to have these little write-ups for those reading Ligotti's work for the first time, but I know some readers would welcome something like it. It will also get us working together on something fun anyway. We should also decide on a word count, something to adhere to as a guideline to keep the write-ups looking "standard" and not so much a strict requirement.

Thoughts? Feel free to comment if:

1. You're interested in participating (feel free to specify which story you want to tackle).
2. You have a recommendation for the mechanics: what the word count is, whether the blurbs should be read before or after the story (my vote is for before, but we'll see what you all think).

This would be a fun project for members of TLO to participate in, but I doubt that many new fans would take an interest. I'd assume that they would just sit down and read the stories first. I don't think they'd bother looking for synopses of these stories or even ones they haven't read.

Possibly what new fans are interested in is a bibliography of Ligotti's published works, which TLO has somewhere, I think.

I apologize if this offends you, eldritchoo. It would be fun to put together.

eldritch00 and Dr. Dee,

It does sound fun but I don't think I can write on assignment anymore. School's out, and has been for some time now--but I still have the nightmares to this day. (I had a new variant of the "School Dream" just this morning, but that belongs in "Ligottian Dreams," I believe.)

One of the true joys of being a new TLO member is the exploration of the site. (I've been a member for less than three months, but I've always been one of you.) There are many shafts in this mine that have gone unexplored. Discovering new veins can be pretty cool to the novice. (I know.) We've already blabbed in "Story Forum," "Quotation Forum," and "Voting Booth." And all over the rest of the map. Let's leave some territory for our pioneers on the horizon. Or, as Mr. Ligotti wrote: " 'How about letting the Nightmare Network have some fun?' "

("Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman,)
Phil

eldritch00,

I've slept on this. A very cool idea. New readers of Ligotti would most likely seek out TLO later, though, if ever. Not before, unless they're already (always) one of us, waiting in anticipation. I would be happy to attempt a blurb and/or afterword if I'm given a specific assignment. (You wouldn't want everyone writing about the same story.) I need the nudge, that's all. I have a pen around here somewhere....

i before e except after c,
Phil

Before anything else, it just occurred to me that we sure have so many doctors in the (bungalow) house. Locrian, Bantham, Zirk, and now Thoss.

I confess that I have to agree that

Dr Thoss";p="2836 said:

This would be a fun project for members of TLO to participate in, but I doubt that many new fans would take an interest.

Click to expand...

But at the same time, I guess there may be a handful out there who MIGHT be interested in something like what G.S. Carnivals has referred to as an appetizer for the story: things to look out for, etc. I have a feeling most people wouldn't care, but for the few who do, it might be nice. After all, reading the User's Guide, like writing it, is optional, but we should be able to make it a "good starter" for those who choose to order before the main entree. So no need for apologies, Dr. Thoss, and no, I'm not offended.

(And yeah, maybe I should apologize and just stop pushing that food metaphor before it cracks open!)

G.S. Carnivals recommends, for those interested, two to three paragraphs max, and I imagine these to be rather short paragraphs. I'll try to look for a good example we can use here. G.S. Carnivals has also volunteered to do the one for "The Last Feast of Harlequin." I'm not sure which one to do yet, though I'm willing to wait for volunteers to pick their titles first. I'm willing to do any of those, except for "Purity," which I haven't read.

Again, TOC for the new collection right here at the Clarkesworld site.

I can do Purity...such an awesome story

"Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech", "The Cocoons", and "Vastarien" are right up my alley. Sure .

eldritch00,
I've written a beautiful introduction to my chosen story. But my dog chewed it up. Yeah, my dog, my new dog, that's the ticket, my new dog chewed up my intro. Bad Spot! I left it on the coffee table and Bowser just mangled it while I was at work. I summarily (humanely) punished Fido. All of my really important documents are typed on a 1934 Underwood without carbons. My dog, Spotbowserfido, is an adoptee from an Antarctican expedition that failed. The dog, apparently, only understands Swedish and ruination. Rewriting forthwith.
P.

P.S. Come on, folks! Many of you have read the stories. It's only a little writing and a modicum of thought. Even I see my way through the Blue haze. Let's kick some ass!
P. again

Pardon the delay in my responses, but I'm glad to see there's some interest over here.

G.S. Carnivals has just sent me the one for "The Last Feast of Harlequin," and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Thanks to unknown and The Silent One for volunteering as well!

The Silent One, have you decided which of the three you're doing first? (You may end up doing all of them, if you really can't decide and if no one takes any of those stories.) No rush: I still haven't decided myself.

I'm wavering between several pieces myself...but "The Last Feast of Harlequin" and "Purity" have been taken, folks.

Cheers, and thanks once again. (And apologies--once again--for the delay in my responses. Undergraduate theses and other papers to check and grade are keeping me busy.)

Thomas Ligotti has stated that he destroyed all of his earliest efforts at fiction. All but one, that is. “The Last Feast of Harlequin” was polished over the course of a dozen years. Oh, how it shines. The novelette was eventually published in the April 1990 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

This suspenseful tale concerns one man’s quest for knowledge. It is a compelling look at clown lore, the rituals surrounding a provincial festival, and the terrible secrets held within a very strange small town.

You should take a good look at yourself in a mirror before reading this one.

might I say as a side note that my synopsis was drawn from extremely loose memories *laughs*

and G.S. Carnivals, you...uh...synopted(?) one of my favorite Ligotti stories...I think that'll definitely entice the reader(s)


OOO! Can I do "Teatro Grottesco" too? (do I even need to ask?)

This one's an intro for "Doctor Voke and Mister Veech":

Ligotti has claimed influence from many authors, mainly Poe, Nabakov, and Lovecraft. But this little slice of unique horror has the distinct smell of. . .Beckett. The curious titular duo evoke Waiting for Godot without even suggesting the play. Both pairs are offbeat. Both are nearly entirely enigmatic. And both are almost entirely unaware of that they are but puppets of something far greater than the both of them. However, Beckett's hapless individuals are safe from any truly unpleasant revelations abot said force. That is what makes this story so unusual.

If you are rather observant or are a relatively sharp individual, watch Voke's peculiar treatment of Cheev's name. Notice the oddity of Voke's roofless loft and the odd weather over the Street of Wavering Peaks.

The most poignant difference between this and Beckett's theatrical curiosity is that there is a third party from beginning to end. That is very important. It is also the most unconventional element of this beautiful exaple of Ligotti's Songs of a Dead Dreamer era, and of his fiction on the whole.

And to mention what borders on but never becomes what would be Ligotti's only McGuffin:

Watch the box in the corner.

-J.H. Malerman, a.k.a. The Silent One

I'm one of those new readers who are currently discovering Ligotti via The Shadow At The Bottom Of The World (although I'd read a couple of stories in anthologies before), and I must say that a guide like this would appeal to me a lot. Looking at the write-ups already posted, I'd say that introductions which place each story in the context of Ligotti's overall career, point out key themes and moments, things a first-time reader might overlook and also relate the stories to Ligotti's influences would be just what I'd want, rather than outright story summaries.

It's a good plan, and I think you're off to a good start. I look forward to reading the completed guide!

J.P. a.k.a. criminalenglish? Is that you? :twisted:

Jayaprakash";p="3612 said:

I'm one of those new readers who are currently discovering Ligotti via The Shadow At The Bottom Of The World (although I'd read a couple of stories in anthologies before), and I must say that a guide like this would appeal to me a lot. Looking at the write-ups already posted, I'd say that introductions which place each story in the context of Ligotti's overall career, point out key themes and moments, things a first-time reader might overlook and also relate the stories to Ligotti's influences would be just what I'd want, rather than outright story summaries.

It's a good plan, and I think you're off to a good start. I look forward to reading the completed guide!

Click to expand...

Anyway, this thread...

...is not dead!

But I'm truly sorry to everyone for failing to follow up on this, especially when there was already much interest in this project.

Anyway, I haven't touched any of the stories that some of you mentioned you were interested in writing about, so consider this post a go-signal to anyone (still) interested.

For now (and it's rather unfortunate that my blurb seems too long):



"The Red Tower" served as a fitting bookend to The Nightmare Factory where it was first published. In contrast to the other selections in the Teatro Grottesco section, it was the piece that had the least connection to conventional storytelling, making the awards it was nominated for and which it won a rather strange little phenomenon in the publishing world.

Given its "status" as a document, the discursive style of "The Red Tower" is essayistic, and despite a discussion of the changes that the titular tower undergoes, as well as those which itself causes to happen, there's very little plot development, in the traditional understanding of the term. In addition, while we do have a first-person point-of-view for the piece, it's arguable whether he or she can be properly called a character, having barely a hint (but not a total absence) of a conventional character arc.

In many ways then, "The Red Tower" as it was originally published nicely brings us back to "The Consolations of Horror," the Ligotti essay that opens The Nightmare Factory.

"The Red Tower" very much displays Ligotti's grasp of atmosphere, the way in which dread is built up through the accumulation of subtle details (in this case, with what seems a simple cataloging of The Red Tower's products), and when we are told that "The Red Tower" is a factory, we realize that it may perhaps be the Nightmare Factory itself.

And perhaps one of its products might be this volume called The Nightmare Factory, or at least the stories contained in it, including "The Red Tower." This kind of delirious uncertainty is a Ligotti hallmark, one that's applied here to the textuality of the story itself, and while it's nearly impossible to point to a single story as quintessential Ligotti, "The Red Tower" does have compelling arguments in support of it as such.

In The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, "The Red Tower" is the penultimate story, no longer the final one, with "Purity" following it and closing the collection. But despite the loss of its original context, anyone who reads "The Red Tower" here can still see that it remains a deceptively simple yet dizzyingly nightmarish piece that infects the reader and the other stories in an understated fashion, displaying what Ligotti would call a "vicious intent" symptomatic of "a profound hostility."

eldritch00";p="2857 said:

But at the same time, I guess there may be a handful out there who MIGHT be interested in something like what G.S. Carnivals has referred to as an appetizer for the story: things to look out for, etc.

G.S. Carnivals recommends, for those interested, two to three paragraphs max, and I imagine these to be rather short paragraphs.

G.S. Carnivals has also volunteered to do the one for "The Last Feast of Harlequin."

Click to expand...

I should have mentioned this earlier. The quotes refer to Private Messaging correspondence between eldritch00 and myself. There are no invisible or missing posts. (Unless, of course, one counts the lack of story introductions and afterwords here.)

Anyone need a dog with an accent and an attitude?

G. S. Carnivals";p="4479 said:

Anyone need a dog with an accent and an attitude?

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For some reason, this reminded me of McGruff the Crime Dog...



How are things, Phil? Also, any feedback or contributory blurbs for the other stories?

Hi, Andrew!

I'm mulling over writing an introduction to "The Bungalow House." I can't force it, though. I have to let my subconscious mind do the real work....

Best,
Phil

I can understand precisely what you mean, and for some reason, part of that has to do with "The Bungalow House," which is another great story that I have trouble writing about for some reason. Unless someone decides to take it, I might do one for some of the stories I haven't re-read so much like "The Mystics of Muelenberg" or "The Spectacles in the Drawer."

Or I might take one of the stories that I've read over and over again like "Dr. Locrian's Asylum." Ye gods! I think I might have hit upon a potential topic for the essay contest. I'll have to let it germinate for a couple of hours before I start posting on the other thread...

G. S. Carnivals";p="4483 said:

Hi, Andrew!

I'm mulling over writing an introduction to "The Bungalow House." I can't force it, though. I have to let my subconscious mind do the real work....

Best,
Phil

Click to expand...

One of Thomas Ligotti's dream experiences provided the genesis of "The Bungalow House." The story you are about to read is one of the saddest and most heart-rending ever written by Mr. Ligotti. You will be introduced to "three stark principles" which are integral in understanding Thomas Ligotti's view of existence and the universe.

"The Bungalow House" is a tale of unusual performance art, greed, and obsession. Its first appearance was in The Urbanite #5 in 1995.