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Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe

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Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe

By: Thomas Ligotti, Jeff VanderMeer - introduction
Narrated by: Jon Padgett, Linda Jones
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Summary

 Two terrifying classics by “the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction” (The Washington Post)

Thomas Ligotti’s debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti eschews cheap, gory thrills for his own brand of horror, which shocks at the deepest, existential, levels.

Ligotti’s stories take on decaying cities and lurid dreamscapes in a style ranging from rich, ornamental prose to cold, clinical detachment. His raw and experimental work lays bare the unimportance of our world and the sickening madness of the human condition. Like the greatest writers of cosmic horror, Ligotti bends reality until it cracks, opening fissures through which he invites us to gaze on the unsettling darkness of the abyss below.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Genre Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Short Stories Scary Emotionally Gripping Classics
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You have to be in the mood
Long car journey and no distractions
but ligotti isn’t a modern lovecraftian author
he is a deeply empathetic deviant that has created things that the mind refuses to remember when it wakes up from a nightmare. It was something I listened to twice to get over the language barrier which is thick with descriptive sentences and the commitment pays off when you finally realise the ligottian horror he lays before your ears via a very appropriate narrator who has the slightly manic pitch and theatrical delivery that compliments the horror, the horror!!

Concentrate and it will take you to some fearful places

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Jon Pagett and Linda Jones (she only gets one story unfortunately) do great readings in this collection of some of Ligotti's best short stories.

Top Notch

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Enough has been said about this collection (TLDR; if you have the faintest interest in horror fiction, read it). I just want to add that the narration by Jon Padgett is absolutely perfect. It’s obvious he knows the stories by heart. I’ve re-read the collection multiple times, but listening to it through the voice of Padgett still manages to uncover new layers to me of every single story.

The Perfect Narration Of The Perfect Horror Collection

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As a Lovecraft enthusiast I was looking for something more modern with wider influence. Ligotti was suggested and he has not disappointed. The stories are varied and deep. The reading is brilliant. That's my opinion. It won't be the same for all, but I for one love this audiobook.

Exquisite psychological horror

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Ligotti is singular in his vision and he couldn’t be any better read than by Padgett. There’s something particular in Padgett’s intonation that matches so well with the prose. I don’t know American regional accents at all but to these English ears there’s an erudition in his delivery which I guess makes perfect sense as he’s one of Ligotti’s early adopters and champions

And I’ve not even spoken about the content yet, which is of course superb, unsettling, and macabre in equal measure

I hope Padgett is the voice for all Ligotti’s oeuvre

Padgett is perfect for Ligotti

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