Songs of a Dead Dreamer

by Thomas Ligotti (Carroll and Graf)
by Tim Emswiler

If you think that horror begins with King and ends with Koontz… The cover blurb of Songs of a Dead Dreamer states, “Put this volume on the shelf between H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, where it belongs,” and this is certainly more accurate than most cover blurbs. But any attempt at facile categorization of Ligotti’s work is doomed to failure. Sure, it’s horror, but not of the “evil child” or “an ancient evil has awakened in the sleepy town of Wherever” stripe. No serial killers, no rehashes of traditional monsters, no cursed Indian burial grounds. What we have here are 20 nightmarish short stories, written with a mastery of the English language unequalled by anything in the “Horror” section of your local bookstore.

This is not quick reading, and just as well; Ligotti’s style should be savored, not devoured like literary fast-food. And I suggest reading one story at a time; they need to sink in, which they will do. Relentlessly. These stories will not make you jump in shock, or churn your stomach with gore. They will make you feel a bit uneasy, a bit unsure of the reality of the things around you, and they will make you think twice next time you see a mask, or a puppet, or a darkened window in an empty building.
It is impossible to synopsize these stories- they owe as much to Eastern European surrealists as they do to the cosmic terror of Lovecraft or the psychological terror of Poe. If you thought nightmares could not be effectively confined to print, Songs will prove you wrong.

Songs is not Ligotti’s newest book. Two others, Grimscribe (1991) and Noctuary (1994), exist only in hardcover, so buy Songs first.

And if you don’t, then don’t complain later when all you can find in the bookstore is hackwork from the latest Stephen King-wannabe.