Noctuary and the Spectral Link

By: Thomas Ligotti

Narrated by: Jon Padgett

Chiroptera Press presents Noctuary & The Spectral Link by the legendary Thomas Ligotti, a consolidated volume of two horror collections, back in print after over a decade.

Noctuary is divided into three sections, following Ligotti’s introduction, “In the Night, in the Dark: A Note on the Appreciation of Weird Fiction.” The first section, Studies in Shadow, begins with “The Medusa,” blurring lines between fiction, metaphor, and reality. “Conversations in a Dead Language” chronicles a mailman’s Halloween nights leading to doom, while “The Prodigy of Dreams” features Arthur Emerson’s answered prayers to an obscure god. “Mrs. Rinaldi’s Angel” involves a child’s nightmares and dubious supernatural assistance.

Discourse on Blackness, the second section, starts with “The Tsalal,” an apocalyptic novelette set in Moxton, introducing Andrew Maness and an ancient power. “Mad Night of Atonement” presents a scientist’s invention channeling the Creator’s power, and “The Strange Design of Master Rignolo” follows a visual artist’s descent into madness. “The Voice in the Bones” evokes a surreal prison.

The third section, Notebook of the Night, features twenty vignettes exploring insidious exploits, esoteric rituals, and hymns to the void.

The Spectral Link, Ligotti’s most recent collection, emerged after his near-death experience. “Metaphysica Morum” channels the rage and despair of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. The volume ends with “The Small People,” a poignant masterpiece exploring the uncanny terror of existence.

Narrated by Jon Padgett, a renowned voice in the world of weird fiction. Padgett, an accomplished author, is celebrated for his haunting narrations, particularly his work on Ligotti’s Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe (Penguin).

©2023 Jonathan Dennison (P)2024 Jon Padgett

Excellent audio book of a classic!

Jon Padgett is the man for Ligotti audio books, I highly recommend picking this up along with the hard copy printed by Chiroptera if you're a fan of Ligotti, and if you're just starting out with Ligotti I do feel like this book would be a good place to start. Essential for any weird fiction or horror fiction afficionado.

The Deeply Weird Midnight Master

Finally! Very happy to see this audiobook. Ligotti is to horror what J.G. Ballard was to psychological science fiction. Narrator Padgett, also a fine weird fictioneer, does a great job bringing his friend's work to creepy life--but with all due respect, I must say that he sounds a bit like the math teacher on South Park. The erudition behind the work and the presentation is never flaunted. Ligotti is something different--with its own black perfection (like the 1979 Alien movie). Get in a horror-psychology mood and fly off into the night with these voices of the Void.

Must-read for horror fans

A horror masterpiece rendered superbly. All you could do to make this better is listen to it in the dark and the quiet.

Meh

When Ligotti is on, he is ON. Draws the reader into weird worlds that we almost don’t want to escape, despite how awful things might be. When he’s off, though, I JUST. DON’T. CARE. Stories drag on for what feel like hours, and I remember nothing. Unfortunately, this one is more misses than hits. The narrator does a great job with what Ligotti has provided him, but there’s an absolute limit to that compliment.

Please buy something else

This is one of only 2 books I’ve owned that I have been completely unable to force myself to finish. No matter how many times I come back to it, the stories are so painfully boring or filled with the most over-the-top “old time-y” wording that I just cannot keep listening.

The worst part is that the ones I don’t find boring could be good stories if the author didn’t use a thesaurus for each individual word of the story. Sometimes a simple sentence like “his reflection stared back at him” is enough, there’s no need to find the longest possible synonyms for every word in a story. I get that the author is inspired by lovecraft and other old Weird Fiction writers, but trying to artificially mimic their style by just using words that sound fancy doesn’t always (or even usually) work.

I found a ton of reviews online of people saying that they loved this collection, so take my complaints with a grain of salt. I’m not even trying to tear down or insult the author, I just don’t want anyone else with similar tastes to me to end up wasting their money on this.


TLDR: the stories tend to be boring, the author uses big words that barely fit, please listen to the sample before buying.