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Rating: Jon Padgett is probably not very well known in Italy yet among fans of weird literature. He debuted in 2016 with the anthology The Secret of Ventriloquism, considered by Rue Morgue Magazine as "Best Fiction Book Of The Year". Now, Edizioni Hypnos makes it available with 2 additional stories. In reality, in recent years, Padgett has played an underground but very important role in the diffusion of weird literature. He was among the founders of the legendary Thomas Ligotti website and is also the editor-in-chief of Grimscribe Press. He also curates the literary criticism magazine Vastarien: A Literary Journal, where he discusses writers not necessarily belonging to horror but who have influenced the "Ligottian" imagination. Padgett has admitted that The Songs of a Dead Dreamer was the book that opened many doors for him, convincing him to write weird literature. It's no coincidence that The Secret of Ventriloquism is introduced by Ligotti. His reflections on aspects of quality and quantity in horror production are interesting. Ligotti cites T.E.D. Klein (who believes that a single story can grant an author immortality) and also Borges. For the Argentine writer, the best of an author can be found in about half a dozen works. Perhaps these are exaggerations, but it's undeniable that sometimes good coin drives out bad. At this point, someone might think, given the numerous references, they are faced with a perhaps sterile and uninspired copy of Ligotti himself, but as we will see, Padgett has his own original voice. Personally, I believe that imitating "Ligottian" writing is risky because replicating its baroque style is not easy without his talent. But Padgett demonstrates having his personal language, placing at least a couple of stories (confirming what was said in the introduction) that can be immediately considered as classics in contemporary horror. His writing is muddy and dirty, leading us into a foggy zone. One can feel an atmosphere of slow decomposition in his writings. One of the features of this collection is that it's a sort of concept: all the stories are indeed connected in some way to each other through more or less obscure references.
After the aesthetic and philosophical introduction of Practice for the Awareness of Horror, the subsequent Whispers of a Voice Foretold immediately strikes us with a disturbing story, confronting us with the figure of a sadistic brother who seems to have stepped out from one of our worst nightmares. But the other brother’s revenge truly sends shivers down the spine. The Covered Swamp reveals Padgett’s interest in certain hidden and unreal places which, at the same time, seem part of our daily life. Undoubtedly, one of the musts of this collection is Ventriloquism in 20 Simple Lessons: I believe this story is genuinely frightening and very disturbing. The 20 steps it's divided into gradually lead us to an unsettling dimension of the real, which almost feels tangible, a characteristic unique to Padgett. The Infusorium is another remarkable tale and reveals all of Padgett's obsession with the "dirty" and pollution, showing us a small town literally covered by a layer of oppressive fog originated from an abandoned paper mill. Organ Void is truly a punch to the stomach: I don't know if all readers will be able to endure it.
I don't believe all these stories are on the same level, probably not, but it's the overall effect that makes this book powerful and visionary.
Jon Padgett “The Secret of Ventriloquism” – Edizioni Hypnos – 229 pages – Euro 16,90
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