Thomas Ligotti
Nato nella paura

“Probably, the most important factor among those that drew me to writing in general is the exhaustion I mentioned earlier. It happened in August 1970, due to the massive consumption of drugs and alcohol, which in any case only acted as catalysts for a fate that would have hit me sooner or later, as hypersensitive and moody as I was. Before, I wasn't interested in either reading or writing, even though I was good at both at school; afterward, reading and writing became the only way I could alter my mental state without fear, or at least that extreme fear, of losing my mind completely. My illness is called agoraphobia; in part, it's hereditary, and I continue to experience its symptoms, including panic attacks and a general sense of unreality.”

This is a significant excerpt from an interview you can find in the recent volume by Thomas Ligotti Born in Fear published by Il Saggiatore (a publisher that is making Ligotti known in our country while the editions of Elara remain too niche). Finally, the Italian reader has the chance to get an idea of the tormented life of this controversial writer. Much has happened since Poppy Z. Brite wrote the famous question “Are You Out There, Thomas Ligotti?” Today, thanks also to the series True Detective, his name has been cleared. From these pages, his particular conception of the weird and of life emerges. An obsessive reader, at least up to a certain point in his life, of the darkest horror literature, Ligotti remains fundamentally linked to Poe and Lovecraft and distant from Stephen King (those who think he is envious of Stephen King's success are completely off track). The volume is divided into four parts: the first part Enchanting Nightmares covers the period from 1988 to 1991, the next This Caravan of Flesh takes place in the three years 2000-2003, A Necessary Dementia contains interviews conducted from 2004 to 2011, and finally, we find the chapter that gives the title to this book, namely Born in Fear, enclosed in the two-year period 2011-2013. By reading these interviews, some interesting information can be gathered: it reveals the figure of an enthusiast of masters of the fantastic such as Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood even though it was Shirley Jackson who made him fall in love with weird fiction with her novel The Haunting of Hill House, Ligotti being a big fan of Robert Wise's film. Actually, beyond the important anecdote for him, he admits not particularly liking Jackson with her excessive psychologism. Ligotti is also passionate about classic gothic despite rarely including typical figures like the vampire (except in one story) or the werewolf. Curiously, of current horror, he appreciates above all highly successful films. He considers horror literature as the perfect medium to talk about our society and tries with his fiction to exorcise his personal ghosts and obsessions. The American author seems like a late hippie devoted to horror literature, perhaps the unaware heir of the dark impulses of the psychedelic era. It's not easy to embrace his antinatalist theories (indeed, if you’re depressed, I strongly advise against reading Ligotti), however, one cannot deny the allure of someone who wrote a book like The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. I say it clearly, I am among those who consider Ligotti at his best as an essayist (without denying the value of his fiction) and, not surprisingly, even Ramsey Campbell considers that book his masterpiece. We are faced with a negative philosophy that owes much to Schopenhauer and especially the Norwegian philosopher Zapffe. His passion for writers unrelated to horror like Thomas Bernard, Dino Buzzati, Nabokov, Bruno Schulz, and William S. Burroughs should not be forgotten. In these interviews, Ligotti often twists himself in abstruse discourses not always easily comprehensible but, perhaps, he does not want to be understood on purpose. In any case, it emerges the portrait of an enigmatic figure hated by some readers and loved by others. Personally, I can take him in small doses, but some of his stories have a unique intensity. If you are looking for the heir of Poe and Lovecraft, you might finally have found him.

Thomas Ligotti Born in Fear. Reading, Horror, Existence – ISBN 9788842826309 – pages: 256 – €22.00