Thomas Ligotti
The blog Grim Reviews draws attention to a new interview with horror writer Thomas Ligotti, one of the most important writers of bleak fiction since Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. In this interview, Ligotti talks about his upcoming book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Short Life of Horror. In this book, the author “tried to bind together themes from pessimistic philosophy and the horror genre into an exposition on the uncanny nature and ontological fraudulence of the human species.” He also mentions the philosopher David Benatar, whose recent book, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence, argues that coming into existence is an overall harm and having children is immoral. Benatar’s writings, and the subject of antinatalism in general, are further explored on the blog Antinatalism: The Greatest Taboo.
An interesting point in the interview occurs where Ligotti discusses an imaginary meeting between H.P. Lovecraft, whose aristocratic sensitivity to cultural decay makes him stand out from most artists, and himself:
“…if Lovecraft visited me, I think I would have to watch my words and not say anything like “F–k me, I ran out of cigarettes.” It’s not that I think Lovecraft was prudish. From reading his letters, one can tell that he wasn’t shockable. He just had firm ideas about how people should present themselves, and that didn’t include using profane language or tobacco, two things I find impossible not to do. I can’t fault him for that.”
