The Shadow, The Darkness

by Thomas Ligotti

Unknown Binding

About the author

Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings, while unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres—most prominently Lovecraftian horror—and have overall been described as works of "philosophical horror", often written as philosophical novels with a "darker" undertone which is similar to gothic fiction. The Washington Post called him "the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction"; another critic declared "It's a skilled writer indeed who can suggest a horror so shocking that one is grateful it was kept offstage."

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

At nearly forty pages, The Shadow, The Darkness borders on novella. Rather than recapping plot, I'll make a quick cut to a key section at the heart of this Ligotti lollapalooza about a renegade academic, an artist and visionary named Grossvogel and his extraordinary psychophysical experience.

The narrator recounts past events. We learn Grossvogel collapsed during the opening of his first art exhibit and the narrator took him to the hospital wherein he received treatment. For some mysterious reason, thereafter Grossvogel went missing for weeks. But Grossvogel makes his grand reappearance at the gallery to lead the narrator and others in hauling away his old art. And when this storefront of an art gallery opens an exhibit of his new art, Grossvogel delivers a speech prior to the viewing.

Grossvogel relates how his body was experiencing physical upheaval, the result of a digestive disorder, and over time, progressively and insidiously, this upheaval manifested on another level altogether, in the darkest aspect of his being. “This period coincided with, and in fact was directly a consequence of, my involvement with the creation of artworks – my intense desire to make art, which is to say, my desire to do something and my desire to be something, that is, an artist.”

Grossvogel continues: “I was attempting during this period I speak of – and for that matter throughout my entire life - to make something with my mind, or by using my imagination or my creative faculties, some force or function of what people would call a soul or a spirit or simply a personal self.” And then the critical point: In the middle of his physical agony he was overwhelmed by a startling revelation: such things as “mind,” “imagination,” “creative faculties,” “soul,” “spirit,” “personal self” are all nonsense and dreams, illusions, pure fabrication.

What then is real? When Grossvogel opened his eye, really opened his eyes, he could see things as they really are. “I found that I could see how everything around me, including my own body, was activated from within by this pervasive shadow, this all-moving darkness....Before that night I had never experienced the world purely by means of my organs of physical sensation, which are the direct point of contact with that deep abyss of entity that I am calling the shadow, the darkness.”

Grossvogel adds much detail, enough detail to fill several pages. However, here's one important section I'll quote in its entirety: "Everywhere I traveled I saw how the pervasive shadow, the all-moving darkness, was using our world. Because this shadow, this darkness has nothing of its own, no way to exist except as an activating force or energy, whereas we have our bodies, we are only our bodies, whether they are organic bodies or non-organic bodies, human or non-human bodies, makes no difference - they are all simply bodies and nothing but bodies, which no component whatever of a mind or a self or a soul. hence the shadow, the darkness uses our world for what it needs to thrive upon. It has nothing except its activating energy, while we are nothing except our bodies. This is why the shadow, the darkness causes things to be what they would not be and to do what they would not do. Because without the shadow inside them, the all-moving blackness activating them, they would be only what they are - heaps of matter lacking any impulse, any urge to flourish, to succeed in the world. This state of affairs should be called what it is - an absolute nightmare."

Another quick cut, this time to other highlights/themes/general ideas:

Lovecraft Redux – The narrator on a new Grossvogel sculpture: “There appeared to be a resemblance in its general outline to some kind of creature, perhaps a grossly distorted version of a scorpion or a crab, since it displayed more than a few clawlike extensions reaching out from a central, highly shapeless mass. But it also appeared to have elements poking upward, peaks, or horns that jutted at roughly vertical angles and ended sometimes in a sharp point and sometimes in a soft, headlike bulge.“ Of course, this brings to mind the hideous creature in H.P.'s The Call of Cthulhu.



Medical Reasons - A Mrs. Angela proclaims Grossvogel a complete fraud, citing the real reason for his transformation: he was given massive doses of drugs as part of his treatment at the hospital. Such a rational is so predictable in our modern age: as everything was explained in terms of psychology in the 20th century, so in our 21st century, any oddity or deviation from the accepted norm will be explained in terms of biology and neuroscience.

Sleight of Authorial Hand – To add an additional layer of piquancy, Thomas Ligotti includes a character who is preparing a treatise he refers to as An Investigation into the Conspiracy against the Human Race, the title of a nonfiction book Ligotti himself eventually would write. But here the character admits he's incapable of finishing his treatise. The reasons why? For our author to tell.

A Last Word – One might think of boiling down The Shadow, The Darkness into a philosophy, maybe even Ligotti's philosophy, but please keep in mind this tale is a work of literature and, as such, transcends philosophy. Art is too rich, too infused with magic, too far beyond the reach of categories to be reduced or contained or subsumed by mere concepts or ideas.

Some reviewers report reading The Shadow, The Darkness has a hypnotic effect and, in a weird way, leaves one uplifted. I agree. What I've written here is merely a faint echo of this work by Thomas Ligotti. Read it or, if you've already read it, read it again. So worth your time.


American author Thomas Ligotti, born 1953

[Josh Pendergrass]

I've been reading some horror literature/fiction since Halloween, including this excellent short story by Ligotti, which reminded me of the quote from Shirley Jackson - "No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality". There is so much that our conscious minds hide from us in order for us to make it through each day. Ligotti here is pulling back the curtain, exposing the hidden nightmare of reality, and it is indeed horrifying.

But the good news is that reality is multi-dimensional - though the truth of existence may indeed be horrid, it is simultaneously (and I know this is a seeming contradiction) filled with overwhelming beauty and transcendence - so much depends on our perspective. Ligotti (or his characters) maybe know that there is no such thing as a soul, and that our egos and sense of self are illusions that help us survive by shielding us from the horror of existence, but these insights are not the one and only Truth, just one truth amongst many. Either way, I really love writing that explores all of the deeper aspects of reality.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't particularly like Lovecraft, but this ersatz emulation of his writing is significantly worse

[Dimasir0 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Шиза 1/10