Horror Aficionados discussion

I am probably in the minority here when I say that I don't care much for Thomas Ligotti, at least based on the stories I came across in the past.

I like horror to have at least a hint of the cosmic in it (Laird Barron, John Langan, Clark Ashton Smith ...), whereas it seems (from my possibly faulty memory) that Ligotti just twists the here-and-now, or if there is some cosmic aspect in a story, he never really gets into it, and the story is all about the disruption of day-to-day lives.

However, I decided to give him a try again and bought Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe in one volume. The first story, "The Frolic" tended to confirm my prejudices and has somewhat put me off carrying on with the rest of the stories.

Can anyone who knows Ligotti's work say if he ever gets into the cosmic aspects of horror in his stories?

I find Ligotti a very mixed bag of okay, fine, great and awful. Completely agree with you on The Frolic. It made me want to stop too and give up - had to push on past some other so-so stories to find the better stuff.

"ever gets into the cosmic aspects of horror in his stories?" -- yes, there's a handful that touch on it / invoke that vibe, but it's been a while since I read and I charity-shopped the book after reading. Like you, I'm a fan of Clark Ashton Smith!:-)

I still have the book, so I will keep trying one of his stories now and then, so if a story is not great I am just taking in a small amount of "poison" at one time.

I feel he has "something", just not sure it is something that matches my own tastes, but there may be a few gems that match those tastes.

When I first read Clark Ashton Smith, I was in my late teens, and thought he was fantastic, and I bought everything I could find.

I also prefer my horror "with at least a hint of cosmic", as you say :)
If you think of giving up Song of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, please make sure to at least read "The Sect of the Idiot" and "The Last Feast of Harlequin", I think the latter was even dedicated to HPL.
In Songs of a Dead Dreamer I definitely preferred the later stories, the stories keep getting better, in my opinion.

inciminci wrote: "I also prefer my horror "with at least a hint of cosmic", as you say :)
If you think of giving up Song of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, please make sure to at least read "The Sect of the Idiot" an..."

What I have read has convinced me to keep going, but one story at a time, then a break, then another story, and so on.

That sounds like a good strategy for Ligotti, enjoy your read.

Yes. Read Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done.