Dallas' Book Report: Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe (1985)
Thomas Ligotti has been called "the best-kept secret in contemporary horror fiction." At least as far as The Washington Post is concerned, and to an extent--that is correct. Ligotti existed in the liminal spaces of horror fiction for many years, building up a dedicated following but never quite breaking it into the mainstream like Stephen King or Dean Koontz has. That is until 2015, when his duology collection of short stories, Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, was released by Penguin Classics. As an owner of this collection, the front cover caught my attention immediately with its dismal and humorous design. The man looks like the rapper Drake became a cheap clown who smokes to cope with the fact that he is behind on his mortgage, and the stress of it all aged him up considerably. In fact, that kind of sums up Thomas Ligotti himself in several ways. Can someone give this man a hug? I'm not ...
