The Spectacles in the Drawer - Thomas Ligotti

[@posthumanoid]

These readings are magnificent, and I would simply ask you do more to demonstrate the talent of both Ligotti and yourself.

[@billybees3796]

Kind compliment

[@SanguineUltima]

Glad to see you doing another Ligotti reading. Well done.

[@aramach1335]

Incredible story, and a great reading! Anyone who has experienced the inconceivable intensity of life in a single dewdrop knows exactly what this means. The inexhaustible core of the universe is so overwhelming to the human mind (especially the human ego) that no other horror even comes close to it. A single blood cell holds more complexity than an entire galaxy. Better to keep yourself satiated through distraction or alcohol than to seriously contemplate the horror of ultimate reality.

[@stefankienzle1587]

It's okay, I can do both.

[@TheMarauderOfficial]

A single drop of blood can’t have more complexity than an entire galaxy, considering our galaxy contains all known blood

[@NewGrooveVinylClub]

Good to know that both Brendan from Home Movies and Master Shake are Ligotti fans

[@airbornepizza]

You put that point so clearly and beautifully. I feel It's like standing on a shore of infinite emptiness, very scary and heartbreaking, but seems like the trick has something to do with willfully having the humility to love things, even if we know they're so fragile or even illusory. What is there to compare it to is an unanswerable question. Always usurping the next step of logic a moment before us. All we can do is what makes us happy or suffer less, some people definitely just need to find a way to cope, its unspeakably scary and hard.

[@iamamaniaint]

My only question is why is that stuff considered horrible? It's just natural processes. It can be pretty wondrous, really, and the mystery of it all is very intriguing. Of course the knowledge of creeping death is bad and good source for horror. I find much more horror in human behavior than some vague notion of the natural world itself as horrible or evil.

[@BikiniDeathSquad]

Creepiest Ligotti story yet. That was no mere dream.

[@abhishekconstantinewinches9907]

You're a good reader.

[@yatharthtrivedi8916]

9:33 if there is a better ligottian monologue than please let me know

[@beepot2764]

Even someone you precieve as an idiot, has the power or belief.

[@adolfolicious]

This my shit. I actually did this the other day to my friend with a book

[@geordiejones5618]

You can tell that FromSoftware were fans of this guy. A lot of his stories seem to share elements with Bloodborne.

[@toprak3479]

That room with all the mirrors could easily be the inspiration for the idea of striving to get multitudes of eyes to reach cosmic knowledge.

[@ThadSpencerBandBrothers]

This piece of literature sounds like it was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Very well-read sir!

[@TheeLandstander]

Absolutely. A lot of Ligotti has that Poe feeling to it. Something timeless.

[@DrChaunceyBlevins]

Reminiscent of Clive Barker

[@tressor904]

I feel stupid but I didn’t quite get the ending of this...

[@tombingus3984]

Don't feel stupid! It usually takes me one or two readings to get even the most straightforward Ligotti stories, and I always find I missed something upon revisiting it. Here's how I interpreted it, though it is just the opinion of one malignantly useless biological puppet: Ligotti implies that all human thoughts and behaviors are a result of a basic, yet intrinsically malevolent hypnosis. The narrator initially makes up this narrative merely to free himself of Plumm and the faith he finds so irksome, but is stunned to find he accidentally led to the man's agonizing death. He first thinks he found something enchanted in the spectacles, but really only preyed on Plumm's power for hypnotic belief, which he then tragically engenders in himself. The ultimate implication is that all of us have some type of faith in order to stay sane, but this can be in anything, and will ultimately drive us insane and cause us unspeakable pain. Aramach, in the comment below, has a similar but perhaps more eloquent explanation about how life without these illusions is so vast, empty and beyond comprehension it drives us insane, or into the masochistic arms of mental crutches.

[@sirmount2636]

I think he tricked Plum into being hypnotized, but accidentally releases Plum into a higher plane of existence, from which the narrator cannot escape Plum or the guilt of what he did to Plum.