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Narrated by:
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Jon Padgett
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Linda Jones
About this listen
Two terrifying classics by “the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction” (The Washington Post)
Thomas Ligotti’s debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti eschews cheap, gory thrills for his own brand of horror, which shocks at the deepest, existential, levels.
Ligotti’s stories take on decaying cities and lurid dreamscapes in a style ranging from rich, ornamental prose to cold, clinical detachment. His raw and experimental work lays bare the unimportance of our world and the sickening madness of the human condition. Like the greatest writers of cosmic horror, Ligotti bends reality until it cracks, opening fissures through which he invites us to gaze on the unsettling darkness of the abyss below.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. People trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
©2023 Thomas Ligotti (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Thomas Ligotti is a master of a different order, practically a different species. He probably couldn’t fake it if he tried, and he never tries. He writes like horror incarnate.”—Terrence Rafferty, New York Times Book Review
"Mr. Ligotti, winner of three Bram Stoker Awards, is one of our finest writers of short horror, and this volume, reprinting his first two collections (1985, 1991), is an excellent introduction to the sustained storm of dread that is his universe."—New York Times Book Review
“Songs of a Dead Dreamer is full of inexplicable and alarming delights. . . . Put this volume on the shelf right between H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. Where it belongs.”—The Washington Post
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The Imago Sequence
- And Other Stories
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The title story of this collection - a devilishly ironic riff on H. P. Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model" - was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, while "Probiscus" was nominated for an International Horror Guild award and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 19. In addition to his previously published work, this collection contains an original story.
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Agonizingly Dull and Meaningless
- By Zachary on 03-14-20
By: Laird Barron
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The Best of Richard Matheson
- By: Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle - editor/introduction
- Narrated by: Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
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Rich and thrilling storytelling
- By Arthur on 10-24-17
By: Richard Matheson, and others
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Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies
- By: John Langan
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of twenty-first century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.
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Finally more John Langan in audiobook form
- By Anonymous User on 09-10-23
By: John Langan
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Cold Hand in Mine
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
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Aickman is unique
- By Stark on 08-19-23
By: Robert Aickman
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Haunted Castles
- The Complete Gothic Stories
- By: Ray Russell, Guillermo del Toro - foreword
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Haunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell's masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of "Sardonicus", "Sanguinarius", and "Sagittarius", The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile.
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Excellent suggestion!
- By GJ on 01-26-22
By: Ray Russell, and others
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The Croning
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults, and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us.... Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly 80 years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge.
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Great Writer - Good story - VERY Wrong Reader,
- By Old Man Parker on 10-17-12
By: Laird Barron
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Perchance to Dream
- Selected Stories
- By: Charles Beaumont
- Narrated by: J. Paul Boehmer, Gabrielle de Cuir, Harlan Ellison, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The profoundly original and wildly entertaining short stories of a legendary Twilight Zone writer. It is only natural that Charles Beaumont would make a name for himself crafting scripts for The Twilight Zone - for his was an imagination so limitless it must have emerged from some other dimension. Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont's finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes.
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- By Ralph Freaster on 06-22-16
By: Charles Beaumont
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Not a Speck of Light
- Stories
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pickens, Joe Hempel
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Bram Stoker Award-winning author Laird Barron returns to the dark and dreadful with his fifth horror collection, which weaves sixteen weird tales into a mosaic of the bloody and the macabre.
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Awesome as always
- By Tranquilla’s granddaughter on 04-17-25
By: Laird Barron
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Area X
- The Southern Reach Trilogy - Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance
- By: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick, Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands
- Length: 26 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Dive into the mysteries of Area X, a remote and lush terrain that has inexplicably sequestered itself from civilization. Twelve expeditions have gone in, and not a single member of any of them has remained unchanged by the experience - for better or worse.
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Book 1: intriguing! Book 2: Zzzz. Book 3: WTF!
- By KR on 02-03-15
By: Jeff VanderMeer
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The Hungry Moon
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Isolated on the moors of northern England, the town of Moonwell has remained faithful to their Druid traditions and kept their old rituals alive. Right-wing evangelist Godwin Mann isn’t about to let that continue, and his intolerant brand of fundamentalism has struck a chord with the residents.
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Creeping, Deranged, Cosmic
- By Michael on 08-02-19
By: Ramsey Campbell
What listeners say about Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe
Highly rated for:
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- Mr Dodoman
- 05-15-23
Unsettling and intellectually stimulating.
"Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe" narrated by Jon Padgett is a fantastic way to experience these stories. Padgett's narration is pitch-perfect, capturing the dark, brooding tone of Ligotti's writing with precision and skill. He brings the characters to life in a way that feels both natural and haunting, and his pacing and intonation perfectly match the mood of each story.
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- Norbert
- 02-28-23
Beyond expectations
I don’t usually listen to audiobooks (or leave reviews), but I make a special exception to my usual habits of consumption for anything Ligotti or Padgett. Having so little experience—I have only really listened to two audiobooks before, and both were non-fiction—I didn’t really know what to expect, but I wasn’t *that* pumped. Still, I decided to try it out.
I’m really glad I did. I can now listen to my favorite story collection *and* enjoy Padgett’s clear, passionate performance. This audiobook manages to elevate a classic that means a lot to many of us, and which, if you are anything like me, you have read cover to cover many times, to a new and unique place.
If you’re a Ligotti/Padgett fan and you’re on the fence about this audiobook, I would say it’s very much worth your attention.
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- Ivy Grimes
- 03-01-23
Stories Take on New Life/Death Through Performance
Ligotti's stories are complex in their intellectual and emotional content, and they benefit from multiple readings. Hearing them aloud uncovers new layers of horror and humor. These lively, rich performances entertain while also adding wonderful nuance to the remarkable stories in this collection.
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- Anew
- 02-28-23
Brilliant Narration
A brilliant narration of a crucial author of weird fiction. One can feel Jon Padgett and Linda Jones' enthusiasm for the stories here. Highly recommended.
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- Movie Lover
- 07-18-23
Brilliant stories well told
Ligotti is a master, and he’s well served here by the narrator, Padgett, who is one of the author’s foremost scholars and a fantastic writer of his own work. If you’ve never read Ligotti, this is a perfect introduction to his work.
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- BiLLiE
- 04-19-23
highly recommend and didn't disappoint
A friend of mine repeatedly recommended Ligotti and when something finally became available on Audible I jumped at the chance. Very good stuff here if you like Lovecraft or King.
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- NTB
- 05-25-23
It sticks with you
I read most of the book, then listened to the last couple of stories on audible. Oddly enough, much like some of the characters in here amongst Poe's and Lovecraft's works, I felt a weird obsession. Thankfully, this obsession was to devour more of Ligotti's works, which stuck with me long after reading and imposed a dream-like quality of surreality.
Ligotti's works are akin to essays in the way that they are written (they see things from a detached yet personal narration), and it gives credence to the strange dread that they impose.
As far as the narrator goes, I don't know for sure if I liked him or not. This could only be because I read most of the physical copy I own. Because, let’s face it, this narrator does a superb job with fluctuating his voice and giving a dreary tone to a dark collection of short stories.
This, as far as I can remember, is the first review I've written on Audible after owning a hundred something audiobooks. It is that good of a collection, and so long as you're the right reader (or in this case, listener), I highly recommend these two collections.
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- Erik McHatton
- 02-27-23
Incredible!
Thomas Ligotti is a master and a genius. His work is the standard by which modern literary horror should be measured, and one day he will be taught in schools alongside other titans of the craft. I need not go into how incredible these two collections are as written works. Ligotti's reputation speaks for itself. That being said, Jon Padgett has delivered what may be the definitive way to experience them. After listening to his take on these tales, I don't think I'll ever think of them the same way again.
Jon knows when to be playful, when to ratchet up the creep factor, when to deliver guttural growls, and when to add little breaks in his voice. He brings Ligotti's everyman (or maybe no-man) to life perfectly.
If you are a fan of Ligotti, or even just a fan of horror in general, this audiobook is an absolute MUST BUY. It's really that good.
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- Christian B. Kaufman
- 04-19-23
Excellent horror collection and narration
Ligotti’s story telling is superb, as is his prose. It is a delight on its own to just read his mastery of the language and his nuance. In many ways, and similar to Laird Barron, he does what Lovecraft did but better, more nuanced, more mature. While perhaps not strict cosmic horror, his writing has all the similar sensibilities of a malevolent universe that hides behind the veneer of “normal” appearances.
In regards to narration, it was spot on primarily because most of Ligotti’s protagonists have an air of arrogance or self-assuredness that was well conveyed in the narrator’s tone. While I find this pairing either well conceived and directed or simply fortuitous, I am admittedly uncertain that I would enjoy this narrator with a different collection or novel.
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- Agam A. Neiman
- 11-01-23
Narrator needs to C-H-I-L-L
I appreciate the heart and talent that went into this narration, but especially given the author’s somewhat florid approach the over dramatic “spoooky” delivery at times kinda camped it up for me which is a bit of a pity. A just a matter of personal preference, but I much prefer a drier delivery of horror especially when it comes to the austere, philosophical, ambient aims of those writers in the genre considered more high brow like Ligotti etc
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