Thomas Ligotti – Paradoxes From Hell – Limited Softcover – Third Edition Chiroptera Press

Chiroptera Press is proud to present a brand-new chapbook by contemporary weird fiction author, Thomas Ligotti. Paradoxes from Hell is comprised of two prose poems and a short story, each revised by the author for this edition. Contents include: “This Degenerate Little Town,” “I Have a Special Plan for this World,” and “Paradoxes from Hell”. Both “This Degenerate Little Town” and “I Have a Special Plan for this World” were last published by Dutro in 2006 and have been out of print since. “Paradoxes from Hell” originally appeared in 1983 in Grimoire Magazine and is virtually unknown to Ligotti fans. This volume also includes new illustrations by artist and Cadabra Records founder, Jonathan Dennison.

In Paradoxes from Hell, the legendary Thomas Ligotti breathes fresh life into three of his rarest pieces.
The opening section, “I Have a Special Plan for This World,” is a metaphysical poetry cycle in which its visionary protagonist is driven by his loathing of existence. His plan, which seeks no less than the unmaking of the universe itself, seeks to “envision a darkness/That was long before the dark of night/And a strangely shining light/That owed nothing to the light of day.” This remarkable piece is unveiled here for the first time since its original limited publication by Durtro in 2006.
The second section offers up “This Degenerate Little Town,” another poetry cycle likewise out of print since 2006, which represents the titular town as an allegory for human consciousness. Ligotti paints a vivid picture of a universe in endless decline, a realm where “diseased faces that gaze/Behind the glass of grimy windows” are as inescapable as the town’s “decaying ground and rotting sky.”
The concluding sequence, “Paradoxes from Hell,” is an array of prose vignettes featuring a decayed mystic, a stricken philosopher, a deranged poet, and a complete madman. Solely featured in Grimoire Magazine in 1983 and virtually unknown to most Ligotti readers, these dread-inducing yet often humorous prose reflections are a treasure trove of existential exploration.
This latest edition of Paradoxes from Hell boasts not only elegant, new formatting but an even more extensive collection of original art by Jonathan Dennison, adding another dimension of depth to Ligotti’s eerie prose. The result is a work that is as visually stunning as it is thought-provoking, a testament to Ligotti’s stature as a singular maestro of horror genre