Hello dear readers of The Silent Page! I come to you once again with another issue of You Should Read! With a very special spooky report, in honor of October having finally arrived!
Before I reveal today’s story, a note on weird fiction as a genre. If you aren’t familiar with it, its a genre of stories that started in the late 19th – early 20th century. You may have read examples of it from H.P. Lovecraft who was perhaps the most famous author to ever pursue the subject. Supernatural entities, dead gods, and grotesque objects are all tenants of its stories. I, personally, am a big fan of older examples of the genre (especially the aforementioned Lovecraft) but find newer stories lacking. Often they turn the unique concepts of previous works into cliches or boring derivative works that don’t keep the fiction weird but instead turn it into a paste-pudding norm. The author of today’s story, however, has made something very strange indeed while still keeping with what this genre represents.
Today I am recommending The Red Tower by Thomas Ligotti, a strange story about a red tower (who could’ve guessed!) that produces… things… and delivers said things to strange places. It is entirely told from the perspective of a fellow who acts as a sort of unreliable narrator. He speaks of rumors of the red tower, its productions, its deliveries, its history, and its fate but we can’t be quite sure of what he says. Half prophet, half madman, the narrator guides us through the red tower’s dark evolution from a stain on the otherwise peaceful landscape to a manufacturer of “novelties” to a distributer of horrors. What better story to read this October?
As always here’s the link to The Red Tower on the Weird Fiction Review site:
Better check your closets in case the tower delivered you something.
Silent Partner
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