The Conspiracy against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror

195 Pages·2011·0.92 MB·English

by  Thomas Ligotti

THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE
Also by Thomas Ligotti
FICTION
Songs of a Dead Dreamer Grimscribe
Noctuary
The Nightmare Factory My Work Is Not Yet Done The Shadow at the Bottom of the
World Teatro Grottesco
POETRY
I Have a Special Plan for This World This Degenerate Little Town Death Poems
SCREENPLAYS
Crampton (with Brandon Trenz) The Frolic (with Brandon Trenz)
The Conspiracy against the Human Race
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A Contrivance of Horror
Thomas Ligotti
Hippocampus Press
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New York
Copyright © 2010 Thomas Ligotti. Foreword © 2010 by Ray Brassier. Thomas Ligotti photograph © 2010 by
Jennifer Gariepy.
Parts of this work were published, in different form, in the following publications: “Literature Is
Entertainment or It Is Nothing: An Interview with Thomas Ligotti” by Neddal Ayad, Fantastic Metropolis
(website), October 31, 2004; “Thomas Ligotti on Sweeney Todd,” Horror: Another 100 Best Books, Stephen
Jones and Kim Newman, eds., 2005; Introduction by Thomas Ligotti, The Tenant by Roland Topor, 2006;
“‘It’s All a Matter of Personal Pathology’: An Interview with Thomas Ligotti” by Matt Cardin, The Teeming
Brain (weblog), 2006.
All excerpts from the works of Peter Wessel Zapffe © Gisle R. Tangenes; used with permission. All excerpts
from the writings of H. P. Lovecraft © Robert C. Harrall; used with permission of Lovecraft Properties LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ligotti, Thomas.
The conspiracy against the human race: a contrivance of horror / Thomas Ligotti. – 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-9824296-9-3 (hardcover) – ISBN 978-0-9844802-7-2 (pbk.) 1. Horror in literature. 2.
Literature–Philosophy. 3. Pessimism in literature. I. Title.
PN56.H6L55 2010
809’.9164–dc22
2010008781
Published by Hippocampus Press
P.O. Box 641, New York, NY 10156.
http://www.hippocampuspress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the publisher.
Cover design by Jennifer Gariepy. Cover production by Barbara Briggs Silbert. Hippocampus Press logo
designed by Anastasia Damianakos.
First Digital Edition(s) May 2012
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
ISBN 978-1-61498-030-8
Digital book(s) (epub and mobi) produced by Booknook.biz.
To the memory of Peter Wessel Zapffe
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my appreciation to Tim Jeski and Scott Wetherby for
supplying me with materials essential to the writing of this work; to the
members of Thomas Ligotti Online and its administrator, Brian Edward Poe, for
participating in a forum of commentary on an early version of The Conspiracy
against the Human Race; to Robert Ligotti for being a ready test subject
whenever I needed an alert response from a mind akin to my own; and to
Jennifer Gariepy for the encouragement and insight she has afforded me over
many years. In addition, I would be more than remiss not to acknowledge the
counsel and labors of S. T. Joshi, David E. Schultz, and Jonathan Padgett, with
special recognition reserved for Nicole Ariana Seary, who granted me the benefit
of her talents and experience during the most crucial stages of this book’s
composition. Finally, I am indebted, as are all devotees of philosophical
pessimism who are not knowledgeable of the Dano-Norwegian language, to Gisle
R. Tangenes for his translations of and writings on the works of Peter Wessel
Zapffe. The responsibility for the use made of these valued contributions lies
entirely with the author.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Ray Brassier
Introduction: Of Pessimism and Paradox
The Nightmare of Being
Who Goes There?
Freaks of Salvation
Sick to Death
The Cult of Grinning Martyrs
Autopsy on a Puppet: An Anatomy of the Supernatural
Notes
F
OREWORD