Episode 18 - The Haar by David Sodergren

In this bonus episode Ligeia and Leraje delve into this little known gem of 19th century horror literature which is both a very modern Gothic horror and also a critical look at Victorian society. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep18-5.pdf The Great God Pan: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL57631274M/The_Great_God_Pan Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

This month we initiate a new Devil's Librarian, Jazz, alongside the regular four of us. Jazz kept telling us we should read The Haar so we did and as it was Jazz's idea, we invited her along too! Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep18.pdf The Haar: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL36436160W/The_Haar What else we've read or are reading: Authority: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17453058W/Authority Salt. Fat, Acid, Heat: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26632002M/Salt_Fat_Acid_Heat_Mastering_the_Elements_of_Good_Cooking Court of Throne & Roses (series): https://openlibrary.org/works/OL44583033W/Throne_of_Glass_A_Court_of_Thorns_and_Roses Poe: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8278298W/The_Complete_Edgar_Allan_Poe_-_Tales The Bone Mother: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL32655378M/The_Bone_Mother The Hollow Places: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21722153W/The_Hollow_Places The Salt Bind: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/rebecca-ferrier-2/the-salt-bind/9781408748671/ Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

Still stinging from the White is for Witching episode in which a character was very disdainful of one of their favourite writers, Ligeia and Leraje exchange the nihilism of Ligotti for the Gothic darkness of Edgar Allan Poe. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep17-6.pdf The Complete Works: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL40967W/Complete_Stories_and_Poems_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

The only thing Ligeia and Leraje are more agreed upon than their mutual hatred of overly long hot Summers is the certainty of wanting to talk more about the existential shadowy bleakness of Thomas Ligotti's words. So draw the curtains against the awful day, light a solitary candle and listen in as they descend into depravity and the pleasures of the beautiful darkness. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep17-5.pdf Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20016684W/Songs_of_a_dead_dreamer_and_Grimscribe Previous Ligotti episodes 1. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-126-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-i 2. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-35-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti 3. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-55-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-3 4. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-85-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-4 5. There is no part 5 - Leraje screwed up the numbering 6. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-135-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-6 7. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-145-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-7 8. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode165-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-8 Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

Ligeia, Pike, Lithos and Leraje discuss their thoughts about their last read - Helen Oyeyemi's 2010 Somerset Maugham Award winning novel White is for Witching. A modern gothic horror with themes of generational trauma, the malevolence of racism and consumption. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep17.pdf White is for Witching: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16945243M/White_Is_for_Witching Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

Yep, still hot. So to fight off the impending sense of the inevitability of a sun induced doom Ligeia and Leraje distract themselves from the heat with the cold nihilism of Thomas Ligotti. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/16-5.pdf Book: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3273775W/Songs_of_a_Dead_Dreamer Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

This time we read and discussed Andrew Joseph White's debut adult novel (he has written several youth oriented books prior to this). An incredibly disturbing, relentless, emotionally punishing and yet very important work, it is strongly recommended you consult the trigger/content warnings on his website (see link below) before reading! Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep16.pdf Novel content warnings - seriously, read them! https://andrewjosephwhite.com/content-warnings%3A-ywmtbh Novel : https://openlibrary.org/books/OL57776397M/You_Weren%27t_Meant_to_Be_Human Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

Ligeia and Leraje love Ligotti but we do sometimes need a break. So we are turning to Clive Barker's Books of Blood, originally released as 6 separate volumes each containing a few short stories, some of which are famous (The Forbidden became the movie Candyman) and some which aren't. There's no plan, we chose these stories completely arbitrarily. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep15-5.pdf Books of Blood: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7863947M/Clive_Barker's_books_of_blood Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

In this episode we discuss Delilah S Dawson's sapphic, sensorily lavish horror novella Bloom. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep15.pdf Bloom: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL34370757W/Bloom Also read this month: Leraje: Slow Gods by Claire North and The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin Ligeia: What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher and My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen Lithos: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer Pike: The Secret History by Donna Tartt Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedevilslibrarians Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedevilslibrary666 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedevilslibrary Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thedevilslibrary Our sister podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com  

As temperatures soar across Europe, Ligeia and Leraje decide to cheer themselves up with three more stories from the Maestro of Misanthropy, Thomas Ligotti. This time we read the stories from 'The Voice of the Demon' section from Grimscribe. There are four stories in that section but we had already read 'In The Shadow of Another World' so we didn't talk much about that one. If you want to hear us talk about that story, go to episode 3.5 which is the second one in the list of Ligotti episodes below. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep14-5.pdf Songs of a Dead Dreamer: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3273775W/Songs_of_a_Dead_Dreamer Our sibling podcast, Devil's Discourse, is here: https://devils-discourse.podbean.com Previous Ligotti episodes 1. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-126-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-i 2. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-35-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti 3. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-55-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-3 4. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-85-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-4 5. There is no part 5 - we screwed up the numbering 6. https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-135-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-grimscribe-by-thomas-ligotti-part-6