Thomas Ligotti's stories are influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and Kafka but he goes far beyond their wildest imaginings. His protagonists exist in worlds enshrouded in mystery. Sometimes they are seekers after arcane truths, sometimes ordinary people living gray lives in gray, menacing landscapes. But just out of sight in the fog there are monsters to which they will surely be introduced. It's at this point that Ligotti takes us behind the sideshow freaks of predictable horror fiction and shows us the real existential horror. These are, without a doubt, the most disturbing stories I've ever read.