History YMMV / ThomasLigotti

* CrossesTheLineTwice:
** Everything in ''Literature/MyWorkIsNotYetDone''. Also, "The Town Manager".
** The letter sequence in the recent tale "Metaphysica Morum" is perhaps the most overtly comic thing in Ligotti's oeuvre, and easily one of the most gleefully tasteless. A tribute of sorts to Creator/WilliamSBurroughs' "routines," one must read it to believe it.

* NightmareFuel: Arguably, nearly everything that Ligotti has ever written. Averted only in a few of his early vignettes, which lean more towards [[MindScrew pure surrealism or philosophical deconstruction]], as well as some of his poetry, which is simply [[TearJerker exceedingly depressing]].
* ParanoiaFuel: [[PerversePuppet Puppets]], [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate doctors]], pills, carnivals, [[CreepyDoll dolls]], abandoned buildings, office work, shadows, flowers, gastrointestinal disorders, souvenirs, OCD, dreaming, art galleries, [[WhiteMaskOfDoom strange]] [[MalevolentMaskedMen masks]], rare books, bondage, chamber music, maps, abstract ideas... Think of it, and this man has made it horrifying.
* {{Squick}}: Frequently presented in [[DissonantSerenity extremely detached prose]].
* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: the ending of [[spoiler:"My Work Is Not Yet Done".]]
* TearJerker: Perhaps not the best term... Depression Fuel is more apt.

* CultClassic: In a manner of speaking, but for different reasons than most bearing this distinction.

* GeniusBonus: While rarely essential to the enjoyment of his work, having a robust literary background does not hurt when reading Ligotti.

* {{Squick}}:
** Frequently presented in [[DissonantSerenity extremely detached prose]].
** NauseaFuel: See BodyHorror.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Everything in ''Literature/MyWorkIsNotYetDone''. Also, "The Town Manager".

* HilariousInHindsight: "The Chymist" can legitimately be summarized with the phrase "[[Music/KendrickLamar I took her to my penthouse and I freaked it]]".

* NarmCharm: Intentionally invoked throughout ''Songs of a Dead Dreamer'', usually in {{homage}} to Creator/VladimirNabokov. Simon Smirk, narrator of "The Chymist", is [[LargeHam particularly]] [[InsufferableGenius over-the-top]].

* {{Squick}}: Frequently presented in [[DissonantSerenity extremely detached prose]].

* UncannyValley: Intentionally invoked frequently.

* MagnificentBastard: If a true antagonist can be discerned in a Ligotti story, the sheer elegance and ingenuity of their cruelty is rarely in question, regardless of how unspeakably amoral their behaviour may be. Dr. Thoss, a recurring character throughout his stories, is the most prominent example.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory