Jon Padgett is the author of The Secret of Ventriloquism, The Infusorium, and other books and stories that you really ought to be reading if you want to keep up with some of the very best of what’s happening on the cutting edge of contemporary weird and supernatural horror fiction. He says the following about my To Rouse Leviathan, which has just now begun to ship (with its original publication date of August 20 now changed to August 1):
In 1996, a remarkable omnibus was published by Caroll & Graf: The Nightmare Factory, by horror author Thomas Ligotti. It contained three volumes of Ligottiâs work to date plus an additional volume featuring revelatory, new stories that had never been collected. The book, long out of print, remains a gem of horror fiction that few others can rival.
Now, in the late Summer of 2019, at least one omnibus is worthy to sit on the shelf next to Ligottiâs tome: To Rouse Leviathan, by another remarkable, singular author, Matt Cardin. As with The Nightmare Factory, Cardinâs book presents material both old and new, all of which impresses with the authorâs world-class intellect, creativity, and prose craftsmanship. And this is no mere sampling of Cardinâs formidable skills and talent. This is a multi-course feast, a table brimming over with sumptuous, dark masterpieces of theologically infused cosmic horror, psychological terror, and bizarre, intimate character studies and confessions. As with Ligottiâs legendary omnibus, To Rouse Leviathan is a book to experience, to study, to marvel at, and â in those exquisite, uneasy moments in which we keenly feel we are part of Cardinâs terrifying fictional world â to live in.
â Jon Padgett