CHARNELHOUSE OF THE MOON by Thomas Ligotti (original version)
Channel: Manifest Dust-in-yer-eye
Date: 2022-06-03

The original version of this piece, as published in Crypt of Cthulu (v.9, n.1, 1989). 

Why? A mere careless accident, rather than preference.

Oddly enough, I didn’t realize that the revised “definitive” version of this piece was in Noctuary—which sat unmolested on a shelf in another room of my house—until a remark online alerted me to it and I opened the book. Voila!

I still haven’t done more than glance at the definitive version yet. But yes, I’ll probably prefer it when I do. 

The opening phrase--”transfixed hilarity”--signals it. “Entranced” gets the idea across, but methinks “transfixed” is the perfect word here. As for the title change, moving to the more proper two-word “charnel house”… I still sort of prefer “charnelhouse” in the one-word form. Taking a cue from how this troubling dream-piece unfolds, charnelhouse plays like “outhouse” (which you don’t see in separated form anymore). Like outhouse, Ligotti’s charnelhouse is a place that not only stores remains but processes them... so to speak. Leave it at that.

But someday I will do a reading of the definitive version. I hope to make it a different sort of reading, though, with a bit more melodramatic energy and flash when I do.

A final note I haven’t included in a long time: This reading really does yield the most in subtleties of tone and mood (whether or not you like them) when you use earbuds or headphones.

Downloadable .mp3 HERE: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-TfJIx2W7_MVcWrKzCZdKPRDf12saSrc/view?usp=sharing