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Around the corner Quote by Thomas Ligotti

“From around the corner's edge a grotesque light was trickling out, the first intimations of an ominous sunrise over a dark horizon. I dimly recognized this colored light, though not from my waking memory. It grew more intense, now pouring out in weird streams from beyond the solid margin of the…” quote by Thomas Ligotti
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““From around the corner's edge a grotesque light was trickling out, the first intimations of an ominous sunrise over a dark horizon. I dimly recognized this colored light, though not from my waking memory. It grew more intense, now pouring out in weird streams from beyond the solid margin of the building. And the more intense it grew, the more clearly I could hear the screaming voice that had called out to me in a dream. I shouted his name, but the swelling colored brightness was a field of fear which kept me from making any move toward it. It was no amalgam of colors comparable to anything in mortal experience. It was as if all natural colors had been mutated into a painfully lush iridescence by some prism fantastically corrupted in its form; it was a rainbow staining the sky after a poison deluge; it was an aurora painting the darkness with a blaze of insanity, a blaze that did not burn vigorously but shimmered with an insect-jeweled frailness. And, in actuality, it was nothing like these color-filled effusions, which are merely a feeble means of partially fixing a reality uncommunicable to those not initiated to it, a necessary resorting to the makeshift gibberish of the mystic isolated by his experience and left without a language to describe it. ("The Dreaming In Nortown")””

Thomas Ligotti

About This Quote

Source short story: "The Dreaming In Nortown", 1998

A surreal dream of impossible colors symbolizes the struggle to articulate an ineffable, terrifying reality.

In simple terms: Dream shows indescribable horror beyond ordinary language.

Key Takeaway

Seek language that captures the ineffable.

Themes

surrealism terror language perception

Mood

eerie introspective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

  • nightmare analysis
  • creative writing
  • therapy
  • visual arts

Key Concepts

philosophy psychology art theory

Questions to Reflect On

  • How do we convey experiences beyond words?
  • What does the color imagery reveal about fear?
A Different Perspective

Risk of being too abstract for practical insight.

4.6 out of 5 (10 ratings)

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