--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So it was that the Red Tower put into…" description: "\"“So it was that the Red Tower put into production its new, more terrible and perplexing, line of unique novelty items. Among the objects and constructi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/thomas-ligotti-2073_gothic_so-it-was-that-the-red-tower-put-into-pr_2193867.jpg" --- # So it was that the Red Tower put into production its new… ![“So it was that the Red Tower put into production its new, more terrible and perplexing, line of unique novelty items. Among the objects and constructions now manufactured were several of an almost innocent nature. These included tiny, delicate cameos that were heavier than their size would…” quote by Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/thomas-ligotti-2073_gothic_so-it-was-that-the-red-tower-put-into-pr_2193867.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/thomas-ligotti-2073_gothic_so-it-was-that-the-red-tower-put-into-pr_2193867.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/thomas-ligotti-2073_gothic_so-it-was-that-the-red-tower-put-into-pr_2193867.jpg) > ““So it was that the Red Tower put into production its new, more terrible and perplexing, line of unique novelty items. Among the objects and constructions now manufactured were several of an almost innocent nature. These included tiny, delicate cameos that were heavier than their size would suggest, far heavier, and lockets whose shiny outer surface flipped open to reveal a black reverberant abyss inside, a deep blackness roaring with echoes. Along the same lines was a series of lifelike replicas of internal organs and physiological structures, many of them evidencing an advanced stages of disease and all of them displeasingly warm and soft to the touch. There was a fake disembodied hand on which fingernails would grow several inches overnight and insistently grew back should one attempt to clip them. Numerous natural objects, mostly bulbous gourds, were designed to produce a long, deafening scream whenever they were picked up or otherwise disturbed in their vegetable stillness. Less scrutable were such things as hardened globs of lava into whose rough, igneous forms were sent a pair of rheumy eyes that perpetually shifted their gaze from side to side like a relentless pendulum. And there was also a humble piece of cement, a fragment broken away from any street or sidewalk, that left a most intractable stain, greasy and green, on whatever surface it was placed. But such fairly simple items were eventually followed, and ultimately replaced, by more articulated objects and constructions. One example of this complex type of novelty item was an ornate music box that, when opened, emitted a brief gurgling or sucking sound in emulation of a dying individual's death rattle. Another product manufactured in great quantity at the Red Tower was a pocket watch in a gold casing which opened to reveal a curious timepiece whose numerals were represented by tiny quivering insects while the circling 'hands' were reptilian tongues, slender and pink. But these examples hardly begin to hint at the range of goods that came from the factory during its novelty phase of production. I should at least mention the exotic carpets woven with intricate abstract patterns that, when focused upon for a certain length of time, composed themselves into fleeting phantasmagoric scenes of a kind which might pass through a fever-stricken or even permanently damaged brain.”” [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a factory that creates bizarre, unsettling objects that blend the familiar with the grotesque, highlighting humanity’s fascination with the uncanny and the limits of comfort. **In simple terms:** A factory makes strange, creepy items that mix everyday things with horror. Key Takeaway Recognize how novelty can mask deeper unease. Themes unsettling creativity technology humanity grotesque Mood eerie curious thoughtful Type literary philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Art installations - horror design - themed parties - psychological experiments - museum exhibits Key Concepts Existential dread surrealism material culture Questions to Reflect On - What does the grotesque reveal about our hidden fears? - How can unsettling objects be used to explore personal anxieties? A Different Perspective The focus on shock may overlook the potential for empathy or therapeutic use of the uncanny. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Factory Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factory-novelty-4790367/) [Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) [Humble pie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humble-pie/) [Lifelike Replicas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifelike-replicas-4790368/) [Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty/) [Novelty Items](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty-items-4790369/) [Unique Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unique-novelty-4790370/) [Weird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weird/) ## Related quotes > [Seize from every moment its unique novelty, and do not prepare your joys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/seize-from-every-moment-its-unique-novelty-and-do-not-prepare-your/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [Everyone in my life who is important, they feed me humble pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-fisher/everyone-in-my-life-who-is-important-they-feed-me-humble-pie/) [Jordan Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-fisher/) > [“I know you do not care much for such revelries, but trust me—this one you will enjoy, Harry. You and I will sit at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-kay-penman/i-know-you-do-not-care-much-for-such-revelries-but-trust-me-this-one/) [Sharon Kay Penman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-kay-penman/) > [I have a soft spot for 'Wind of Change' because it was my first one, and it was a departure from Humble Pie -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-frampton/i-have-a-soft-spot-for-wind-of-change-because-it-was-my-first-one-and/) [Peter Frampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-frampton/) > [I don't discriminate when it comes to dumplings. Give me a generous plate of pretty much anything wrapped in a starchy, doughy casing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-saffitz/i-don-t-discriminate-when-it-comes-to-dumplings-give-me-a-generous/) [Claire Saffitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-saffitz/) > [That a thing made by hand, the work and thought of a single craftsman, can endure much longer than its maker, through centuries in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/that-a-thing-made-by-hand-the-work-and-thought-of-a-single-craftsman/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [A lot of times I'll see guys who are nowhere near the level of the board they're riding. They might love surfing and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-slater/a-lot-of-times-i-ll-see-guys-who-are-nowhere-near-the-level-of-the/) [Kelly Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-slater/) > [We're quite volatile as individuals, but that doesn't work exponentially when we are together. Relationships are about eating humble pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-ritchie/we-re-quite-volatile-as-individuals-but-that-doesn-t-work/) [Guy Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-ritchie/) > [Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/now-repentance-is-no-fun-at-all-it-is-something-much-harder-than/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“What do you want?” I ask. “A large slice of humble pie?” “We don’t serve that here.” “Sure we do,” Dan calls. “But you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-collins/what-do-you-want-i-ask-a-large-slice-of-humble-pie-we-don-t-serve/) [Yvonne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-collins/) > [Riding in another drop, ain't talking Enterprise They try to see me, get diabetes from humble pie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/riding-in-another-drop-ain-t-talking-enterprise-they-try-to-see-me/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) > [“With Cosmic Ordering you will never eat humble pie again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/with-cosmic-ordering-you-will-never-eat-humble-pie-again/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [It is satisfying following such an emphatic victory over the current unbeaten champion (Lucian Bute) to know that there's a lot of people eating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/it-is-satisfying-following-such-an-emphatic-victory-over-the-current/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [“Humble pie tastes horrible but is great for the digestive system.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissy-silva/humble-pie-tastes-horrible-but-is-great-for-the-digestive-system/) [Sissy Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissy-silva/) > [“Eating was still a sore point with Smriti.She failed to understand,when interesting options like mango juice or chocolates were available,why was she forced by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chitralekha-paul/eating-was-still-a-sore-point-with-smriti-she-failed-to-understand/) [Chitralekha Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chitralekha-paul/) ## More by Thomas Ligotti > [“Subsequently there ensues an epoch of complex, proliferating intrigues and conspiracies among the ranks of double agents, whose agendas become so densely intertwined that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/subsequently-there-ensues-an-epoch-of-complex-proliferating-intrigues/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The point that in the absence of birth nobody exists who can be deprived of happiness is terribly conspicuous. For optimists, this fact plays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-point-that-in-the-absence-of-birth-nobody-exists-who-can-be/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. Nothing compares, even oblivion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-worst-fear-of-the-race-yes-the-world-suddenly-transformed-into-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“In supernatural horror stories, however, magical thinking is a completely different matter. Those characters contending with what seems to be the work of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/in-supernatural-horror-stories-however-magical-thinking-is-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“When you are alone in the wilderness, opinions or beliefs of any kind are dropped as the absurd accoutrements they are. But after being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/when-you-are-alone-in-the-wilderness-opinions-or-beliefs-of-any-kind/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“There seems to be an inborn drive in all human beings not to live in a steady emotional state, which would suggest that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/there-seems-to-be-an-inborn-drive-in-all-human-beings-not-to-live-in/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Nature proceeds by blunders; that is its way. It is also ours. So if we have blundered by regarding consciousness as a blunder, why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/nature-proceeds-by-blunders-that-is-its-way-it-is-also-ours-so-if-we/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [We live in a permanent state of bad faith, a mutual representation of ourselves to one another for the sake of remaining sane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/we-live-in-a-permanent-state-of-bad-faith-a-mutual-representation-of/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The darkness of the grotesque is an immortal enigma: in all legends of the dead, in all the tales of creatures of the night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-darkness-of-the-grotesque-is-an-immortal-enigma-in-all-legends-of/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“If truth is what you seek, then the examined life will only take you on a long ride to the limits of solitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/if-truth-is-what-you-seek-then-the-examined-life-will-only-take-you/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The dismembered limbs of dolls and puppets are strewn about everywhere. Posters, signs, billboards, and leaflets of various sorts are scattered around like playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-dismembered-limbs-of-dolls-and-puppets-are-strewn-about/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“As I drifted along with my bodiless invisibility, I felt myself more and more becoming an empty, floating shape, seeing without being seen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/as-i-drifted-along-with-my-bodiless-invisibility-i-felt-myself-more/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The lessons in measurement of cloacal forces. Time as a flow of sewage. The excrement of space, scatology of creation. The voiding of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-lessons-in-measurement-of-cloacal-forces-time-as-a-flow-of-sewage/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [And the worst possible thing we could know — worse than knowing of our descent from a mass of microorganisms — is that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/and-the-worst-possible-thing-we-could-know-worse-than-knowing-of-our/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“Only catatonics and coma patients can persevere in a dignified withdrawal from life’s rattle and hum. Without a “yes” in our hearts, nothing would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/only-catatonics-and-coma-patients-can-persevere-in-a-dignified/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) [Explore all 187 Thomas Ligotti quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) ## More Gothic quotes > [Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by by journalists - 'goff'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siouxsie-sioux/gothic-in-its-purest-sense-is-actually-a-very-powerful-twisted-genre/) [Siouxsie Sioux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siouxsie-sioux/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“The marine underworld stretched below the ship and embodied many secrets. The disappearance of Olga had become one of the mysteries that would remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-apan/the-marine-underworld-stretched-below-the-ship-and-embodied-many/) [Tiffany Apan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-apan/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) [Echo and the Bunnymen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-and-the-bunnymen/) > [There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make one almost enamoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-few-of-us-who-have-not-sometimes-wakened-before-dawn-either/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-le-fanu/and-when-she-had-spoken-such-a-rhapsody-she-would-press-me-more/) [Sheridan Le Fanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-le-fanu/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house that tilted on the crest of Foster Hill. Its gables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-jo-wright/cavernous-windows-opened-in-a-silent-scream-on-the-face-of-the-gothic/) [Jaime Jo Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-jo-wright/) > [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/) [Maggie Sn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-sn/) > [Most buildings, whether they're Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high tech for their time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/most-buildings-whether-they-re-gothic-cathedrals-or-romanesque-ones/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [“And so the afternoon stretched on, and Ezbon toasted their imminent defeat to the dregs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/and-so-the-afternoon-stretched-on-and-ezbon-toasted-their-imminent/) [C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/) > [Below are some quotations along these lines. Select a quote for your Gothic Myspace layout or contribute one of your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ramirez/below-are-some-quotations-along-these-lines-select-a-quote-for-your/) [Laura Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ramirez/) > [“A good enemy can be better than the best of friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/a-good-enemy-can-be-better-than-the-best-of-friend/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > [Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/magic-is-a-state-of-mind-it-is-often-portrayed-as-very-black-and/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“The search party became zombie silhouettes in shafts of early-morning light, yawning, despondent, and halfway home when a boy’s scream pierced the fog—“OVER HERE!”—and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-vander-ark-2/the-search-party-became-zombie-silhouettes-in-shafts-of-early-morning/) [Jake Vander-Ark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-vander-ark-2/) [Browse all 364 Gothic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So it was that the Red Tower put into production its new, more terrible and perplexing, line of unique novelty items. Among the objects and constructions now manufactured were several of an almost innocent nature. These included tiny, delicate cameos that were heavier than their size would suggest, far heavier, and lockets whose shiny outer surface flipped open to reveal a black reverberant abyss inside, a deep blackness roaring with echoes. Along the same lines was a series of lifelike replicas of internal organs and physiological structures, many of them evidencing an advanced stages of disease and all of them displeasingly warm and soft to the touch. There was a fake disembodied hand on which fingernails would grow several inches overnight and insistently grew back should one attempt to clip them. Numerous natural objects, mostly bulbous gourds, were designed to produce a long, deafening scream whenever they were picked up or otherwise disturbed in their vegetable stillness. Less scrutable were such things as hardened globs of lava into whose rough, igneous forms were sent a pair of rheumy eyes that perpetually shifted their gaze from side to side like a relentless pendulum. And there was also a humble piece of cement, a fragment broken away from any street or sidewalk, that left a most intractable stain, greasy and green, on whatever surface it was placed. But such fairly simple items were eventually followed, and ultimately replaced, by more articulated objects and constructions. One example of this complex type of novelty item was an ornate music box that, when opened, emitted a brief gurgling or sucking sound in emulation of a dying individual's death rattle. Another product manufactured in great quantity at the Red Tower was a pocket watch in a gold casing which opened to reveal a curious timepiece whose numerals were represented by tiny quivering insects while the circling 'hands' were reptilian tongues, slender and pink. 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