Ligotti's stories sometimes veer into the abstract, which can be wonderfully unsettling. I enjoy being lead astray, lost in the woods, and a certain, purposeful lack of clarity. And though I did enjoy these graphic versions of his stories, I found a couple of them unnecessarily vague to the point where I lost the interpretation.

Just the same, they're Ligotti's stories, so enjoyable. Volume 2 is a little better. ( )

The Nightmare Factory is composed of 4 Thomas Ligotti short stories made all graphic-y, with all the brightly colored pictures which make it that much more fun to look at. I can't say how they compare to the original stories because I've never read them, but I can say that the graphic novel is perfectly mediocre. All 4 stories are drawn by different artist, one of which is stunning (and the shortest story in the book) and the other 3 range from "okay" to "not so okay."

The stories are interesting I suppose, and when they aren't they are over quickly. It's a serviceable hour or so of reading. Not much to gain, but not much to lose either. Try it if you want. ( )

Joe Harris and a quartet of illustrators adapt four Ligotti stories into graphic novel format. Sadly, the transformation is not entirely successful. The stories included are "The Last Feast of Harlequin" (Ligotti's homage to HPL), "The Dreams of a Mannikin," "Dr. Locrian's Asylum," and "Teatro Grottesco."

"Harlequin" is the only one the preserves most of the original story. The realistic art style with which it is presented matches the writing style pretty well.

"Mannikin" and "Asylum" shift to a more surreal style, which makes for a good match with these more dreamlike stories from Ligotti. However, they both suffer from a degree of abridgement, which robs them of some of their Ligottian complexity.

"Teatro" is probably the weakest of the entries. Told in a realistic style that never quite connects with the original's sense of free-floating paranoia, a lot seems to have been cut out, thereby losing much of the power of the original.

I would recommend it as a worthy read to Ligotti fans, especially if they could borrow it. (Or read it surrepticiously in a B&N) I don't know if it would serve as a great introduction for the uniniated, unless someone really prefers illustrations with their text. ( )

Just in time for Halloween comes this latest addition to the Manhattan Public Library's Graphic Novel collection: The Nightmare Factory based on the stories of Thomas Ligotti. Often compared to the masters of terror Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Ligotti brings his own style to the pages of this collection of his four best known titles.

Unlike Poe and Lovecraft however, Ligotti's stories are modern day tales of terror based on ideas of solitude, apathy, and loss. His stories are so haunting because they are set in our time period and always start off so innocently. An attribute that many would say is reminiscent of authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

The four stories in this collection are all illustrated by different artists, and the variety from one story to the next gives each story its own identity.

This is a good read for those wanting to get a few extra chills this fall season. ( )

Adaptation of four horror stories by Thomas Ligotti (The Last Feast of Harlequin, Dream of a Mannikin, Dr. Locrian's Asylum, Teatro Grottesco). The stories seem mostly derivative, and while the adaptations appear to be well done, they are mostly less impressive than Ligotti's introductions to the stories would make you think. The last two stories are a notch above the other two though. ( )