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Jon Padgett

Goodreads Author

Born

in Winterpark, The United States

Twitter

Jon_Padgett

Genre

Horror, Fiction

Influences

Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft, William Faulkner, Samuel Beckett, Shir ...more

Member Since

September 2012

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Jon Padgett is a professional–though lapsed–ventriloquist who lives in New Orleans. He is the Editor-In-Chief of Grimscribe Press, which publishes Vastarien: A Literary Journal , a source of critical study and creative response to the work of Thomas Ligotti. Padgett’s first short story collection, The Secret of Ventriloquism, was named the Best Fiction Book of the Year by Rue Morgue Magazine.

Padgett’s voice has also become synonymous with the works of Thomas Ligotti. Padgett has lent his voice to numerous Thomas Ligotti works, including the recently released Penguin Random House audio version of Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe and various Cadabra Record releases, “The Bungalow House,” “The Red Tower,” “The Small People,” “Gas Stat ...more

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Jon Padgett’s books

Average rating: 4.01 · 4,823 ratings · 911 reviews · 52 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Secret of Ventriloquism 3.89 avg rating — 2,252 ratings — published 2016 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 1, Issue 2 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Jill Hand (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Yves Tourigny (Editor) 4.23 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Broker of Nightmares by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author), Luke Spooner (Illustrator) 4.23 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 1, Issue 3 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Trueman Anna (Designer), Aeron Alfrey (Contributor) 4.11 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Infusorium 4.29 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 2, Issue 1 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Gemma Files (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), David Peak (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.02 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 2, Issue 2 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), D.P. Watt (Goodreads Author) (Contributor ), Robin Gow (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.04 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 2, Issue 3 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Matt Cardin (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Matt Thompson (Contributor) 4.05 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 3, Issue 2 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Harry O. Morris (Illustrator), Romana Lockwood (Contributor) 4.47 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vastarien: Vol. 3, Issue 1 by Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Matt Cardin (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Michael Cisco (Editor) 4.41 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Jon Padgett's Blog

THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM, EXPANDED EDITION

Author: Jon Padgett

Cover and Frontispiece by Dave Felton

Cover Design by Jonathan Dennison

Publication Date: August 9, 2023

Trade Hardcover, Laminate (70 lbs paper) – $40 USD
(Shipping and handling included worldwide, regardless of destination)
5.000″ x 8.000″, 248 pgs.

Trade Paperback – $20 USD
(Shipping and handling included worldwide, regardless of destination)
4.250″ x 7.000″, 342 pgs.

Synopsis
Jon Read more of this blog post »

5 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 05, 2023 10:14 • Tags: ligotti-lovecraft

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Series by Jon Padgett

Vastarien (14 books)
by

Jon Padgett (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Harry O. Morris (Illustrator),

Romana Lockwood (Contributor),

Alex Jennings (Contributor),

Sam Hicks (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

Kurt Fawver (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

L.C. von Hessen (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),

Rhonda Pressley Veit (Contributor),

more…
4.23 avg rating — 679 ratings

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Jon’s Recent Updates

Jon and 1 other person liked VII's review of The Secret of Ventriloquism: "Some of the stories are not that good but generally, I prefer having this kind of horror taking place in a familiar world instead of the surreal words that Ligotti’s characters usually find themselves in. I also like that the stories are somewhat con" Read more of this review »
Nov 28, 2024 12:49PM · see review
Jon and 3 other people liked C.F. Page's review of Glass Stories: "Ivy Grimes's Glass Stories is a collection of postmodern ghost stories, which are occasionally laced with mind-bending philosophical ideas (perhaps challenges). But more abstractly speaking, it's like a folk musician on a log somewhere, perhaps a gla" Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2024 04:08PM · see review
Jon and 6 other people liked Paul's review of Glass Stories: "Glass—made of sand; born of fire; hard; transparent, translucent, or opaque; glossy; uniform or with captured “impurities;” susceptible to shattering when thin; seemingly solid, yet imperceptibly liquid—these are the components of Ivy Grimes’ sevente" Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2024 04:08PM · see review
Jon and 4 other people liked Rachel's review of Glass Stories: "What a treat! This collection of short stories from Grimes is a lovely tableau of whimsical, sometimes dark, fairy tales. If you are a fan of Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" or Neil Gaiman's fairy tale retellings, you'll love Glass Stories. Some " Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2024 04:08PM · see review
Jon made a comment on Ajti ’s review of The Secret of Ventriloquism " That's fair. Thanks for giving it a try! ...more "
Aug 14, 2024 09:45AM · see review
Jon rated a book it was amazing Noctuary & the Spectral Link by Thomas Ligotti	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 13, 2024 08:27AM · 12 likes · like
Jon is now following Stijn Moreels Author of Indigo (Inzycht, #1)
Mar 23, 2024 04:59PM · like
Jon made a comment on Char’s review of The Secret of Ventriloquism " Thanks so much, Char! Another wonderful, beautifully written review! "
Oct 18, 2023 02:12PM · see review

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Quotes by Jon Padgett (?)

“Accept as the days and nights go by that you are a walking skeleton, an ambulatory miracle of meat. New thoughts come, but they arrive from beyond the foam, beyond the foam, beyond the foamy sponge of your brain.”
― Jon Padgett, The Secret of Ventriloquism

4 likes

“Houses dream, did you know that?” I asked the shock-haired boy who followed me, head bowed (perhaps in prayer). “All things dream, to one degree or another. And sometimes our waking selves share dreams of the darkened hollow, the deep forest, city squares. Like them, houses dream, and when those dreams are nightmares, we call them haunted. This is such a house.”
― Jon Padgett, The Secret of Ventriloquism

4 likes

“At first I couldn’t get the fucking skull to stop screaming no matter what I did. But you don’t want to hear about that. You want to know why I killed him.”
― Jon Padgett, The Secret of Ventriloquism

2 likes

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Jon’s Quotes

“Let's say it once and for all: Poe and Lovecraft - not to mention a Bruno Schulz or a Franz Kafka - were what the world at large would consider extremely disturbed individuals. And most people who are that disturbed are not able to create works of fiction. These and other names I could mention are people who are just on the cusp of total psychological derangement. Sometimes they cross over and fall into the province of 'outsider artists.' That's where the future development of horror fiction lies - in the next person who is almost too emotionally and psychologically damaged to live in the world but not too damaged to produce fiction.”
― Thomas Ligotti

103 likes

“It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.”
― Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories

tags: creepy, woman

894 likes

“To my mind, a well-developed sense of humor is the surest indication of a person's humanity, no matter how black and bitter that humor may be.”
― Thomas Ligotti

288 likes

“The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment. And only this condition of vicious insight allows us a full grasp of the world, all things considered, just as a frigid melancholy grants us full possession of ourselves. We may hide from horror only in the heart of horror. (“The Medusa”)”
― Thomas Ligotti

tags: enlightenment, horror, insight, sinister, terror

101 likes

“No other life forms know they are alive, and neither do they know they will die. This is our curse alone. Without this hex upon our heads, we would never have withdrawn as far as we have from the natural—so far and for such a time that it is a relief to say what we have been trying with our all not to say: We have long since been denizens of the natural world. Everywhere around us are natural habitats, but within us is the shiver of startling and dreadful things. Simply put: We are not from here. If we vanished tomorrow, no organism on this planet would miss us. Nothing in nature needs us.”
― Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

137 likes

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