The Devil's Library

In this bonus episode Ligeia and Leraje delve into this little known gem of 19th century horror literature which is both a very modern Gothic horror and also a critical look at Victorian society. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep18-5.pdf The Great God Pan: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL57631274M/The_Great_God_Pan Devil's Library on: Bluesky:  https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social I...

This month we initiate a new Devil's Librarian, Jazz, alongside the regular four of us. Jazz kept telling us we should read The Haar so we did and as it was Jazz's idea, we invited her along too! Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep18.pdf The Haar: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL36436160W/The_Haar What else we've read or are reading: Authority: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17453058...

Still stinging from the White is for Witching episode in which a character was very disdainful of one of their favourite writers, Ligeia and Leraje exchange the nihilism of Ligotti for the Gothic darkness of Edgar Allan Poe. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep17-6.pdf The Complete Works: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL40967W/Complete_Stories_and_Poems_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe Devil's Libra...

The only thing Ligeia and Leraje are more agreed upon than their mutual hatred of overly long hot Summers is the certainty of wanting to talk more about the existential shadowy bleakness of Thomas Ligotti's words. So draw the curtains against the awful day, light a solitary candle and listen in as they descend into depravity and the pleasures of the beautiful darkness. Transcript (PDF): https://de...

Ligeia, Pike, Lithos and Leraje discuss their thoughts about their last read - Helen Oyeyemi's 2010 Somerset Maugham Award winning novel White is for Witching. A modern gothic horror with themes of generational trauma, the malevolence of racism and consumption. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep17.pdf White is for Witching: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16945243M/White_Is_for_Witch...

Yep, still hot. So to fight off the impending sense of the inevitability of a sun induced doom Ligeia and Leraje distract themselves from the heat with the cold nihilism of Thomas Ligotti. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/16-5.pdf Book: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3273775W/Songs_of_a_Dead_Dreamer Devil's Library on: Bluesky: https://thedevilslibrary.bsky.social Instagram: https://...

This time we read and discussed Andrew Joseph White's debut adult novel (he has written several youth oriented books prior to this). An incredibly disturbing, relentless, emotionally punishing and yet very important work, it is strongly recommended you consult the trigger/content warnings on his website (see link below) before reading! Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep16.pdf Novel c...

Ligeia and Leraje love Ligotti but we do sometimes need a break. So we are turning to Clive Barker's Books of Blood, originally released as 6 separate volumes each containing a few short stories, some of which are famous (The Forbidden became the movie Candyman) and some which aren't. There's no plan, we chose these stories completely arbitrarily. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep15...

In this episode we discuss Delilah S Dawson's sapphic, sensorily lavish horror novella Bloom. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep15.pdf Bloom: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL34370757W/Bloom Also read this month: Leraje: Slow Gods by Claire North and The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin Ligeia: What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher and My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen Lith...

As temperatures soar across Europe, Ligeia and Leraje decide to cheer themselves up with three more stories from the Maestro of Misanthropy, Thomas Ligotti. This time we read the stories from 'The Voice of the Demon' section from Grimscribe. There are four stories in that section but we had already read 'In The Shadow of Another World' so we didn't talk much about that one. If you want to hear us...

This time we talk about Iain Banks' 1984 debut novel The Wasp Factory. The book carries content warnings, notably for the animal cruelty in it and so does this episode as we have to discuss these aspects. Obviously we don't graphically describe the details though. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep14.pdf The Wasp Factory: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26871881M/The_Wasp_Factory Dev...

After our Susanna Clarke diversion Ligeia and Leraje dive back into the weird world of happiness hater Thomas Ligotti, and we're thrilled to be joined once again by Chris of the Doom Folk Metal band Buzzard as we look at Ligotti's Nyctalops Trilogy (The Chymist, Drink to Me Only with Labyrinthine Eyes and Eyes of the Lynx). Non-Spotify ways to listen: https://devilslibrary.org Transcript (PDF): ht...

This month we read and then discussed Olga Ravn's stunning Booker Prize long-listed novel The Wax Child which is based on the Witchcraft persecutions in 17th Century Jutland. You want to make Satanists cry Olga? Because this is how you make Satanists cry! Non-Spotify options for listening/subscribing to this podcast are at https://devilslibrary.org Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep1...

The final episode rescued from the pre-Devil's Library abyss, in which Ligeia and Leraje talked about Susanna Clarke's prize winning novel, Piranesi. Non-Spotify options for listening/subscribing to this podcast are at https://devilslibrary.org Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep12-7.pdf Piranesi (novel): https://openlibrary.org/books/OL36128954M/Piranesi  

Another episode rescued from the pre-Devil's Library abyss, in which Ligeia and Leraje talked for the very first time about the hugely influential work of Thomas Ligotti. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep12-6.pdf Book: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20016684W/Songs_of_a_dead_dreamer_and_Grimscribe Previous Ligotti episodes: Part 2: https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-35-son...

In this bonus minisode Ligeia and Leraje read and discuss the final two short stories from Clarke's short story collection set in the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell universe. Non-Spotify options for listening/subscribing to this podcast are at https://devilslibrary.org Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep12-5.pdf Part I episode: https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-105-the-ladi...

This month we discuss Pike's choice of 'Roadside Picnic' a stone-cold classic of the Sci-Fi genre first in print in 1972 that has inspired countless imitators and directly influenced Andrei Tarkovsky's movie 'Stalker' and games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Shadow of Chernobyl Non-Spotify options for listening/subscribing to this podcast are at https://devilslibrary.org Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibr...

Another episode rescued from the pre-Devil's Library abyss, in which Ligeia and Leraje talk about the sequel to The Exorcist, Legion. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep11-6.pdf The Exorcist Devil's Library Episode: https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-96-the-exorcist-by-william-peter-blatty Legion (novel): https://openlibrary.org/works/OL927214W/Legion

In this bonus episode (that we really need to stop calling minisodes as there's nothing mini about them!) Ligeia and Leraje read and discuss three more short stories from Clarke's short story collection set in the Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell universe. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep11-5.pdf Part I episode: https://thedevilslibrary.libsyn.com/episode-105-the-ladies-of-grace-adi...

In this episode, The Devil's Librarian's go to purgatory. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep11.pdf Book: https://www.librarything.com/work/35595680/t/A-Blackened-Heart-A-Blackened-Soul

In this bonus episode, Ligeia and Leraje take a Ligotti break (but don't worry, we will get back to him!) and talk about 3 stories from Susanna Clarke's short story collection, The Ladies of Grace Adieu. Transcript (PDF) - https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep10-5.pdf The Ladies of Grace Adieu - https://www.librarything.com/work/1363050/t/The-Ladies-of-Grace-Adieu-and-Other-Stories Jonathon Strange and M...

In this episode, Lithos, Pike, Ligeia and Leraje talk about Lithos' choice 'Play Nice' by Rachel Harrison - another episode with mixed opinions! Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep10.pdf Play Nice: https://www.librarything.com/work/33411221/t/Play-Nice

Another episode rescued from pre-Devil's Library time, Leraje's audio quality is not great due to a misconfigured mic. In this episode Ligeia and Leraje talked about The Exorcist, how it compared to the arguably more famous movie and what we took from it as a novel. Transcript (PDF): https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep9-6.pdf The Exorcist (novel): https://www.librarything.com/work/38484/t/The-Exorcist...

In January of 2025, on a different podcast, Ligeia and Leraje started doing episodes about books and reading. The original intent was to keep them short - but they soon got long! In the summer of '25, we started The Devil's Library but we thought it was a shame we had left the older episodes behind and so here they are. Be warned - the audio quality is dodgy in places! In this short episode we tal...

The Devil's Librarians talk about Ruthanna Emrys' debut novel Winter Tide and its role in countering Lovecraft's personal xenophobia whilst remaining true to the Mythos itself. Transcript: https://devilslibrary.org/t/ep9.pdf Winter Tide: https://www.librarything.com/work/18582659/t/Winter-Tide The Innsmouth Legacy series (3 works, a prequel short story called The Litany of Earth and 2 novels - Win...