The Vast Metaphysical Conspiracy

This newish essay by Benjamin Steele at his blog is a fascinating take on two things very personally appealing to me: conspiracies of all kinds and weird fiction. Using Thomas Ligotti's thoughts on the matter as a jumping point, Steele continues a thoughtful piece about the looming threat of the idea of conspiracy, both "mundane" and metaphysical. Many of us can easily summon the mental image of the obsessive conspiracy theorist delving into political intrigue and less tangible things like UFOs, feverishly attempting to correlate heaps of data that--at least occasionally--reveal truth. Imagine the terror that drives the truly dedicated conspiracy digger! Imagine the looming sense of malevolence they must feel upon uncovering some forbidden truth or perceived realism.

Now, imagine the usual frenzy that accompanies the action and idea of perceived conspiracies applied to the metaphysical. This is what drove Benjamin Steele to pen this analysis, and probably impels Thomas Ligotti's latest non-fiction book (The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, a forthcoming work on pessimist philosophy and horror) forward. If you're as interested in a subject that very readily yields itself to overlap with the field of weird art and literature, then you, too, will enjoy Steele's blog post.

-Grim Blogger