Thomas Ligotti is often cited as the most curious and remarkable figure in horror since H P Lovecraft. His work is noted by critics for its display of an exceptionally grotesque imagination and accomplished prose style. In his stories, Ligotti has followed a tradition that began with Edgar Allan Poe, portraying characters that are outside of what might be called 'normal life' and rendering a grim vision of human existence as a perpetual nightmare. The stories collected in Teatro Grottesco feature tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics.