Jon
Padgett
Weird Fiction & Horror
Debut collection The Secret of Ventriloquism named Best Fiction Book of the Year by Rue Morgue Magazine — now expanded with three new stories and translated into Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian.
Browse Books →A Voice of Weird Fiction
With over five decades of theater and audio narration experience, Padgett's voice is synonymous with Thomas Ligotti. Narrator of the official Penguin Random House audio editions.
Full Discography →Grimscribe Press
Founder and editor of Grimscribe Press — home of Vastarien: A Literary Journal, devoted to philosophical pessimism, supernatural horror, and the legacy of Thomas Ligotti.
Visit Grimscribe Press →
The Secret of Ventriloquism
Named the Best Fiction Book of the Year by Rue Morgue Magazine. Expanded edition with three new stories, a Foreword by Thomas Ligotti, and an Introduction by Matt Cardin. Translated into Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian.
The Secret of Ventriloquism impresses one as a selection of best works more than a volume of collected works to date. A glance at the table of contents alone stimulates the imagination... "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism" is what might be deemed an ultimate horror vision… [and] pulls out all the stops to convey a towering perspective that encompasses and reveals the essence of existence. That is its scope. That is how it affects those exposed to the story. When it comes to a close, one’s reaction is, "There is nothing more to be said." That is how an ultimate horror vision works its wonder...
The Secret of Ventriloquism is horror with a capital H. Some of Padgett's lines raised the hair on my neck. The stories radiate darkness… a mattock-handle-wrapped-in-barbed-wire heavy hitter.
Padgett proves with his stunning debut collection to be a worthy successor to Thomas Ligotti. There’s no gristle, no bone, no dilly-dallying here: only pure meat whose terrors seamlessly grow into the metaphysical. This volume is jam-packed with the stuff that nightmares are made of.
A Voice of
Weird Fiction
With over five decades of theater and audio narration experience, Jon Padgett's voice has become synonymous with the works of Thomas Ligotti. Official narrator of the Penguin Random House audio editions of Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe and The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.
Grimscribe Press
& Vastarien: a Literary Journal
Padgett is founder and editor of Grimscribe Press — home of Vastarien: A Literary Journal, devoted to critical and creative engagement with the corpus of Thomas Ligotti and associated writers. It is on indefinite hiatus and is therefore closed for submissions
Visit Grimscribe Press
Jon Padgett is a professional — though lapsed — ventriloquist who lives in New Orleans.
He is the Editor-In-Chief of Grimscribe Press. His debut collection The Secret of Ventriloquism was named the Best Fiction Book of the Year by Rue Morgue Magazine and has been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian.
Padgett's voice has become synonymous with the works of Thomas Ligotti. He is the official narrator for Penguin Random House's Ligotti audio editions and has produced numerous vinyl recordings for Cadabra Records.
Contact Jon →Upcoming
Appearances
Thomas Ligotti, read by Jon Padgett with music by Chris Bozzone. May 25, 2019.
Watch →Thomas Ligotti, read by Jon Padgett with music by Chris Bozzone and Barry Knob. July 30, 2022.
Watch →A 2005 reading of my favorite short story.
Watch on YouTube →A reading for WRBH Reading Radio for the Blind & Print Handicapped.
Listen on SoundCloud →An excerpt from the Cadabra Records release, scored by Chris Bozzone and Theologian.
Listen on SoundCloud →The horror fiction podcast PseudoPod was the first venue to feature a reading of "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism," which began the journey of my work into the audio world.
All Appearances on PseudoPod →A video discussion on the work of Thomas Ligotti with Sean Patrick Hazlett (Episode 118).
Two of the leading forces in weird fiction discuss Thomas Ligotti, horror, philosophy, and creepy puppets.
A two-part conversation on Thomas Ligotti, writing lessons, impostor syndrome, The Secret of Ventriloquism, and weird fiction.
Jon Padgett talks Thomas Ligotti, Vastarien, The Ritual, and more with Mike Davis.
Get in Touch
For speaking engagements, narration inquiries, press requests, or anything else — reach out directly.
JonPadgettAuthor @jon.padgett.grimscribe.press @jon.padgett.grimscribe.pressMessage received. Thank you.