THE FROLIC is one of the earliest published stories by Thomas LIgotti, though rather untypical of his later output except in the central vision of "John Doe" that darkens this drawing-room vignette.

The main screen image is of a circa 1916 crime scene photo, reproduced in Luc Sante's book EVIDENCE. The briefly-glimpsed closing screen image is one you should be familiar with, and hopefully will realize why it's been placed there.

Notes on this reading:
1. Listening through the cheap speaker in a tablet, phone, or indifferently equipped laptop doesn't do justice to what my voice and recording equipment put into the reading. You need headphones or decent earbuds to get from the sound what's fully there.
2. In the end title, I note that my reading is done--as apparently are so many others available--without permission of the author. As a former professional in higher education who became a non-legal expert on copyright law, I acknowledge that this recording remains available only at Mr. Ligotti's discretion. Under copyright law, it qualifies as a "derivative work", which is a right of the copyright owner to authorize. Check out 17 U.S. Code sec. 106. It's a dubious stretch to think that "Fair Use" (sec. 107) cover me or others on YouTube. Only the largesse of the author can do that--and we should be grateful for it.

But enough of the professorial downer. Thom Ligotti's fictional one is what we want to be entertained by.

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