3. The Conspiracy Against the Human Race By Thomas Ligotti
If you really want to get into the mind of Rust Cohle - and whilst I can't necessarily blame you, I do also worry about you - then Thomas Ligotti is the place to start. The pessimistic worldview that Matthew McConaughey's character outlined during his numerous memorable monologues on the show are not only informed by this offbeat philosophical tome, but are often almost directly quoted from it. One of Rust's little screeds seems particularly Ligotti-esque: "We became too self-aware; nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself. We are creatures that should not exist by natural law." The first non-fiction work by horror novelist Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, the book approaches ideas that Cohle has been spouting since episode one, from "are we living to our full potential" to "should the human race voluntarily end itself"? Influenced as much by the cosmic terror of the aforementioned HP Lovecraft as philosophers like Schopenhauer, Ligotti's book manages to be even more terrifying than anything The King In Yellow can dredge up, because it's entirely grounded in reality.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
