In 2014, the HBO television series "True Detective" attracted attention from some of Ligotti's fans because of the striking resemblance between the pessimistic, antinatalist philosophy espoused in the first few episodes by the character of Rust Cohle (played by Matthew McConaughey) and Ligotti's own philosophical pessimism and antinatalism, especially as expressed in "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race". After accusations that dialogue from Cohle's character in "True Detective" were lifted from "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race," the series' writer, Nic Pizzolatto, confirmed in "The Wall Street Journal" that Ligotti, along with several other writers and texts in the weird supernatural horror genre, had indeed influenced him. Pizzolatto said he found "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race" to be "incredibly powerful writing". On the topic of hard-boiled detectives, he asked: "What could be more hardboiled than the worldview of Ligotti or Cioran?"