Author | Critic
“This was an incredible collection with real breadth and depth of subjects covered. Wonderfully evocative imagery, horror that evokes disgust and introspection, and really excellent characterization. I’ve become a big fan of Mike Thorn’s work.”
This definitive edition includes:
• A foreword by Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror)
• Author notes for all 16 original stories
• 17 essays on horror cinema
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In the introduction to Calgary writer Mike Thorn’s short-story collection, Darkest Hours: Expanded Edition, American horror aficionado Sadie Hartmann offers a list of the complex subgenres found inside.
Hartmann, who goes by the name Mother Horror, found traces of everything from “gross-out body horror,” to “satirical black comedy,” “slasher,” “urban legends” and even the “Satanic panic” of the 1980s in Thorn’s work.
“As Mark’s friendships begin to deteriorate, so too does his school and home life, making the shack feel like the only good thing in his world. I felt that one reason Mark may have been easily swayed was his own proclivity towards violence but another may have been the implied physical abuse at the hands of his father.”
“High-octane horror that really delivers while never being too predictable. Mike Thorn respects the genre and […] is a well-read student of horror.”
Read Ray Palen’s review of Shelter for the Damned on Hellnotes.
“Shelter for the Damned is a supernatural horror story that touches on the needs of the young who have hard, sometimes abusive lives. […] I left this book with an aftertaste of unending horror and a real sense of loss.”
“Today I’d like to welcome Mike Thorn, author of the horror novel, Shelter for the Damned, which I recently had the privilege of reviewing.”
“[D]ark horror at its most intriguing as readers can simply read for the thrill of the darkness or interpret events in a much deeper way.”
Read the full review.
Mike Thorn 