Mike Thorn’s Favorite First Reads of 2021
Bleedthrough and Other Small Horrors, by Scarlett R. Algee (2020)
The Flowers of Evil, by Charles Baudelaire [edited by Marthiel and Jackson Mathews, multiple editors] (1857)
The Unnamable, by Samuel Beckett (1953)
Selling the Splat Pack: The DVD Revolution and the American Horror Film, by Mark Bernard (2014)
The Brigadier and the Golf Widow, by John Cheever (1964)
On the Heights of Despair, by E. M. Cioran [translated by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston] (1933)
The Trouble with Being Born, by E. M. Cioran [translated by Richard Howard] (1973)
Porno Valley, by Philip Elliott (2021)
Less Than Zero, by Bret Easton Ellis (1985)
The Rules of Attraction, by Bret Easton Ellis (1987)
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
The Informers, by Bret Easton Ellis (1994)
Glamorama, by Bret Easton Ellis (1998)
Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis (2005)
Imperial Bedrooms, by Bret Easton Ellis (2010)
The Shards, by Bret Easton Ellis (2021)
Carmilla, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1872)
The Queer Art of Failure, by J. Jack Halberstam (2011)
In the Presence of Schopenhauer, by Michel Houellebecq [translated by Andrew Brown] (2017)
Humanimus, by David Huebert (2020)
The Damned, by J. K. Huysmans [translated by Terry Hale] (1891)
The Europeans, by Henry James (1878)
Washington Square, by Henry James (1880)
The Bostonians, by Henry James (1886)
Ghost Stories, by Henry James (1898)
Billy Summers, by Stephen King (2021)
The Wingspan of Severed Hands, by Joe Koch (2020)
Straydog, by Kathe Koja (2002)
The Blue Mirror, by Kathe Koja (2004)
Dark Factory, by Kathe Koja (2022; forthcoming)
I’m from Nowhere, by Lindsay Lerman (2019)
Shock!, by Richard Matheson (1961)
The Birds and Other Stories, by Daphne du Maurier (1952)
The Running Trees, by Amber McMillan (2021)
The Seventh Mansion, by Maryse Meijer (2020)
Circles, by Josiah Morgan (2020)
The Barrens, by Joyce Carol Oates (2001)
1984, by George Orwell (1949)
White is for Witching, by Helen Oyeyemi (2009)
The World as Will and Representation, Volume I, by Arthur Schopenhauer [translated by Judith
Norman and Alistair Welchman] (1818)
Wes Craven: Interviews, edited by Shannon Blake Skelton (2019)
Of One Pure Will, by Farah Rose Smith (2019)
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt (1992)
A History of Touch, by Erin Emily Ann Vance (2022; forthcoming)
Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West (1933)
The Ax, by Donald E. Westlake (1997)
Mike Thorn on Largely the Truth, with Brennan Storr
“It’s almost Halloween and so I’ve brought in an expert on scaring the hell out of you. On this episode, horror author Mike Thorn joins me to talk his latest short story anthology, the darkly powerful Peel Back and See, out on October 29th from Journalstone Publishing. We also talk about horror on film, salvia trips, sleep paralysis, and a whole lot more.”
IndieMuse: Interview With Mike Thorn, Author of Shelter for the Damned
“Mike Thorn’s debut novel, Shelter For the Damned was just released from JournalStone on February 26, 2021. It recently received a 4-star review from IndieMuse. He is also the author of Darkest Hours, a short story collection.
We cornered Mike in the days leading up to his first novel release to learn a little more about him and his latest book.”
“Art Excites Me When It Feels Reckless”: Philip Elliott Interviews Mike Thorn for Into the Void
“I often write about characters who are afraid of their environments and themselves, and who want to disappear. This set of interests flies in the face of many contemporary narrative trends, which align with the mandates of social media; namely, the desire to be seen.”
Interview with Mike Thorn on More2Read
In his latest interview, Mike Thorn answers Lou Pendergrast’s questions about Shelter for the Damned, Darkest Hours, and his new story “Deprimer” (from the latest issue of Vastarien).
Farah Rose Smith Interviews Mike Thorn on The Eldritch Index
“Was there a pivotal moment when you decided to be a writer?
I can’t remember a time before I started writing. For better or worse, it has been a lifelong impulse. I was always drawn to reading, which is probably where my interest in writing originated. As a kid, I was excited by fantasy and horror (J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and R. L. Stine when I was quite young, and then Stephen King when I got a little older).”
Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation Now Available in Paperback
“Deeply disturbing, in all the best ways.”
– Laurel Hightower, author of Whispers in the Dark
“Mike Thorn captures the essence of his characters so well in such a short space that his stories often yield the same satisfaction as reading an entire novel.”
– Erin Emily Ann Vance, author of Advice for Taxidermists and Amateur Beekeepers
Order now.
Book Review: Erin Emily Ann Vance’s Advice for Taxidermists and Amateur Beekeepers
“As with much of the author’s haunting poetry, this book reaches into the territory of fairy tales and the Gothic, but it simultaneously (and predominantly) grounds itself in contemporary realism. Advice for Taxidermists and Amateur Beekeepers demonstrates this kind of dual function in tonal terms, too: while it strays into morbid territory, it is punctuated throughout by surprising levity and humour.”
Mike Thorn 