Author | Critic
“Every now and then, […] you find a horror author who can disarm and unsettle you while telling these incredibly meaningful, important stories, and those are the ones that tend to stick with me. Mike Thorn? He’s one of those authors.”
For episode 376, Tales to Terrify has released its audio adaptation of Mike Thorn’s latest short story “@GorgoYama2013” (read by Spencer DiSparti).
Also featured on this episode: part 2 of Drew Sebesteny reading Arthur Machen’s genre classic The Great God Pan.
“I truly enjoyed reading this book. It is evident through his writing that Thorn has a true love for the horror genre. Each of the stories were distinct and well thought out. He can write subtle horror and then switch to something weird and morbid. He masterfully uses imagery to make his fictional work all that more realistic and disturbing. But he also leaves a lot up to the reader’s own imagination, which doesn’t always work, but in this case it was beautifully executed.”
Thinking Horror: Volume 2 is now available to order. It includes Mike Thorn’s essay “Collective Abjection: Social Horror in Stephen King’s It,” cover art by Stephen Wilson, interviews with genre giants (Steve Rasnic Tem, Lisa Tuttle, John Skipp and Nick Mamatas) and essays by many contemporary luminaries (including Gemma Files, Michael Cisco and Christopher Burke).
Josiah Morgan and I have been online acquaintances for several years, bonding initially over our mutual passion for film. I recently read his debut poetry collection Inside the Castle and was stunned by its formal sophistication, thematic complexity and breadth of reference. I sent him a message asking if he would like to publish a chat with me about writing, genre and influences, and he kindly agreed.
Our conversation is now available to read on Kendall Reviews.
“Darkest Hours is brutal. I mean that in the best way possible. The stories here range from cosmic horror to real horror and everything in between. I, myself, am a massive fan of heavy music and it was great seeing stories interjected with death and black metal imagery and references.”
“Overall, I can’t fault this collection of versatile, dark, gory, graphic, psychological stories.”
“His stories are bizarre in the best way and bring personal flaws and disaster to the forefront. Most of these protagonists are not the greatest of folks but somehow you’re still rooting for them as their lives completely fall apart. Thorn knows how to grab you within the first few sentences and then throw up all over you in the best way. Some of his best stories in this collection are everyday situations that are twisted and given a dash of demon, a dash of murderous ghosts, and some drug abuse. And at the end you’re sweating from the tension.”
Horror Bound just posted a new review of Darkest Hours and an interview with me. Read now!
Mike Thorn 