Author | Critic
“What sets Eli Roth apart from other contemporary American horror directors is his unique braiding of current issues with high genre literacy. This holds true for his latest effort, Thanksgiving, an anti-consumerist holiday giallo that traffics openly in reflexivity.”
Shepherd asked 949 authors and super readers to select their three favorite reads of 2023. Read Mike Thorn’s thoughts on his choices here.
Mike Thorn’s story “The Shape of Our Damnation” will soon appear on Tales to Terrify.
The podcast has released two of Thorn’s stories in the past. Listen to “@GorgoYama2013” and “Erosion”.
“The Winter Solstice. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s the most wonderful time of year. And it’s full of f*cking monsters. Don’t act like you don’t know. You’ve heard the cracking ice, seen tracks in the snow, smelled the bloody breath, and felt the rumbling Ho-ho-ho deep in your guts. We celebrate because we’re terrified of the dark outside our door.
Winter is an eternity, particularly in Purgatory. So, no matter which Terrace you call home, we invite you to while away the long, frozen nights with this curated collection of short tales from some of the most deliciously demented minds in horror. Some will make you laugh, some will make you shiver, and some…well, let’s just say nothing is sacred here. Enjoy, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll live to see the Equinox.”
“Sheds, nightmares, violence, family, friendship, addictions, sacrifices… A Shelter for the Damned, by Mike Thorn is a book with a frenetic pace that keeps you reading non-stop. That shows us the hells that the most perfect families can hide. That even hides a first love story between its pages. Which brings us three very different teenagers who will be involved in a nightmare from which it seems impossible to escape and which breaks our hearts. If you are looking for a horror reading that shocks you with its rawness, you have to give it a try.”
“The inaugural episode of THE BRAIN DRAIN—the ghoulish DBBT aftershow—finds a guest in the tub! Author and critic Mike Thorn joins us to discuss horror, the creative process, the new audiobook edition of his first novel “Shelter for the Damned,” and his tub pick—SICK (2022), John Hyams’ taut and clever COVID-set slasher. We dissect screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s social diagnosis, Hyams’ dynamic camera, and the engagement of pandemic-as-horror.”
Shelter for the Damned is now available as an audiobook through Tantor Media (read by Roman Howell).
Mike Thorn 