
DAILY DEAD Q&A: Author Mike Thorn Discusses His New Short Story Collection PEEL BACK AND SEE

Author | Critic


“Author Mike Thorn returns to the Abyss for a wide-ranging discussion about depression, the perils of social media, and “Havoc,” the opening story from his latest collection, Peel Back and See.
Before we sink into Mike’s story, we talk a bit about Netflix’s Squid Game, parenting tips, online petitions to alter art, Alastair Reynolds, Dune (2021), final thoughts on Hunter Shea’s Faithless, You Season 3, Hostel, and more! (Recorded Oct. 24, 2021).”

“Our first ever returning guest Mike Thorn is back to talk about his new short story collection Peel Back And See. This book is an incredibly raw and truthful horror collection that was mostly written during the unprecedented times we’ve been living in for the last 2 years.”

“When you have the wide open world of a fictional medium, you can allow yourself to explore, to be a little bit reckless and go to some really uncomfortable places. Peel Back and See probably goes further, in terms of my discomfort as a writer, than either of my previous books. We’ll see how readers feel about that, but it was liberating for me.”

Bob Pastorella and Michael David Wilson sit down with Mike Thorn to discuss his three 2021 releases, Jim Thompson, Kathe Koja, writing horror within academia, and much more.

What first attracted you to horror writing?
Reflecting on my earliest childhood encounters with horror, I remember being initially attracted to the genre’s visual iconography, above all else. It seems impossible to separate my desire to write horror from my interest in reading horror. These two things are inextricably bound.