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Randy Nikkel Schroeder’s Arctic Smoke does not simply inhabit its multiple genres, but instead interrogates the intersections and tensions between those genres’ methodologies.
Review of Arctic Smoke by Randy Nikkel Schroeder (FreeFall Magazine)
Review of Only Pretty Damned by Niall Howell (FreeFall Magazine)
Niall Howell’s Only Pretty Damned is a seriously impressive debut, showcasing a sophisticated sense of craft and a deep understanding of its genre’s genealogy. Centered on a traveling circus making its way through the unforgiving environs of post-WWII America and Canada, Damned is steeped in richly detailed sociohistorical texture.
Gloria McNeely Reviews Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation
“This is a duo of brutal stories from writer Mike Thorn. Tied together by the theme of fulfilling a debt to a supernatural creature, the stories differ on their endings between hope for the future and dread.”
Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation Reviewed on Kam’s Place
“Exhumation started off creepy, progressed to f***ed up and stayed firmly in that position until the very end.”
Marna Larsen reviews Darkest Hours
Marna Larsen is an insightful commentator on all things horror esoterica, so I was thrilled when she reviewed Darkest Hours. On the story “Fear and Grace,” she writes:
“… a reminder about a certain kind of predatory magnetism that simultaneously makes someone charismatic to the masses and also a horrifying monster one on one.”
Howling Libraries: Interview and Review of Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation
Destiny of Howling Libraries reviews Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation and welcomes me as her blog’s first ever interviewee.
31 Days of Horror 2019: Mike Thorn’s ‘Dreams of Lake Drukka/Exhumation’
“This is an excellent double shot of Thorn’s brand of creeping, slow burn horror, continuing from 2017’s short story collection Darkest Hours.
You might know Thorn through his film criticism in the MUBI Notebook or Vague Visages, among others. His fiction has appeared in Dark Moon Digest and Tales to Terrify. His style is somewhere between the weirder short works of Stephen King and the more down to earth works of Clive Barker. I found Darkest Hours to be a surprisingly fun read where I often didn’t know where I was going or why, but when I got there I felt fully satisfied with the journey.”
Read Tim Murr’s full review of Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation in Biff Bam Pop.
The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer on Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation
Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation is another excellent, high-quality addition to Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks! imprint, and also a further demonstration that Mr Thorn is a skilled and deeply imaginative Horror writer able to range across sub-genres at will. Dreams of Lake Drukka is a fantastic short story that really digs into the nature of parental loss, delayed grief and then mixing in elements of supernatural horror; and Exhumation is a fast-paced and gory tale of supernatural dues owed.
Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation reviewed on Aphotic Realm
“Both tales carry an air of unease and some awesome shocking moments that will linger with me for a while I’m sure. I have yet to check out Mike Thorn’s short story collection, Darkest Hours, but on the strength of these two it’s certainly creeping up that TBR pile!”
Mike Thorn 