Author | Critic
“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).”
Mike Thorn is an author and film critic who currently resides in Calgary, Alberta (mostly inside his apartment, at the moment). Thorn’s Darkest Hours, a collection of short stories, is anything but mundane. Although his writing is full of darkness and supernatural horrors, it is always rooted in something painfully human. A genre film enthusiast, Mike excels at uncovering allegorical meanings behind fantastical works of art, often rooted in depictions of trauma and hidden pasts. He also can name the top ten horror flicks from any decade at the drop of a hat; the man has lists for everything. Mike is unique in his approach to writing, as he is informed not only by his intense love for literature, but also by his extensive knowledge of cinema. He is particularly influenced and inspired by 1930s horror. Currently, Mike works as an instructor at Bow Valley College, while also keeping up with personal writing projects. Keep your eyes peeled in February 2021 for his debut novel, Shelter for the Damned.
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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.
“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.
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.
My debut novel Shelter for the Damned is scheduled for a February 26, 2021 release through Journalstone.
More updates to come!
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.”
Mike Thorn 