Mike Thorn's Blog, page 39
October 24, 2017
DARKEST HOURS eBook Available for Pre-Order (Paperback and eBook Release November 21, 2017)
Darkest Hours is now available to pre-order in eBook format. Click here to get your copy.
Official release date for paperback and eBook: November 21, 2017.
Early Accolades
“In these sharply compelling stories Mike Thorn intertwines the bizarre and the quotidian to form seamless chronicles of personal disaster. The protagonist may not know the precise nature of the catastrophe heading his way, but you get the feeling he’s been anticipating something bad—and inexorable—for a long time. This rueful wisdom, a product of youthful disappointment and early trauma, informs each tale as it winds its way toward a natural yet surprising conclusion. The element of surprise is a tribute to Thorn’s ingenuity; the assuredness of his prose is due to his extensive knowledge of the horror genre. Perfectly paced from the first sentence, these stories grab you by the collar with the urgency of mortal danger. Highly recommended.”
— S.P. Miskowski, author of Strange is the Night
“Everyone has their own mythology. Most people, however, don’t recognize it as such. Mike Thorn gets it. His fiction seems to blur distinctions between horror and noir, between science fiction and fantasy. Between dream and reality. They’re all here. Demons. Monsters. Big ones, little ones. (Sometimes the things done to them are worse than the things they do.) When you first encounter Thorn’s writing, a number of qualities impress themselves: the macabre intelligence (brutal really), the chilling wit, the naturalness of the dialogue. Plus there’s the skill and style of the prose. It may all play out like a nightmare, but a terrible logic remains inherent. His characters make bad choices, and it’s those decisions that bring on calamity. At once, the reader recognizes this. Mike Thorn is inescapable, and he understands that most terrifying variety of monsters, the hidden ones, the inner ones. They’re on display here. Savor the experience.”
— Robert Dunbar, author of The Pines and Willy
“Darkest Hours is for readers wishing to take a thrilling walk on the dark side. Mike Thorn has delivered a promising debut with this collection showing off his commitment to stories of nuance, heart, and of course… darkness.”
— Daniel Braum, author of The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales
“I’ve long been a fan of authors who can create a style and allow it to be as important as the story itself. Mike Thorn is a prime example of an author who builds off the baseline mechanics of prose on his own terms, and in the process writes witty and honest, dark literary stories, as is the case with Darkest Hours. Mike Thorn’s debut story collection is not to be missed by those who enjoy an academic intellect with a potent flair for fiction.”
— Dustin LaValley, author of A Soundless Dawn
“Fast, fun and full of fear, Darkest Hours turns on a dime from a laugh to a scream. Terrifying and sly, Mike Thorn writes with refreshing originality and hides fangs behind a smile.”
— John C. Foster, author of Mister White
Official release date for paperback and eBook: November 21, 2017.
Early Accolades
“In these sharply compelling stories Mike Thorn intertwines the bizarre and the quotidian to form seamless chronicles of personal disaster. The protagonist may not know the precise nature of the catastrophe heading his way, but you get the feeling he’s been anticipating something bad—and inexorable—for a long time. This rueful wisdom, a product of youthful disappointment and early trauma, informs each tale as it winds its way toward a natural yet surprising conclusion. The element of surprise is a tribute to Thorn’s ingenuity; the assuredness of his prose is due to his extensive knowledge of the horror genre. Perfectly paced from the first sentence, these stories grab you by the collar with the urgency of mortal danger. Highly recommended.”
— S.P. Miskowski, author of Strange is the Night
“Everyone has their own mythology. Most people, however, don’t recognize it as such. Mike Thorn gets it. His fiction seems to blur distinctions between horror and noir, between science fiction and fantasy. Between dream and reality. They’re all here. Demons. Monsters. Big ones, little ones. (Sometimes the things done to them are worse than the things they do.) When you first encounter Thorn’s writing, a number of qualities impress themselves: the macabre intelligence (brutal really), the chilling wit, the naturalness of the dialogue. Plus there’s the skill and style of the prose. It may all play out like a nightmare, but a terrible logic remains inherent. His characters make bad choices, and it’s those decisions that bring on calamity. At once, the reader recognizes this. Mike Thorn is inescapable, and he understands that most terrifying variety of monsters, the hidden ones, the inner ones. They’re on display here. Savor the experience.”
— Robert Dunbar, author of The Pines and Willy
“Darkest Hours is for readers wishing to take a thrilling walk on the dark side. Mike Thorn has delivered a promising debut with this collection showing off his commitment to stories of nuance, heart, and of course… darkness.”
— Daniel Braum, author of The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales
“I’ve long been a fan of authors who can create a style and allow it to be as important as the story itself. Mike Thorn is a prime example of an author who builds off the baseline mechanics of prose on his own terms, and in the process writes witty and honest, dark literary stories, as is the case with Darkest Hours. Mike Thorn’s debut story collection is not to be missed by those who enjoy an academic intellect with a potent flair for fiction.”
— Dustin LaValley, author of A Soundless Dawn
“Fast, fun and full of fear, Darkest Hours turns on a dime from a laugh to a scream. Terrifying and sly, Mike Thorn writes with refreshing originality and hides fangs behind a smile.”
— John C. Foster, author of Mister White
October 17, 2017
Interview with Gwendolyn Kiste About DARKEST HOURS (Coming November 21, 2017)
I was thrilled when Gwendolyn Kiste, one of my favorite working writers, invited me to talk about my collection Darkest Hours (coming November 21, 2017) for her interview series.
We discussed my genesis as an author, influences, the writing process, horror filmmakers and many other topics.
You can read the full interview on Gwendolyn’s website.
We discussed my genesis as an author, influences, the writing process, horror filmmakers and many other topics.
You can read the full interview on Gwendolyn’s website.
October 16, 2017
Thorn's Thoughts: Strange is the Night
"Miskowski writes well about the tedium and anxiety of work (as seen in 'Death and Disbursement' and 'Fur'); she unveils the vile ignorance and delusions of misogynistic men (most notably in the aforementioned 'A.G.A.' and 'Strange is the Night'); she writes frequently and insightfully about regret and memory and the complicated correspondence between expectation and reality. She attends to all of these thematic threads with artistry and formidable intelligence."
Read the full review on Unnerving Magazine's website.
Read the full review on Unnerving Magazine's website.
October 3, 2017
Tim Murr Reviews DARKEST HOURS for Biff Bam Pop
"It’s rare that a writer in the horror genre hits us with a perspective or idea that we didn’t see coming. Nor is it unusual for a story or novel to haunt us with creepy images, vivid descriptions of gore, or a heartbreaking death. How often, though, does an author pull this off with superior literary quality?
This is the territory the reader will find themselves in with Mike Thorn’s Darkest Hours."
Read the full review in Biff Bam Pop.
This is the territory the reader will find themselves in with Mike Thorn’s Darkest Hours."
Read the full review in Biff Bam Pop.
September 29, 2017
Early Review for DARKEST HOURS
Brandon Wilson of The Weal wrote a cool early review of Darkest Hours (coming this November from Unnerving Magazine's book line).
This is my favorite excerpt: "Thorn’s stories seem to nearly always feature the desires of their characters becoming corrupted and turning back on them tenfold. It’s really this theme that keeps the reader’s attention, that their initially innocent desires could be twisted, corrupted and fed back into some unspeakable primal evil."
You can now read the full review online.
This is my favorite excerpt: "Thorn’s stories seem to nearly always feature the desires of their characters becoming corrupted and turning back on them tenfold. It’s really this theme that keeps the reader’s attention, that their initially innocent desires could be twisted, corrupted and fed back into some unspeakable primal evil."
You can now read the full review online.
September 11, 2017
Andy Muschietti’s It Struggles with Adaptation
"There is no hard and fast rule for parsing out the relationship between literary sources and cinematic adaptations. Context is key. When it comes to Andy Muschietti’s It (loosely based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel), the correspondence between versions is too complicated and vital to ignore."
Read my full review on the film in Vague Visages.
Read my full review on the film in Vague Visages.
August 27, 2017
Losing the Plot Interview Link Now Live
Due to some unforeseen technological things, I posted a dead link yesterday for my appearance on Leo X. Robertson's "Losing the Plot" Podcast.
That interview is now live and freely available for listening here.
I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Leo to discuss my forthcoming collection Darkest Hours, the influence of music and film, the horrors of our contemporary world, among many other things!
That interview is now live and freely available for listening here.
I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Leo to discuss my forthcoming collection Darkest Hours, the influence of music and film, the horrors of our contemporary world, among many other things!
August 26, 2017
Appearance on Leo X. Robertson's "Losing the Plot" Podcast
I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Leo X. Robertson to discuss my forthcoming collection Darkest Hours, the influence of music and film, the horrors of our contemporary world, and many other things!
You can hear the full interview for free here.
You can hear the full interview for free here.
July 29, 2017
New Story "Sabbatical" in Dark Moon Digest
My story “Sabbatical,” about a dissertation-writing reprieve gone horrifically awry, is now available in Dark Moon Digest #28.
Issue synopsis: In the twenty-eighth issue of Dark Moon Digest: a hardware store offers a rewards program you can’t refuse; an Internet meme goes viral in more ways than one; a little girl gets a new pet; a woman loses her sense of identity; a man and woman reluctantly do their job; a starlet gets more than she bargains for; a father gives his son a special 18th birthday present; and two college students isolate themselves in a cabin in the woods to finish their dissertations. Fiction by Tom W. Miller, Patrick Lacey, Phillip A. Myers, Shannon Lawrence, E. M. Hurst, Robert Dean, Ryan C. Bradley, and Mike Thorn. Columns by Jay Wilburn and George Lea, and reviews of Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson and Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King.
The issue is available to order here.
Issue synopsis: In the twenty-eighth issue of Dark Moon Digest: a hardware store offers a rewards program you can’t refuse; an Internet meme goes viral in more ways than one; a little girl gets a new pet; a woman loses her sense of identity; a man and woman reluctantly do their job; a starlet gets more than she bargains for; a father gives his son a special 18th birthday present; and two college students isolate themselves in a cabin in the woods to finish their dissertations. Fiction by Tom W. Miller, Patrick Lacey, Phillip A. Myers, Shannon Lawrence, E. M. Hurst, Robert Dean, Ryan C. Bradley, and Mike Thorn. Columns by Jay Wilburn and George Lea, and reviews of Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson and Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King.
The issue is available to order here.
July 27, 2017
Talking Stephen King's It with A.M. Novak in the latest Devious Dialogue
Devious Dialogues is a horror-themed column on Vague Visages. Every month, critic A.M. Novak and I discuss a new franchise, and this time around we've taken on Stephen King's It (including its adaptations).
Read the conversation here.
Read the conversation here.
